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STORY: This is the Bakara Open Grain Market in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

The country has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Black Sea Grain Initiative...

A deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in July 2022 that allowed Ukrainian grain to leave Black Sea ports.

It helped bring down global food prices and allowed aid agencies to access hundreds of thousands of tons of food at a time of rising need and scarce funding.

But now - with the Russia pulling out of the deal - there's uncertainty in Somalia and some of the world's poorest countries.

Shashwat Saraf is with the International Rescue Committee for East Africa.

"We have seen the positive impact that the Black Sea Grain deal has had for many nations, especially for nations in East Africa, more than 600 thousand tonnes (661 thousand tons) of food was procured by WFP and moved to countries that were in dire food need, in Afghanistan, in Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan...”

Saraf says it’s important to keep the grain flowing because not only does a disruption limit access...

“Even if there is access there is a problem with affordability because of increase in prices."

Moscow said on Monday that it was quitting the pact because its demands to improve its own exports had not been met.

Russia has also complained that not enough grain reached poor countries.

The U.N. counters that those states benefited as the deal helped lower food prices more than 20% globally.

Analysts say prices for some staple foods will likely rise as a result of Russia’s decision but global grain availability has improved since the start of the war due to greater supplies from producers like Russia and Brazil.