--News Direct--
On the one year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Global Farmer Network® (GFN®) farmer members reflect on the numerous hardships this war has brought to Ukraine and the agriculture industry. Global Farmer Network hosted their inaugural event February 5-11 in Argentina, with the theme, “Mobilizing the GFN in Support of a Resilient Agri-Food System”. Farmers are known to be resilient and hard-working. Many farmers around the world are struggling with increasing input costs and weather related issues, however Ukrainian farmers are faced with challenges many could not fathom.
Agriculture is extremely important to Ukraine’s economy, with more than 55% of the land used for agricultural purposes and 41% agricultural exports in 2021. Ukraine was also the largest global exporter of sunflower oil, sunflower meal and millet in 2021. Due to the war, there has been an estimated $6.6 billion in damages to agriculture and land resources alone.
GFN member and Ukrainian farmer, Kees Huizinga, understands the resiliency and the challenges facing the agri-food system all too well. Kees has experienced the impacts of the war first hand and is a symbol of resilience. He has seen fellow farmers impacted mentally and physically from the war.
“In the beginning of the war, I started mentioning the stress this war would put on the global food supply chain, and that 2023 would be worse if we don't stop the Russians quickly,” Huizinga stated. “Now I am afraid that this is exactly what is going to happen.”
“Our infrastructure, exports, and agricultural system are broken and face years of challenges ahead,” says Huizinga. “I believe this year will be extremely difficult for our farmers, and it’s more important than ever to continue to vocalize the challenges we are facing with other nations.”
The Ukrainian agricultural industry has a direct impact on the global food supply chain. “I talked to fertilizer traders and they have only been trading 50% of the fertilizer compared to other years, this will have a direct impact on the yields,” Huizinga explained. “Wheat production in Ukraine will be down from more than 20 million tons to 12-16 million tons with 80% feed grade wheat. That will have a major impact again on the world food supply.”
Antonia Broyaka, an Extension Associate at Kansas State University and native Ukrainian, also understands the struggles Ukrainian farmers are facing first hand. Broyaka fled Ukraine in March of 2022 following the invasion of Russia, and has since found residency in Manhattan, Kansas where she studies the economic impact the war is taking on Ukraine.
“We decided to leave to protect our children,” Broyaka explained. “Of course, we did not think that we would be gone for so long…We thought this was just for a few weeks. And now it is a year since we left our home and there is still a lot of uncertainty ahead.”
While 2022 has been a struggle for many Ukrainian farmers, 2023 shows no signs of improvement. There are long lasting effects from the war including food security and infrastructure issues. There is an estimated $137.8 billion in damages and destroyed infrastructure and 50% of the energy systems have been destroyed.
“Unfortunately, after this terrible war Ukraine will never be the same,” said Broyaka. “It will take decades and billions of dollars to rebuild and restore our economy, but it should be done according to the principle of “build back better” to ensure competitive advantages for Ukraine on the world market.”
“It is also necessary to develop new agrotechnological approaches to the cultivation of agricultural crops to restore soil fertility; to breed new, more resistant crop varieties, improve irrigation systems to increase yields,” Broyaka stated. “Considering the fact that Ukrainian agriculture is export-oriented, the development and improvement of logistics is the key to the realization of Ukraine's export potential in the future.”
While farmers are resilient, the long term damages to their land, equipment and basic necessities will be extremely hard to overcome. As Kees Huizinga stated, “We have a big challenge to chase the Russians out of Ukraine, however for farming, we will somehow manage, farmers are creative and flexible.”
To learn more about the Global Farmer Network and the mission of connecting farmers and serving the global agricultural community, visit: globalfarmernetwork.org
Support Ukraine by donating through The Leeuw Kyiv Foundation: https://en.deleeuwkyiv.nl/
Contact Details
AgCulture Marketing
Delaney Howell
+1 563-299-3035
delaney@agculturemarketing.com
Company Website
https://globalfarmernetwork.org/
View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/resilience-in-war-and-farming-ukrainian-farmers-facing-tough-2023-260258140
