Protecting the harvest and ensuring farmers’ financial resilience: Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and the UN discuss a comprehensive support plan for Ukraine’s agricultural sector

Due to systematic attacks on the port and logistics infrastructure of Greater Odesa, Ukraine’s agricultural sector is facing a shortage of grain storage capacity and the risk of reduced sown areas. To minimise the impact of the crisis on Ukrainian farmers and global food security, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, together with UN food agencies, is strengthening its support programme for agricultural producers.

Issues of rapid response and coordination of donor assistance were discussed during a working meeting attended by Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Taras Vysotskyi, UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Matthias Schmale, as well as the leadership of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

“We face two key tasks. The first is to prevent spoilage of the already harvested crop and to provide storage capacity. According to our calculations, the storage deficit could reach 11 million tonnes as early as this autumn, and the funding requirement for this area stands at USD 44 million.

The second, equally critical task is to provide farmers with working capital. Even if grain can be preserved in sleeves, farms still have to cover monthly operating costs and pay wages. The greatest challenge today is the compensation of interest rates on loans. If we fail to support farmers’ financial resilience, there is a risk that sown areas for the next harvest will be reduced by 5–7 million hectares,” Taras Vysotskyi emphasised.

To support preferential lending for farmers, Ukraine has already submitted an official request to the European Union for the allocation of EUR 220 million to compensate interest rates on bank loans.

UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Matthias Schmale assured that the meeting has been held to clearly reaffirm that the UN heard Ukraine’s request and is ready to strengthen its support. He stated that the main task at that point is to mobilise resources promptly, provide the necessary equipment and use existing humanitarian instruments to help the agricultural sector overcome current challenges as quickly as possible.

FAO, WFP and other international donors expressed readiness to supply Ukrainian farmers with up to 10,000 grain sleeves, as well as modular storage facilities.

FAO Ukraine Head Shakhnoza Muminova informed that the first deliveries of temporary grain sleeves, supported by international donors, are expected in the near future. Approximately 60% of all temporary storage capacity is planned to be directed to frontline and the most affected regions.

In parallel, FAO is developing special support instruments for small and medium-sized farms that have limited access to traditional bank financing.

Meeting participants noted that talks have already moved from general agreements to discussion of technical aspects. A series of consultations between donors and international partners will take place shortly to agree a clear mechanism for collecting and processing applications from Ukrainian farmers, detail regional needs and form a concrete assistance package.

A separate important topic of the talks was the readiness of UN structures to become more actively involved in addressing systemic problems caused by the war and overcoming its consequences. UN representatives confirmed their readiness to respond promptly to Ukraine’s emergency requests, mobilise resources from the international community, expand operational assistance and support Ukraine in overcoming humanitarian and economic challenges.

For its part, Ukraine reaffirmed its commitment to its international obligations and to continuing the humanitarian initiative “Food from Ukraine”, remaining one of the key guarantors of global food security.

Following the meeting, the parties agreed a joint action algorithm for attracting additional donor funding from international financial institutions, including the World Bank, as well as private humanitarian funds. Analytical calculations by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food will form the basis for mobilising these resources.