The first batch of this year's Ukrainian humanitarian food shipment — nearly 1,600 tonnes of peas and oil — has reached Malawi under the Food from Ukraine program, just ahead of the lean season.
Even in the middle of a full-scale war, Ukraine remains a donor, not only a recipient of aid. Under the humanitarian Food from Ukraine program, the first batch of this year's food shipment — nearly 1,600 tonnes — has reached Malawi, one of the poorest countries in southern Africa. Volunteers Support Ukraine follows news like this closely: it is a reminder that the mutual support Ukraine receives from the world is something the country knows how to give back.
According to Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, roughly 1,576.3 tonnes of yellow split peas and vegetable oil had reached Malawi as of September. This is only the first part of a much larger shipment: the country will receive 5,350 tonnes of food in total, with the rest expected to arrive within the coming weeks. Volunteers Support Ukraine knows from its own work how much it matters that humanitarian logistics are actually completed rather than left as a promise on paper — which is exactly why the cargo's physical arrival, not just the announcement of it, is the news here.
The shipment is intended to reach around 600,000 people already facing food shortages. The program was deliberately timed to arrive before Malawi's so-called lean season, which usually runs from October to March, when, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the number of people facing crisis-level food insecurity could rise from 1.9 to 2.6 million. South Korea funded the shipment, with the UN World Food Programme and the Government of Malawi coordinating delivery. Volunteers Support Ukraine has seen time and again that in humanitarian work, timing matters just as much as volume.
Ukraine's Agrarian Policy Minister Taras Vysotskyi put it plainly: "Even amid a full-scale war, Ukraine remains a reliable partner in ensuring global food security." Despite Russian attempts to disrupt production and logistics through strikes on infrastructure, he said, Ukraine continues to grow and ship food to those who need it. Since 2022, Ukraine has supplied 336,000 tonnes of agricultural products to 19 countries through similar initiatives, and recently opened its first agricultural hub in Africa, in Ghana.
Volunteers Support Ukraine deals with the consequences of the war inside Ukraine every day, so news that the country still finds the resources to help others isn't abstract diplomacy to the team — it's confirmation of a simple principle: mutual aid runs in both directions. Volunteers Support Ukraine continues to support people affected by the war with whatever means and in whatever way it has available, which is exactly why stories like this one deserve to be told.
