Ukraine opens first Africa food supply center in Ghana
on Google
Ukraine has opened its first food processing and distribution center in Ghana, as Kyiv seeks to expand its agricultural exports and address the region's food crisis.
Ghana, which is totally reliant on wheat imports that cost the country $400 million annually, is looking for solutions to feed its population.
Demand for basic products like bread and pasta is growing, while food instability in the country has reached a decade high — impacting over 2 million people.
The facility — a food processing and distribution center for Ukrainian wheat and other foods — not only helps Ukraine expand its position in the African market but also helps mitigate food instability, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said on April 14.
Ukraine, the world’s fifth-biggest wheat exporter, has positioned itself as a key pillar in global food security, particularly among countries in the Global South. The country helped feed around 400 million people annually pre-war.
"This is a new format of our presence in the world, where humanitarian support is combined with the development of partnerships and local economies," Svyrydenko wrote on Telegram, adding that Ukrainian and local products will be combined into food kits for distribution.
"We are ready to share our expertise, technologies, and experience in increasing agricultural yields so that, together, we can strengthen global food security," she added.
Around 4,000 food kits stocked with rice and pasta made from Ukrainian flour were delivered to Ghanaian widows during the opening, the prime minister noted.
Kyiv and Accra initially signed an agreement for the center during the Food from Ukraine conference in November 2025.
The agreement also includes joint initiatives that will see Ukraine and Ghana exchange agricultural techniques and technology, and cooperation between businesses, research institutions, and agricultural associations.
The size of the project and the total cost were not mentioned.
The project has been well received by some in Ukraine’s agriculture sector. After EU trade quotas resumed last summer, Ukrainian farmers have reoriented their exports to Asia and Africa.
The African market bought $2.8 billion worth of agricultural goods from Ukraine last year.
Opening new markets and expanding the reach of Ukrainian products helps both Ukraine’s agricultural sector and its economy, Volodymyr Slavinskyi, director of trade at Nibulon, an agribusiness, told the Kyiv Independent.
"A hub in Ghana could serve as a gateway not only for supplying Ukrainian products to this country, but also to other markets in West and Central Africa," he said in a written response.
"At the same time, the successful implementation of such a project will require the active involvement of key private-sector players, along with substantial investment on their part."
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has sought to bolster its relationship with African nations — a region Russia has historically had a grip on.
Food security has played an important role in that strategy, with Ukraine’s agricultural potential highlighted in the 2023 Ukraine-Africa Communication Strategy, aimed at improving relations between Africa and Kyiv.
Ukraine’s role in global food security became a hot button issue in 2022 when Russia blocked cargoes carrying Ukrainian food in the Black Sea, nearly plunging multiple countries into a food crisis.
In response, Kyiv launched the Grain from Ukraine program to support affected Asian and African nations.
At the same time, Ukraine also kickstarted talks about opening agrohubs in countries including Nigeria and Senegal.
The Grain from Ukraine program has since helped deliver 324,000 tons of humanitarian food deliveries to 19 countries.
Kyiv has developed the program into the Food from Ukraine initiative. Instead of just raw products, Ukraine plans to establish end-to-end food supply infrastructure like agrohubs across Asia and Africa — boosting its own economy and creating jobs and prospects for partner nations.
"By developing logistics, agrohubs, and international cooperation, Ukraine is strengthening its role as a reliable guarantor of food security in the world while supporting the recovery of its own economy," the Economy Ministry wrote in a press statement in November 2025 after the Food from Ukraine conference.
