By Faridat Salifu
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has unveiled a three-year emergency and early recovery plan aimed at safeguarding Ukraine’s agricultural livelihoods under continued conflict.
The plan, covering 2026 to 2028, requires 193 million dollars to support about 240,000 rural families and small-scale farmers across the country.
FAO said the strategy is designed to protect food production, restore damaged agricultural capacity, and strengthen the resilience of Ukraine’s agrifood sector.
Years of war have disrupted farming activities, limiting access to land, machinery, labour, and markets, particularly in frontline regions.
Agricultural infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, while explosive remnants of war continue to restrict safe access to farmland.
FAO noted that rising production costs and labour shortages have further weakened the sector’s ability to operate beyond basic survival.
The organisation said agriculture remains critical to food security, employment, and economic stability in Ukraine despite the ongoing conflict.
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture, Taras Vysotskyi, said investing in rural resilience is essential to securing the country’s food systems.
FAO’s plan links immediate emergency assistance with early recovery and longer-term resilience-building measures.
Priority areas include protecting vulnerable rural households, restoring productive assets, rehabilitating agricultural land, and supporting market-oriented and climate-resilient farming.
The response framework is built around three pillars: evidence and coordination, emergency agriculture, and early recovery.
FAO said the approach aims to ensure support is data-driven, targeted, and aligned with national priorities.
Special attention will be given to frontline communities, women, youth, internally displaced persons, and returning populations.
The plan also emphasises clearing and rehabilitating farmland affected by explosive hazards to enable safe agricultural activity.
FAO’s Head of Office in Ukraine, Shakhnoza Muminova, said predictable and sustained support is critical to prevent deeper losses in rural areas.
She said the plan is intended to bridge the gap between humanitarian aid and long-term recovery.
FAO’s current portfolio in Ukraine stands at 25.9 million dollars, with most of the funding directed toward emergency and early recovery work.
The agency said additional funding is needed to expand coverage and prevent further erosion of productive capacity.
Since the escalation of the war in 2022, FAO has supported more than 300,000 rural families and nearly 17,000 small-scale agrifood enterprises.
Assistance has included seeds, animal feed, poultry kits, irrigation systems, storage facilities, generators, cash support, and matching grants.
Satellite analysis conducted by FAO identified more than one million craters across 2.37 million hectares of land.
Based on prioritisation criteria, 32,000 hectares were selected for mine action interventions to restore agricultural use.
FAO said farmers working on more than 22,000 hectares have already received support to resume production.
The global agency said the new plan provides a framework to scale up assistance as Ukraine’s agricultural needs remain acute under continued war.
