There’s nothing worse than stealing food from widows, orphans and the starving.
But that’s a risk a Canadian Foodgrains Bank wheat shipment is facing as it arrives at a port near the Horn of Africa, the centre of the present piracy menace.
Millions of Ethiopians are facing starvation because of failed crops this year. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has purchased $20 million of Ukrainian wheat, which it is sending to a port in the small nation of Djibouti. At that point it will be taken over by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and transported to Ethiopia.
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“We have the logistics team in place,” said Heather Plett of the foodgrains bank, when asked why the Winnipeg organization is overseeing the aid shipment rather than CIDA.
“It’s their shipment. It’s not our grain. But we’ll get it where it needs to go.”
The wheat has gone through the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean, passed through the Suez canal and is travelling down the Red Sea to Djibouti.
The danger comes from bands of pirates who operate off the Somali coast. Dozens of ships have been pursued or seized by pirates in the area in recent months, including a supertanker of Saudi oil that was seized and held for ransom.
Many ships pass the area unmolested, but all shippers must now carry extra insurance. The financial risk isn’t being carried by the foodgrains bank, which is just co-ordinating the shipment and taking possession once the grain is off the ship.
“We are paying for it on receipt in Djibouti, so the piracy risk right now is not our risk,” said Plett.
However, the real risk is borne by the people of Ethiopia who need the food to avoid starvation this winter.
