Today, Ukraine is suffering from military aggression. The losses suffered by the agricultural sector threaten the food security of the world. In order to rebuild the agricultural industry, it is necessary to record the crimes of the Russian Federation in such a way that the materials do not have a chance to be questioned in international courts.

This was discussed on December 14 in Kharkiv, where with the assistance of the Ukrainian Agri Council and USAID’s Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities Activity (AGRO) agrarians and experts gathered at the round table "9 months of war. Damages to the agricultural sector and prospects for its compensation".

Ksenia Sydorkina, head of the USAID AGRO program, noted: "Today I want to talk about the future, about reconstruction and restoration. The agrarian front continues fighting for the food security of the world, despite the fact that the industry's losses have already exceeded $40 billion. Agricultural producers cannot be left alone with their problems, it is necessary to form a database on the crimes of the Russian Federation. The process of future compensation for damages is still unclear, but it is necessary to document them now so as not to lose the opportunity to receive compensation later." 

According to her, USAID’s Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities Activity (AGRO) has already planned many new projects in agriculture sector. In particular, it will support projects on deep processing of agricultural products, as well as help with fertilizers and seeds. 

Ukraine is already counting the losses of the war. So far, there is no single methodology, but a single state register is already being formed. According to the estimates of the Kyiv School of Economics, which Professor Oleg Nivievskyi announced, the agricultural sector, which even before the war created 20% of GDP, amounts to $127 billion, as of September 2022. The direct losses - $6.6 billion, indirect - $34.5 billion - almost half received by farmers due to the blockade of sea ports by Russian forces and limited opportunities to export products. 

"We have low purchase prices for agricultural products, farmers have problems with liquidity and profitability. Because of this, the harvest is delayed in Ukraine, there are problems with sowing", Oleg Nivievskyi named the current challenges of the agricultural sector. 

Kharkiv Oblast is a vivid example of significant destruction of the agricultural sector. Andrii Dorozhko, Director of the Department of Agro-Industrial Development of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, spoke about the situation in the region: "500,000 hectares need survey for demining, sown areas have already been reduced by 54% this year, corn has been harvested by 72% less, 68% of winter crops have been sown for last year's indicators. There is a decrease in volumes in animal husbandry: the production of eggs decreased by 36%, meat - by more than 50%. 

Today, in order to record the damage, it is advisable to use video and photography as much as possible with an ordinary smartphone, which will serve as evidence and will inspire the confidence of international authorities.

Andrii Martyn, senior project manager of Land Reform of the Office of Reforms of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine gave his recommendations to agricultural producers:

"A very important issue will be the accuracy of the damage assessment. There is a risk that we will not be trusted, since the affected side cannot be objective. Therefore, methods of recording losses are needed. The most promising direction of compensation is actual loss, damage and destruction. There will be problems with lost profit, because it is more difficult to prove. But if, according to the experience of past wars, gathering evidence took a long time, it took years, then today Ukraine has a chance to significantly speed up these processes. In the 1990s, oral testimony could be used as evidence, today we have smartphones that can be used to take photos and videos of the destruction and show it. Smartphones are a powerful tool. Photos and videos will be accepted as evidence by international authorities, where case management algorithms are much simpler."

The farmers’ key task today is to document losses. At the same time, the bank of evidence should be such that the Ukrainian side will be trusted in international courts, and the agricultural sector should be able to receive compensation.

"From the very beginning of work on this issue, it was clear that there are certain uncertainties regarding the mechanism of compensation, but currently there is confidence that compensation will be provided, and agricultural producers should now spend time documenting the losses, " stressed Deputy Chairman of the UAC Dmytro Kokhan.

We will remind you that the Ukrainian Agri Council and USAID’s Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities Activity (AGRO) have launched a joint project to support the economic recovery of the agricultural sector of Ukraine, which suffered as a result of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.

The project implements the best international practices in recording war crimes and calculating the losses caused by them. Developed methodological recommendations are available at https://bit.ly/3VsTZwj

An evidence database based on the collected information is created to confirm the crimes committed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. In the future, the collected evidence base will be used to submit individual applications or to join already existing collective lawsuits in international courts to get the compensation for the damage caused.

Our team is ready to provide free professional support for affected farmers. To receive the service, please contact us by tel. +38 067 503 19 08. In addition, since November 2, the Interactive map of the destruction of the agricultural sector of Ukraine has been functioning. The portal was created to show real losses of agricultural enterprises caused by Russian aggression.

The collected evidence can be used as an example for your own fixation, also the data displayed on the map will help charitable organizations and international investors to get information about the destruction in order to support enterprises in the future.

Agricultural enterprises can participate in the collection of the evidence base on war crimes at www.agrirecovery.com.ua.

The event was possible thanks to the generous support of the American people provided through the USAID’s Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities Activity (AGRO) implemented by Chemonics International. The authors views do not necessarily reflect the view of USAID or the United States Government.