Rapid Needs Assessment Agriculture Sector Donetsk and Luhansk Regions Food Security Cluster, 21 January 2015, Kiev, Ukraine
Background FAO and Ministry of Agriculture Policy and Food decided to carry out a joint rapid needs assessment in agriculture sector on the effects of conflict in the east and propose a plan of action A joint mission was fielded comprised of international and national experts and a senior official from the Ministry
Mission Composition 1. Rajendra Aryal – Senior Regional Emergency Coordinator, FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia 2. Tetiana Lazar – Director, Department on Farming and Technical Policy in Agriculture Sector , Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine 3. Olga Koreniuk – Programme Officer, FAO Ukraine Government officers and farm enterprises accompanied the mission during the field visits in Donetsk and Luhansk regions
Field Mission Itinerary 16 January – Travel to Kharkiv 17 January – Travel to Sloviansk, meeting with Government officials and farmers, and field visit 18 January – Travel to Severodonetsk, meeting with Government officials and farmers, and field visit 19 January – Meeting with UNHCR, interaction with shelter cluster members and return travel to Kiev
Map
General Situation Big farmers leasing land in Donbas region (2000 – 4000 ha) from the small shareholders and practicing agriculture (crop, horticulture, orchards) as enterprises Families (shareholders) leasing out the land to the enterprises hold land size ranging from 8 to 2500 ha of land Some of them are even employed in such lands on monthly salaries Many of them are elderly people with pension and already vulnerable Most of these households practice small agriculture at the backyard and grow food for their own consumption (vegetables, potatoes, sugar beets), keep livestock (meat, milk) and sell surplus produce in the local market Average rent ranges from UAH 600 to 1300 per year IDPs have moved in some villages where these families are living in
Major Observations Farmers close to the ‘borderline’ Up to 30% of the winter wheat was lost in June/July due to conflict Lot of people could not plant spring crops (barley, corn) due to the ongoing shelling and fighting, and nearly 50% of the autumn crop could not planted in some areas Spring sunflower that could not be harvested got matured with seeds falling on the field affecting land for subsequent cropping season - meanwhile lower production affecting the raw material supply to oil industries Fields were also burnt due to shelling affecting harvest Farmers are worried about winter wheat (major crop) due to lack of sufficient fertilizer, which is needed after snow starts melting away Displaced families that have returned back need to restore their agriculture, but lack capital to purchase the inputs (seed, fertilizer, animal feed, etc)
Major Observations … Contd. Farmers close to the ‘borderline’ Biggest poultry holding, pig farms and cropping land close to the borderline on both sides have been severely damaged Many livestock heads were either killed or taken away by the rebels during the fight ( e.g. out of 53,000 cows in the Donbas region, 10,000 heads have been reported killed ) and livestock shelters have been damaged or destroyed Farmers were forced to slaughter many cattle and pigs due to fear of losing them or lack of animal feed
Major Observations … Contd. Fuel and fertilizer prices have gone up Trade with Russia has disrupted, so is the opportunity to sell the produce – enterprises are facing difficulty to transport the produce to other areas due to increasing costs and the need to detour Devaluation of UAH against USD is exacerbating the situation as the input prices have gone up, but the prices of agriculture produce have remained unchanged Access to credit is a major concern - farmers face difficulty accessing credit from the banks for restoring agriculture
Major Observations … Contd. Damages and losses to individual enterprises were reported as high as USD1 million Donetsk region, however farming needs to resume and continue The enterprises are already losing and are therefore face difficulty in paying the land rent to the small shareholders Some lands are still mined and trenches are dug – these lands cannot be planted, especially for those whose lands are stretched along the ‘borderline’ and fall in highly insecured zone ( UXOs are littering around )
Major Observations … Contd. A greenhouse visited reported to have lost 400 MT of vegetable harvest – damaged greenhouses need to be refurbished Fruit orchards near the ‘borderline’ could not harvest due to ongoing conflict – one orchard of about 30 ha reported the loss of 500 MT of apple Orchards need to be made ready for spring with fertilizer, herbicide and fungicide, labour charges and rent Machineries such as cultivator, seeder, harvester, tractors, and accessories were lost or damaged by shelling, or taken away
Major Observations..Contd. Small households ( mostly unregistered shareholders including pensioners ) and practicing agriculture and livestock at their backyard and small land plots Problems faced by the bigger farms due to price hike in fuel and fertilizer, devaluation of currency, loss of harvest and difficulty in restarting the farming due to lack of capital for inputs directly threaten the rental income of these small families. Families living in the villages within 40- 60 km of the ‘borderline’ in Luhansk have lost many livestock ( an example from a nearby village where 100 cows were killed out of a total stock of 120 in Northern Luhansk ). Some families need money to repair house damages, which limits their capability to purchase crop and livestock inputs. Small families supported by the farming enterprises with inputs and machineries may not get support the next season due to problems faced by the these enterprises Supplementary feed and crop input packages to sustain their subsistence form of farming is an important priority
UXO in the crop field
Shelling into the crop field
Damaged Greenhouse
Apple Orchard
Damaged machineries
What is to be done then immediately? Urgent support is needed for the small families with supplementary animal feed Crop input package is needed for the small families and IDP families, who will be given access to land by the Rayon administration and are ready to farm Urgent lobbying is needed at the higher level for facilitating access to credit to the farming enterprises to restore cropping, livestock, horticulture, orchards and machineries
Risk and Challenges • Escalation of conflict may impede interventions • Selection of the target beneficiary groups for animal feed and crop input packages need very good coordination with the local authorities • Logistics / operations and distribution costs would be higher due to bad road conditions • Terrain is still covered with snow and the next planting season is in April • Lack of employment of IDPs in the villages could disturb the social fabric • Support to agriculture needs cannot be delayed
Medium- to long-term intervention • Introduction of improved varieties of fruit tree seedlings would be an opportunity to attract small families into fruit growing • Replacement of damaged or lost machineries with modern ones- BBB? • Introduction of modern technology in farming to reduce investment costs and make farming more energy-efficient and environment-friendly (example from the farm in Sloviansk using the energy-efficient and environment-friendly technology) • Risk-insurance is something to be looked at, as none of the damaged assets and produce were insured • Building resilience of small farming families against similar disasters in future (man-made and natural) – THIS NEEDS TO BE ANALYZED FURTHER
Thank You for your attention
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