The Food from Ukraine platform symbolizes the expansion of Ukraine’s initiative from a focus on grain alone to finished products, as well as the transfer of technological knowledge, said Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture Oleksiy Sobolev at the opening of the IV International Food Security Summit “Food from Ukraine” in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Sobolev noted that Ukraine had already exported 5.8 million tons of wheat in the 2025-2026 marketing year.
“This is not just a figure, it is an indicator of the resilience of our agricultural sector, which continues to operate despite the destroyed infrastructure, constant logistical challenges, drone attacks, and daily risks,” the minister emphasized.
He cited USDA forecast data, according to which wheat exports from Ukraine will amount to 15 million tons by the end of the season, or approximately 7% of global trade in this product.
“This confirms that Ukraine continues, despite everything, to be a reliable partner for the global food market. (…) However, the issue of food security remains relevant and will only intensify. Ukrainian farmers provide food to hundreds of millions of people in different regions of the world, from North Africa to Asia. Our country remains a guarantor of global food security, ensuring the stability of supplies of grains, oilseeds, and livestock products,” Sobolev noted.
As the minister noted, Ukraine understands that demand for food will grow most rapidly. In the coming decades, Sub-Saharan Africa, which currently imports more than two-thirds of its food needs, will account for almost 14% of the increase. The average productivity of farms on this continent is only 40% of their potential, grain losses are up to 20%, and the density of mechanization is only 2-4 tractors per 100 square kilometers, which is dozens of times lower than in Europe.
At the same time, he noted the strong response to these challenges from African countries, which are investing in irrigation, mechanization, the creation of agro-industrial zones, the localization of equipment production, infrastructure development, storage, and processing. According to Sobolev, this is not just modernization, but a strategic course towards self-sufficiency.
That is why, according to the Minister of Economy, one of the strategically correct decisions for Ukraine is to transform the Ukrainian President’s Grain from Ukraine initiative into Food from Ukraine.
“The Food from Ukraine platform will form a new approach to global food policy, combining long-term financing of humanitarian programs with the creation of stable and secure logistics routes, the development of processing and production of products with high added value, the attraction of investments, the technological modernization of the agricultural sector, expanding cooperation with countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and island states, as well as establishing partnerships between the government, business, and international organizations to create a sustainable, predictable, and innovative global food system,” Sobolev emphasized.
The minister announced that Ukraine will begin creating a network of regional food hubs as part of this initiative. He showed a video presentation of the first project of such a logistics and processing hub, which is planned to be built in Ghana. Its basic infrastructure will be the storage, processing, and distribution of Ukrainian agricultural products, as well as the localization of modern technologies in West Africa.
Sobolev emphasized that Ukraine and Ghana signed a memorandum of cooperation in Kyiv on Wednesday, laying the foundation for long-term partnership and practical development of the initiative and creation of Food for Ukraine.
“Ukraine is ceasing to be a political donor of food. We are becoming part of the architecture of a new model of global food sustainability, a country that not only helps feed the world today, but also creates mechanisms for innovative production tomorrow,” the Minister of Economy concluded.
