On September 27, war-affected farmers, government officials, and international donors gathered for a roundtable discussion "18 Months of War. Losses in the agricultural sector and prospects for the industry's recovery" to jointly find solutions to key problems of the de-occupied territories: restoration of enterprises, financing of economic activities, and demining. The event was organized by the Ukrainian Agri Council with the support of the USAID Agricultural Growing Rural Opportunities Activity (AGRO).

"The losses of the agricultural sector during the war have already exceeded $40 billion, with direct losses amounting to $9 billion. Our role is to help the agricultural sector recover and build the country further. With the help of our partners, in particular the Ukrainian Agri Council and the Ukrainian Association of Communities since the beginning of the full-scale war we have already provided seed assistance to about 100,000 households, meaning that we support small and medium-sized farmers. And today we have launched another wave of support - the distribution of fertilizers. This assistance will be provided to 12,000 farmers. Our program also includes several competitions for co-financing processing projects, as well as increasing the capacity of elevators and others. All of these programs are part of USAID's AGRI-Ukraine initiative to support the full cycle, from cultivation to export," said Ksenia Sydorkina, USAID AGRO Program Director.

Due to the war, logistics are being destroyed every day, ports and railways are being hit by missiles, and it is important to help in these areas. This issue was emphasized by Oleksandr Haidu, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy: "We have developed the Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts on State Support of Agriculture and Export of Agricultural Products during Martial Law No. 8025, which provides for the attraction of international investors for the construction of multimodal terminals and wagons. A draft law on soil quality is also being developed, as a large area of the territory is contaminated with explosive remnants, which makes it impossible to grow crops."

Taras Vysotskyi, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, spoke about plans to support farmers in the de-occupied territories on a per-hectare basis, provide them with preferential lending, and finance humanitarian demining.

"There is a lack of production resources in the agricultural sector. According to the Ministry, per-hectare assistance is more universal. The draft law for 2024 provides for payments per hectare exclusively for de-occupied agricultural land, with about UAH 800 million allocated in a special fund. The budget also includes UAH 2 billion to compensate for humanitarian demining of agricultural land. Amendments to the 5-7-9 lending program have also come into effect, which provide for new special conditions for farmers from de-occupied lands. This includes the return of a preferential rate of 1% per annum and a 3% rate from the 3rd year, with the rest being compensated by the state. UAH 18 billion is allocated for this in the state budget for 2024. In fact, these will be free loans for farmers from the de-occupied territories," said Taras Vysotskyi.

The UAC Chairman, Andrii Dykun, emphasized that the restoration of the de-occupied territories should be a priority for the state.

"Restoring the agricultural sector as the engine of the country's economy is a priority for all of us. Every penny that a farmer earns is important, because it means salaries for employees and assistance to the Armed Forces. Farmers in the western and central regions are not facing the same difficulties as those in the occupied and de-occupied territories, so we need to help them today, without waiting for the war to end. That is why, we can set an example for companies in the still occupied territories. Large areas of agricultural land are contaminated and mined. We, as the UAC, have talked to almost all the global demining companies that are presented in Ukraine, and they all say that demining according to the classical system is very expensive and very time-consuming. Everyone is looking for local solutions, looking at how farmers demine their own territories. This is also a lot of money, so we need to allocate money for demining startups. There are solutions," suggested Andriy Dykun.

Farmers of the affected companies emphasize the need for affordable lending and assistance in providing production resources. Farmer Andriy Povod (private enterprise "Ukan", Kherson region) said: "The total losses of our farm amount to more than EUR 6.5 million. We started clearing our fields of mines on our own, and have already cleared about 70% of the land that was cultivated before the war. We missed the spring sowing season, and we are entering the fall sowing season with almost no equipment and fertilizers. Thanks to the UAC, we received seeds. In my opinion, the way out of the situation is through affordable loans, targeted assistance from donors in the form of machinery, seeds, fertilizers and grants for restoration."

Even those farmers who managed to partially relocate their businesses from the occupied territories need support. Serhii Rybalko, Chairman of ‘Adelaide’ Farm from Kherson region, says: "The losses of our farm in the occupied territory are over UAH 256 million. This is the officially registered figure that appears in the criminal case against the Russians, and it is 70% of our property. We managed to relocate the rest to Zhytomyr region. We have restored irrigation there, increased our income by 35%, and pay salaries and all taxes. But the situation is difficult: prices for agricultural products in the country have fallen by 30-40%, while prices for inputs have risen. We have problems with bank lending. We are denied restructuring of long-term investment loans, and a delay of at least 1 day in paying interest or principal leads to automatic blocking of all accounts and write-offs."

During the event, representatives of international support programs for de-occupied and affected farmers spoke about opportunities to support the agricultural sector. Arsenii Polozhiy, Regional Competitiveness Advisor of the USAID Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine (CEP), spoke about support for enterprises that, in addition to classic agricultural production, have processing and generate high value-added products, and also focused on the program for assessing losses.

"We have several regional initiatives, in particular in Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and partly Kyiv regions, to reimburse the costs of assessing losses and damage caused by Russian military aggression. Documentation of losses is very important and should be done as soon as possible."

Daryna Sydorenko, Head of the Monitoring and Evaluation Department of the humanitarian organization Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe, informed about the support provided to the agricultural sector and announced a new project for livestock farms. "Last year, we provided heifers, veterinary medicines, premixes, and fuel for harvesting. On October 1, 2023, a new project to assist small farms in livestock production will start and will operate in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Kherson regions," said Daryna Sydorenko.

The work to restore the affected agricultural enterprises will gain momentum. Serhiy Kubakh, Land Reform Team Leader of the USAID AGRO Program, emphasized: "Back in the summer of 2022, we started talking about supporting farmers on the de-occupied lands, and the urgency of the problem is only growing.  We have raised many important issues today and I urge the Government, donors and farmers to join forces to solve them."

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The USAID Agricultural Growing Rural Opportunities Activity (AGRO) Program is a program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), implemented by Chemonics International. The goal of the program is to accelerate economic development in Ukraine's most vulnerable rural communities by improving agricultural sector governance, which will lead to the development of more productive, modern, and profitable micro, small, and medium-sized agricultural enterprises (MSMEs). The objectives of the USAID AGRO Program are to improve productivity and market access in targeted value chains, and to improve support functions and the regulatory framework in the agricultural sector. The USAID AGRO Program will help increase agricultural MSMEs' incomes and access to finance and create a fair and transparent agricultural land market in Ukraine, which will reduce corruption in the agricultural sector. AGRO Facebook page.

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the lead development agency of the United States Government. USAID has been working with Ukraine since 1992, supporting Ukraine in strengthening its resilience to Russian aggression and advancing its democratic and economic development. Currently, there are 42 USAID programs in response to Ukraine's immediate needs and long-term development goals as an independent, sovereign, democratic, and prosperous country. Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, USAID has provided $24.9 billion in total assistance to Ukraine, including $2.8 billion in humanitarian assistance and more than $2.3 billion in development assistance.