Ukraine has opened its first food processing and distribution center in Ghana as part of moves to expand its agricultural exports and cater to food insecurity in the region.

In Ghana, there is a growing demand for basic products like pasta and bread, with food instability impacting over two million people, the Kyiv Independent reported. The West African country also spends $400 million annually on wheat imports. 

The facility, which will be a food processing and distribution center for Ukrainian wheat and other products, will not only help Ukraine expand its position in the African market but also strengthen food security, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said on April 14.

Essentially, it will serve as an entry point for Ukrainian exports and humanitarian logistics along the West African coast. 

“This is a new format of our presence in the world, where humanitarian support is combined with the development of partnerships and local economies,” Svyrydenko wrote on Telegram, stating that Ukrainian and local products will be combined into food kits for distribution.

“We are ready to share our expertise, technologies, and experience in increasing agricultural yields so that, together, we can strengthen global food security,” she added.

The first 4,000 food kits containing locally produced rice and pasta made in Ghana from Ukrainian flour were distributed to Ghanaian widows at the opening ceremony.

The economic ministries of Ukraine and Ghana signed an agreement for the center during the Food from Ukraine conference in November 2025.

According to Kyiv Independent, the agreement also includes “joint initiatives that will see Ukraine and Ghana exchange agricultural techniques and technology, and cooperation between businesses, research institutions, and agricultural associations.”

Last year, the African market bought $2.8 billion worth of agricultural goods from Ukraine. Expanding Ukrainian products in the region by opening new markets will help boost both Ukraine’s agricultural sector and its economy, experts say.

Volodymyr Slavinskyi, director of trade at Nibulon, an agribusiness, told the Kyiv Independent, “A hub in Ghana could serve as a gateway not only for supplying Ukrainian products to this country, but also to other markets in West and Central Africa.”

“At the same time, the successful implementation of such a project will require the active involvement of key private-sector players, along with substantial investment on their part.”

The center’s opening is part of the “Food from Ukraine” initiative, a new phase of the “Grain from Ukraine” program launched by President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2022 to address the global food crisis. 

The Grain from Ukraine program has since helped deliver 324,000 tons of humanitarian food deliveries to 19 countries, including African countries like Ethiopia, Somalia, and Nigeria.

Now known as the Food from Ukraine initiative, the program seeks to deliver value-added products instead of raw commodities to markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

To support these initiatives, three Grain from Ukraine and Food from Ukraine summits have been held to mobilize more than $380 million in international donor funding, as reported by Kyiv Post.