Statement by the delegation of Ukraine during 80th UNGA
Second Committee meeting under agenda items 22: Eradication of poverty,
and 24: Agriculture development, food security and nutrition
(15 October 2025)
Mr. Chair,
The issue of food security in Ukraine is not only vital for my country — it is critical for many others represented in this room.
Before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine produced enough food to feed 400 million people worldwide, much of it going to the most vulnerable regions. Today, losses in wheat production alone mean 40 million fewer people are fed each year.
Russia's aggression in Ukraine has caused severe economic consequences worldwide. Thousands of hectares of Ukrainian farmland remain unsafe and unproductive due to explosive ordnance contamination. Each hectare of our land could feed eighteen people for a year – yet Russia continues to use drones to scatter new mines over cleared fields in the Kherson region of Ukraine.
What happens in Ukrainian fields today is felt on supermarket shelves tomorrow: from Europe to the Middle East and beyond. 65% percent of Ukraine’s agricultural exports go to global markets, particularly to countries most affected by food insecurity.
Despite these devastating challenges, Ukraine continues to act as one of the world’s key guarantors of food security. Through the humanitarian initiative “Grain from Ukraine,” 316,000 tonnes of agricultural products have already been delivered to eighteen countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including Bangladesh, Chad, Djibouti, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Yemen, Zambia, helping to feed nearly 20 million people.
Ukraine stands ready to do even more: to build food hubs in the Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as to share technologies, processing methods, and our experience in land cultivation.
As a young woman working in humanitarian mine action back home in Kyiv, I see every day the price that Ukraine pays to restore safety — and to ensure that the world does not go hungry. We are grateful to all our partners who work towards the goal of clearing Ukrainian lands and facilitating the export of Ukraine’s agricultural product, because as numbers show, it is not only about Ukraine.
Thank you.