Ukraine’s small farmers, who are playing a critical role in feeding the population during the war, will be eligible for funding through the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development following Ukraine’s induction into the body on Wednesday, officials said.
Ukraine’s small farmers “played a fundamental role in feeding the country” during the war, producing up to 80% of the dairy, fruit and vegetables consumed by the population, IFAD said in a statement.
Farmers in the western provinces, where many people have fled to escape fighting in the east, “will need support to meet the growing demand for food,” the organization said.
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Farms are also a major source of income for some 13 million Ukrainians living in rural areas as poverty and malnutrition are becoming widespread, IFAD said. According to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, many people living in rural areas are on the brink of poverty, with 44% living below subsistence levels and 7% suffering from malnutrition. .
Corn is harvested on a farm in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. Small farms in Ukraine are eligible for funding through the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development. (Oleksandr Lapin/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
IFAD membership will give farmers access to both grants and loans, as well as non-core funds, the officials said. IFAD has provided more than US$24 billion to finance projects in developing countries since 1978.
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Ukraine’s membership in IFAD, under discussion since 2016, also recognizes Ukraine’s role as a major global producer and exporter of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, as the ripple effect of war shakes the global supply chain.
“Despite the war, Ukraine is still committed to contributing to world food security, calming the food crisis and saving millions of people from starvation,” Yaroslav Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Italy, said after he was awarded the membership.
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“However, this requires international assistance and investment, in particular… support to increase exports and to carry out planting and harvesting campaigns,” he said.
