Joyce Banda, a former president of Malawi, hailed the “love affair” between Ukraine’s leader and its people as she promised to help Kyiv identify African countries badly needing the country’s grain exports. Beginning work as one of Ukraine’s three “grain ambassadors”, the ex-president described Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s wartime direction as “an inspiring story”, part of an effort to boost Kyiv’s standing in Africa, where Russian influence remains strong. Her job, she said, was “a mammoth task” because climate breakdown was badly affecting parts of Africa “like the northern part of Kenya, that didn’t get rain at all the past season”, meaning they need more help than ever with food security. “Personally, I didn’t know that Ukraine produces 10% of the global grain that we require”, Banda said. Now, as part of her ambassadorial role, she would seek to identify the parts of Africa most at risk of famine to help the European country organise supply to them.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
