Posted on October, 17, 2024 at 12:11 am
Before the war, Ukraine fed more than 400 million people, taking a leading place in the export of sunflower oil and grain, but constant shelling of agricultural and port infrastructure complicated exports and threatened food supplies for millions of people around the world, the press service of the USAID AGRO program reported on Facebook.
"Despite all the risks, Ukrainian farmers continue to sow, grow and harvest crops. And we are grateful to all Ukrainian farmers for this hard daily work," the USAID AGRO program noted on World Food Day and promised to continue their support.
According to the announcement, from July 2022, more than 15,000 Ukrainian farmers, which make up 34% of the country's registered agricultural producers, received seeds, fertilizers, plant protection products and means of storing products, as well as financial resources for the production of agricultural products within the framework of the USAID AGRI-Ukraine initiative. This support helped collect and store more than 5.5 million tonnes of grain, which brought more than $1 billion in revenue to the Ukrainian economy.
USAID AGRO informed about the continuation of the implementation of projects on the development of capacities for grain storage and subsequent processing. In particular, 25 partner elevators will double their capacity for grain storage, create opportunities for additional storage of more than 1 million tonnes of grain annually, which compensates for about 15% of the capacity lost due to the war. As a result, more than 1,000 agricultural MSMEs will have access to grain storage and processing services.
In addition, the USAID AGRO program implements 20 projects on the processing of grains, oilseeds, and legumes into food, feed, and industrial products. As part of the projects, the processors will attract more than 1,200 agro-MSMEs to cooperation and will create additional capacities for processing more than 1.1 million tonnes of agricultural products per year.
Source: Interfax