Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and Ukrainian Red Cross develop solutions for storing and transporting harvests from frontline areas

Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Taras Vysotskyi and representatives of the National Committee of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society discussed support for farmers in frontline areas, temporary crop storage and humanitarian logistics.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister Denys Bashlyk and, on behalf of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, Director General Illya Kletskovskyy, Programme Director Anna Saienko and Advisor to the President on Government Relations Maksym Zatserkovnyi.

“russian attacks on port and agricultural infrastructure are creating further challenges for the entire agricultural sector. The problem is even more acute for farmers in frontline areas: they grow their crops under constant shelling and are often unable to store or transport them safely. We therefore need the most practical solutions possible, from grain storage bags to humanitarian logistics,” Taras Vysotskyi said.

The Ministry estimates that around 5 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds are grown in frontline regions. It is therefore important to ensure that crops can be moved quickly from dangerous areas to safer locations and protected from loss.

The parties considered establishing a humanitarian mechanism to support these logistics, including the organisation of transport or partial reimbursement of the cost of moving grain from areas where hostilities are taking place or may occur.

They also discussed providing agricultural producers with temporary crop-storage capacity. In late August, the Ministry, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Food Programme and Mercy Corps launched a joint initiative to provide grain and oilseed producers with plastic storage bags.

Under the programme, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society is supplying 1,500 grain storage bags with financial support from the U.S. Department of State. The programme covers nine frontline and war-affected regions.

Ukrainian Red Cross representatives confirmed that they are ready to consider new areas of cooperation with the Ministry, including international cooperation on food security. They also expressed an interest in supporting the Food from Ukraine humanitarian initiative and promoting joint programmes abroad.

The cooperation will be carried out under the Memorandum signed by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Red Cross Society in 2025.