Ammon News - In light of the Fourth International Summit on Food Security — a major food summit that begins in Kyiv, Ukraine, today, 19 November 2025 — it is important to highlight Ukraine’s role in the global food system.

According to Yulia Svyrydenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine, in the current season Ukraine provides 46% of the world’s sunflower oil exports and over 12% of corn.

Ukraine remains the world leader in the supply of sunflower oil and meal, ranking first in exports and second in production of these products. Every third bottle of sunflower oil in the world is of Ukrainian origin.

Moreover, Ukraine is among the top five exporters of corn and barley and remains steadily among the leading suppliers of wheat. In the current 2025/2026 marketing season, Ukraine has already exported 5.8 million tons of wheat.
Total wheat exports by the end of the season are expected to reach 15 million tons, accounting for 7% of global exports of this crop. Ukraine is also among the top six global exporters of chicken, demonstrating gradual export growth even under difficult conditions.

In the 2025/2026 season Ukraine will rank between first and third in exports of sunflower products and rapeseed, fourth in corn, and between fifth and sixth in wheat, barley and soybeans.

These figures indicate not only Ukraine’s high export potential and its important role as a stable pillar of global food security, but also the resilience of Ukraine’s agricultural sector, which continues to operate despite the war, destruction of infrastructure and logistical challenges. This shows that even in a period of instability Ukraine remains a consistent, predictable and reliable partner in the global agricultural market.

As a result of the full-scale Russian military aggression, about 30% of the total capacity of Ukraine’s agricultural sector has been destroyed, and almost 20% of its agricultural land is temporarily occupied. According to the World Bank, direct losses in the agricultural sector amount to 11.2 billion USD. Total losses of Ukraine’s agricultural sector due to Russia’s full-scale military invasion exceed 83.9 billion USD, and the needs for reconstruction and recovery of the sector amount to 55.5 billion USD.

The Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory has entailed another grave problem — the looting of Ukrainian grain from the occupied areas. Russia has stolen millions of tons of Ukrainian grain and continues to trade it. It continues to illegally export grain from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, integrating it into its own export system. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has appropriated approximately 15 million tons of Ukrainian grain — a figure that continues to grow.

Another challenge for Ukraine’s agricultural sector caused by the Russian military aggression is the mine contamination of agricultural land. This issue has led to enormous losses for agriculture. Today, one hectare of Ukrainian land can feed 18 people in the world for a year. That is why there is an urgent need to demine agricultural land as soon as possible and return it to use.

Since the first day of its full-scale military invasion, Russia has done everything possible to block Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea. Such actions destabilize global food supply chains and pose a serious threat to global food security. The aggressor state has deliberately intensified its attacks on the port infrastructure of southern Ukraine, trade vessels and grain storage facilities in order to reduce Ukraine’s export potential and provoke a food crisis in parts of the world that are directly dependent on Ukrainian grain supplies. This is direct evidence of crimes against humanity: while some countries suffer from droughts, food shortages and high prices, Russia is deliberately destroying food that could feed millions of people.

Russia has launched more than 500 missiles at Ukrainian ports and damaged about 400 port infrastructure facilities and more than 30 vessels, injuring 106 civilians. Despite these severe conditions, logistics have not stopped and stable exports have been ensured.

Despite these dire obstacles, Ukraine remains a reliable supplier of food and a guarantor of food security for over 400 million people around the world, and demonstrates its readiness to supply food where it is most needed.

On 26 November 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched the “Grain from Ukraine” humanitarian food program. By October 2025, total financing of the program had reached 370 million USD. In total, 320,000 tons of agricultural products have already been shipped to 18 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia — including Bangladesh, Chad, Djibouti, the DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Yemen and Zambia — within the framework of the program.

Over the past year alone, Ukraine has delivered 7,409 tons of wheat flour to Palestine to meet the needs of the Palestinian population, in particular in the Gaza Strip. Ukraine is ready to provide further humanitarian assistance to Palestine and help overcome the consequences of the humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave, in particular by supplying food to the civilian population within the framework of the “Food from Ukraine” initiative.

Overall, since the launch of the Grain from Ukraine program, Ukraine has managed to save 20 million people from hunger. It is important to expand the implementation of this initiative. Ukraine remains committed to supporting those who are also suffering and is ready to do more: build food hubs in the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, share technologies, processing methods and skills in land cultivation, and exchange experience with countries that can benefit from Ukrainian expertise.

Ukraine’s mission is to become a center that not only responds to challenges, but also shapes new standards of humanitarian interaction — from meeting basic needs to implementing innovative solutions for sustainable development.

The idea is not simply to be a food supplier, but also a driver of sustainable agriculture in other countries. This approach implies a transition from unilateral humanitarian aid to a model of mutually beneficial development, where Ukrainian experience in agrotechnology, irrigation, bioenergy, processing and digital agriculture contributes to increasing the independence of other countries’ economies and building their own food security.

Ukraine aims to be not only a food exporter, but also a technological development partner, helping other countries mechanize agriculture and build food self-sufficiency.

This concept lies at the core of the Fourth International Summit on Food Security in Kyiv. The event will serve as a global platform for dialogue and joint action aimed at strengthening solidarity, enhancing resilience and ensuring food security.

The summit will mark the transition from “Grain from Ukraine” to “Food from Ukraine”. This will ensure a diversified range of products, predictable financing, early humanitarian procurement, an expanded geography of assistance and integration into the operational framework of the World Food Program (WFP).

Special attention will be devoted to innovations in agriculture, the humanitarian demining of farmlands and the transformation of Ukraine’s agro-industrial sector into a driver of recovery and sustainable development.

Within the framework of the summit, the international exhibition AGROEXPO2025 will be held in Kyiv on 19–20 November 2025. It will present the capacities and products of Ukrainian manufacturers, new technologies, innovative solutions and scientific developments, and will demonstrate Ukraine’s agrarian potential and integrated business solutions.

The summit and the exhibition will provide a unique opportunity for networking with key governmental and private stakeholders in the food sector, especially given the relevance of food security for the Middle Eastern region