Every day Ukrainian farmers risk their lives saving crops in their fields and livestock on their farms as they continue to work despite heavy losses, the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) has said.
Speaking to Agriland, the head of the UAC, which represents farmers across the country, Andriy Dykun, has described how dangerous the situation is, particularly due to mines.
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Mined fields
While many farms are still located in occupied territories subject to robbery and theft of equipment, the biggest problem in de-occupied regions is mines, Dykun said.
As of January 2023, an area of 250,000km2 in Ukraine has been mined, which is about 40% of the country, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU).
Ukrainian farmers cannot risk their lives and go onto minefields, however cases of farmers with equipment dying in the fields due to mines are “not uncommon” he said.
Demining agricultural territories to start the spring sowing season is the number one issue at the moment, not only for Ukraine but also for global food security after the war, Dykun said.
“Farmers are in a difficult situation, especially livestock farmers. We don’t even know which fields are mined or not,” he told Agriland.
A project to demine agricultural land in de-occupied territories was recently discussed by the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
Ukrainian farms
While the majority of farms are located in the de-occupied and Ukraine-controlled territories, most of them are destroyed and farmers don’t have access to financial resources, he said.
The agri sector accounted for over 17% of Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) before the war.
To date, the sector’s losses have reached almost $40 billion, of which $6.6 billion are direct losses – destroyed machinery, production facilities and livestock – in the first nine months of the war, according to the UAC.
Ukrainian farmers have also suffered over $35 billion in indirect losses due to a lost harvest and sowing season, UAC figures show.
However, it is difficult to understand the full scale of livestock losses and farm destruction as there is no communication with farmers who are located in occupied territories, Dykun explained.
Following missile attacks on the country’s electricity system, dairy farmers in particular are in need of generators for uninterrupted operation, however availability is low.
“As an organisation we are buying generators in the EU, as this is the only way to survive,” the head of the UAC said.
While the losses of Ukraine’s dairy sector have amounted to over 200,000 cows, it is impossible to determine whether the losses are greater than for other sectors, the UAC said.
Farmers require assistance in restoring livestock and purchasing breeding animals, veterinary drugs and vaccines, feed additives, and animal hygiene products, Dykun said.
The lack of electricity has also affected the grain harvest, as a third of Ukraine’s corn crop is currently left in the fields due to bad weather and power outages, he added.
Grain corridor
A total of 70 million tonnes of grain have already been exported via the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes, which the European Commission established in May as part of its response to the Russian invasion, Dykun said.
However, several EU countries bordering Ukraine have expressed concerns about continuing high imports from Ukraine, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski said.
While high imports show the success of the Solidarity Lanes, farmers in Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland and Slovakia now have problems selling their own products, the commissioner said.
EU imports of wheat from Ukraine increased from 287,000t in 2021 to 2.8 million tonnes last year. Maize imports rose from 7.4 million tonnes before the war to 12.2 million tonnes in 2022.
While there was no initiative among EU agriculture ministers to stop or reduce the imports from Ukraine, the commission will consider activating the crisis reserve to support the farmers affected.
‘Question of survival’
Grain exports via the Solidarity Lanes and under the Black Sea Grain Initiative are “extremely important”, Dykun said, expressing disappointment over some countries’ market concerns.
The suspension of quotas on Ukrainian agri-food exports has been a great help for the country, and based on access to the EU market, Ukraine can build its agricultural strategy, he said.
“The agricultural sector for us in Ukraine is a question of survival.
“I understand [there is a] smaller price for farmers but this is good for the citizens and prices on the shelves. You can compensate money, you give subsidies to the farmers.
“Without money Ukraine will not survive,” Dykun said, warning that high food prices are likely to increase if Ukrainian farmers are unable to carry out spring sowing and harvest.
Dykun is also the head of the SAVE UA Charity Fund which aims to prevent hunger in Ukraine and support the country’s agricultural industry.
As of September, over 100 agricultural producers were provided with the necessary support, and the UAC provided 200 livestock farms with equipment, medicine and food.