Agriculture in Ukraine is in trouble because of the prolonged war

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 Ukraine is looking to increase grain exports to world markets as Russia launches a special military operation.


For centuries, Ukraine has been known as the food pantry of Europe. But the importance of Ukraine's contributions to the global food market only really became apparent after the Russian military campaign.


Ukraine, the second largest country in Europe (the largest being Russia), is a major exporter of cereals, including corn.


As Russian artillery and air strikes damaged roads and cut off ports in the Black Sea, Ukraine's wheat shipments were disrupted, leading to skyrocketing prices for wheat and flour.


Flat bread, made from flour, is a staple in countries like Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan. Ukraine alone accounts for nearly 9% of the world's wheat supply, and export disruptions have sent prices up.


Inflation is a headache for Ukrainian policymakers, before the Russian military launches a special military operation on February 24.


As economies reopened after two years of pandemic shutdowns, problems with global supply chains stimulated demand, driving up prices across the board. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) says global food prices are now at their highest levels since 1974 when adjusted for inflation.


Although dozens of agrarian economies have extensive irrigation systems, they have few agricultural products comparable to Ukraine.


The country of 40 million people is the world's largest exporter of sunflower oil and a major supplier of corn, barley and rye, and other grains. Ukraine is constantly on the list of the largest grain exporters.


What is special about Ukraine is that it produces more than it needs to meet domestic demand, creating a surplus of goods that can be sold on international markets.


In fact, in 2019, Ukraine overtook Russia to become the largest grain exporter with nearly 50 million tons being shipped to other countries. The strength of Ukrainian agriculture is the extremely fertile soil. Almost a quarter of the world's most fertile land, called Chernozem, is located in Ukraine.


Chernozem is black soil rich in organic matter known as "humus", which is made up of decaying plants. More than 65% of the arable land in Ukraine is made up of the Chernozem mines, which are ideal for farming. Ukraine's arable land area is very large with more than 32 million hectares, larger than the area of ​​Italy.


Difficulties


Experts estimate that Ukraine is capable of producing more grain if modern technology, finance and production methods are applied.


Currently, soil erosion is destroying Ukraine's arable land. About 500 million tons of soil is eroded every year mainly due to poor farming practices such as large-scale farming.


Climate change is also impacting "highly productive areas of the country, such as the steppe region in the south, which produces 50% of Ukraine's grain," the World Bank said. ".


Despite being located on vast fertile land, Ukraine's agricultural productivity is lower than that of other countries.


Ukraine's potential has been affected for many years by a lack of investments in modern technology due to landowners' inability to access finance.


The sale of farmland was banned in 2001 over fears that rich countries and large corporations would plunder precious farmland.


While farmers can rent out their properties, they cannot use them as collateral to borrow the money needed to buy farm equipment, such as tractors, from the bank.


“Limited access to finance, including bank loans, has long been a barrier for small and medium agricultural producers, who produces more than 50% of Ukraine's total agricultural output.


According to Roman Leshchenko, Ukraine's former Agriculture Minister, the ban on land sales has become a means for corrupt officials to make money by illegally allocating agricultural plots to developers.


"Ukrainians have not been able to make full use of this rich agricultural resource in the 30 years since the country's independence," he said.


President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lifted the ban last year, hoping that the reforms will help boost economic growth and attract foreign investment within a few years.


But the current tense and protracted hostilities have reversed those plans and added to the hardships of Ukraine's agriculture, which is in dire need of capital and technology.

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