EU, FAO to allocate $15.5 mln to Ukrainian farmers

MOSCOW. Jan 11 (Interfax) - The European Union in partnership with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will finance rural households, smallholder farmers and small-scale agricultural enterprises in Ukraine's western regions for a total of $15.5 million.

As the Ukrainian media reported on January 5, citing the FAO website, grants amounting from $1,000 to $25,000 will be provided to farmers producing high added-value agricultural products: berry, vegetable and aquaculture production for the Lvov region; Hutsul sheep feta, Hutsul cow feta, Transcarpathian honey and Transcarpathian wine for the Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankovsk and part of the Chernovtsy regions.

"This is needed to address food insecurity elsewhere in the country in the immediate and short term," Sector Manager for Agriculture at the EU Delegation to Ukraine Christian Ben Hell said.

It is noted that the grants will be distributed via the State Agrarian Registry of Ukraine from March 2023. Funds will be provided to farmers and agricultural producers in Ukrainian hryvnia at the current exchange rate, and the beneficiaries will be required to make a certain contribution to finance their proposed investment. Specific criteria for the program will be made public as part of the communication campaign, which will begin shortly.

"In addition, the project aims to assist the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences in preserving a unique national collection of plant genetic resources, which is of global significance in terms of the volume and diversity of genetic material. The project will secure and safeguard the collections of the Ukrainian plant genetic resources by moving them to a safe storage location and will improve the collections database with modern IT support," the statement said.