FAO and WFP launch program to help farmers clear mines from fields in Ukraine

June 22 () –

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP), together with the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action, have launched a joint program to help small farmers to clear mines in Ukrainian crop fields.

“Many families are not planting this season because they know their fields are dangerous or they are risking their lives to plant on mined land or contaminated soil,” said Pierre Vauthier, head of the FAO office in Ukraine.

For his part, the WFP representative in Ukraine, Matthew Hollingworth, stated that “without urgent action, agricultural production in Ukraine will collapse, with direct consequences for food security” and with harmful effects for regional and world markets.

The program, which seeks to clear the soils of the cultivation fields from mines and other explosive remains to once again allow cultivation on plots of less than 300 hectares, has begun in the Kharkiv province and is expected to be extended to Mikolaiv and Kherson.

This initiative will help restore agricultural livelihoods, contribute to Ukraine’s economic recovery and gradually eliminate the need for humanitarian assistance for thousands of rural families, according to a statement from FAO and WFP.

According to data collected by the organizations, grain and seed production decreased by 37 percent in 2022 in Ukraine. Nearly 90 percent of small crop producers surveyed by FAO reported a decline in income due to the war, while one in four claimed to have stopped or significantly reduced their farming activity.