Cargo ship bound for Lebanon brings hope, not solution to food crisis

Cargo ship bound for Lebanon brings hope, not solution to food crisis

BEIRUT: A ship bringing corn to Lebanon’s northern port of Tripoli normally would not cause a stir. But it’s getting attention because of where it came from: Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa. The Razoni, loaded with more than 26,000 tons of corn for chicken feed, is emerging from the edges of a Russian war that has threatened food supplies in countries like Lebanon, which has the world’s highest rate of food inflation — a staggering 122 percent — and depends on the Black Sea region for nearly all of its wheat. The fighting has trapped 20 million tons of grains inside Ukraine, and the Razoni’s departure on Monday marked a first major step toward extracting those food supplies and getting them to farms and bakeries to feed millions of people who are going hungry in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia. “Actually seeing the shipment move is a big deal,” said Jonathan Haines, senior analyst at data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence. “This 26,000 tons in the scale of the 20 million tons that are locked up is nothing, absolutely nothing ... but if we start seeing this, every shipment that goes is going to increase confidence.”