Background Ukraine
'Ukrainian agriculture is too export-oriented'
The war in Ukraine has put food security back on the political agenda. Not only in the Middle East and North Africa are governments concerned about securing enough grain to feed the population, there are also concerns about food security in Ukraine itself. The solution to keep food production going can come from a surprising source.
When we think of Ukraine, we mainly think of large commercially run former collective farms financed by (foreign) investors. The Ukrainian government's agricultural policy is also mainly aimed at these companies, with little attention being paid to small and medium-sized companies. In fact, farmers with less than 100 hectares are not even classified as farmers by the government. According to Ecoruralis, which represents 17.000 small farmers, this is not right.
Large companies do not offer security
Small farms ranging in size from less than one hectare to just over 100 hectares occupy 12% of the agricultural area in Ukraine, according to Ecoruralis. On that basis they produce 52,7% of the gross domestic agricultural production. Of the total potato production, 98% of these relatively small farms come 86% from the vegetables, 85% from the fruit and 81% from the milk. The large agribusinesses work about two-thirds of Ukraine's agricultural land. The outbreak of war has brought work to a standstill at many of the largely oligarch-controlled companies. "Nobody really talks about who stayed on the farm," Attila Szocs of Ecoruralis told Euractiv. "But who are the ones who are farming in Ukraine now, who is managing the country's food security? Those are the small farmers who produce a lot of these foods and who now stay on the land and actually feed the population."
In times of peace, the focus on big business may be justifiable, according to Mykola Pugachov, deputy director of the Ukrainian Institute of Agrarian Economy. "During a crisis, it is especially important to ensure food security and efficiency of the private farmers, the individuals," says Pugachov at Euractiv. Ukrainian agricultural policy is aimed at the large agricultural companies that produce for export. With this, Ukraine is in fact subsidizing exports, according to Szocs. According to both experts, small and micro businesses should be more involved in agricultural policy to safeguard their own food security. "This creates employment in rural areas and at the same time contributes to better physical and financial access to agricultural goods," according to Pugachov.
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
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