Ukraine: Communities need ‘immediate support' to produce food

Agriland

2 days ago

Rural communities in Ukraine 'need immediate support' to produce food amid the ongoing war with Russia, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
With the war ongoing, many Ukrainian farmers and rural farming families face limited access to their land due to mines and lack the financial resources to purchase needed agricultural inputs, the FAO said.
It warned that without 'urgent and sustained support', thousands of rural households may be unable to plant or harvest on time, jeopardizing Ukraine's national food security and rural livelihoods.
The FAO said urgent support is needed to help farmers in the country safely access their fields and obtain essential production resources like seeds, fertilisers, storage and energy solutions.
'Meeting the needs of Ukraine's rural communities requires more than emergency assistance – it demands sustained, well-coordinated response to support agri-food systems,' the organisation said.
According to the FAO, the coming months will determine whether rural producers in Ukraine can sustain production through the winter and into the next season.
'Across the country, rural households – many of them elderly, or female-headed – continue to depend on agriculture for their survival,' the FAO said.
These households may be growing vegetables; tending to a single cow or a handful of chickens; and cultivating small plots of land, without a reliable source of electricity and with limited access to markets and supplies.
Rein Paulsen, director of emergencies and resilience at the FAO, said: 'With the war still affecting millions, rural frontline communities remain among the most vulnerable and the least supported.
'These families want to be able to provide for themselves. They want to stay on their land. And emergency agricultural support is such an affective means of enabling them to do that,' Paulsen added.
According to an assessment carried out by Ukraine's government, the World Bank, the EU and the UN, the country's agriculture sector has suffered $83.9 billion in damages and losses, with an additional $1.6 billion in the irrigation sector.
The FAO said rural households and small-scale farmers bear a significant share of this impact and have been forced to adapt, facing land contamination, labour shortages, rising input costs and power outages.
Thousands of families still lack basic tools, inputs, and services needed to sustain their production and protect their livelihoods.
Since 2022, the FAO has supported over 250,000 rural families with vegetable seeds, animal feed, day-old chicks, cash and vouchers, with more than 15,000 farmers receiving crop seeds, temporary storage and financial assistance.
The FAO has also worked with others to survey land mins and restore access to fields.
Despite that support, the FAO said 'much more is needed', with many rural Ukrainian families at risk of 'being left behind'.
Paulsen said: 'This work is absolutely indispensable. Agriculture is a fabric of rural society. It's not just a way to make a living, it's a way of living. And vulnerable rural families are holding on. They need support not just to survive, but to thrive and rebuild.'
The FAO called on its donors and partners to 'redouble their support' to Ukraine's farming families, amid funding shortfalls that the FAO said continue to limit the implementation of its Emergency and Early Recovery Response Plan for 2025-2026.