Flak Jackets in Fields: Ukrainian Farmers Fight for Their Future
Even as American farmers face planting delays, input shortages and record diesel prices, it’s nothing like the struggles their counterparts in Ukraine are facing.
Destruction and devastation consume the Ukrainian countryside. Farms have turned into battlegrounds as Russia’s invasion continues.
“A farmer I know was captured by Russian military,” says Roman Grynyshyn, an Ukrainian refugee and former agricultural tour guide. “He finally answered me, saying: ‘Roman, I cannot talk long, and you understand why. I am safe. We are trying to work.’”
These farmers are trying to work even as their homes and barns are caught in the crossfire. Grynyshyn says ag infrastructure, equipment and even fields have been targeted.
“The territories that were under occupation but are now free have a huge risk of landmines,” he says.
FLAK JACKETS IN FIELDS
Landmines and munitions (military weapons and ammunition) litter fields. Yet, farmers work those fields.
“The farmer goes into the field wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet knowing there might be a mine, but he’s still planting. Why? Because he needs to pay the landholders,” Grynyshyn says. “He has to pay for the rental of the land because they also depend on him.”
While the fighting in Ukraine might be isolated, the impacts are global.
“Farmers and some of our commercial customers had their silos bombed and wheat spilled everywhere,” says David Postill, senior vice president of marketing and customer experience at Canadian-based Ag Growth International (AGI). “The whole food supply chain is being destroyed.”
AGI has been trying to help by raising money and sending medical supplies to the region via their own logistics channels and people.
HUNGER AS A TOOL IN WAR
In May, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack met with his counterparts to address the situation in the Ukraine.
“We know Russia is using hunger as a tool in their unjust war on Ukraine,” Vilsack shared via Twitter.
“They are stealing the grain produced by courageous Ukrainian farmers that people in many countries around the world rely on to feed their families.”
The United Nations reached out to Russia requesting the Black Sea ports be reopened so food can reach people facing food insecurity in countries such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria and Yemen. In these countries, millions of people are facing hunger.
Before the war, most of the food produced in Ukraine was exported through the country’s seven Black Sea ports including close to 51 million metric tons of grain last year.
“We’re running out of time, and the impact of inaction will be felt around the world for years to come,” says David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP). “Ukraine’s grain silos are full. We have to open up these ports so food can move in and out of Ukraine.”
2022 was already forecast to be one of catastrophic hunger. WFP’s analysis found 276 million people were facing acute hunger at the start of the year. That number could rise by 47 million if the conflict in Ukraine continues, with the steepest rises in Africa.
In a typical year, Ukraine is estimated to help feed 400 million people around the world. While it might be a major exporter, today its future rests in the hands of those still at home.
“About 56% of Ukrainians have farmland,” Grynyshyn says.
SMALL FARMS, BIG IMPACT
The smallholder farms remain a vital part of the ag industry. For instance, he says those farms, ranging from two to 500 acres, produce at least 30% of the crops and up to half of all the livestock-related products.
Small farmers grow 90% of the potatoes, 60% of the milk and nearly half of the small grains. Grynyshyn says the smallholder farmers will be the ones who provide the food when villagers return to rebuild.
“They are actually the second battlefield, the farmers,” he says. “First is the military, and these people are the second. They will be the ones to whom we will come next month and ask to give us something to eat.”
Even halfway around the world, it’s a job American farmers can recognize. The language and cultures might be different, but the passion and determination to do the work is the same.
Food is essential to sustaining life and will ultimately be the key to rebuilding Ukraine’s future.
Read More
Upset to Global Agricultural Trade? Long-Term Impacts of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Is the World Really Running Out of Wheat?
Ukraine Reports Major Drop in Grain Exports, Egypt Refuses Shipment of Ukrainian Wheat
Clinton Griffiths is a TV newsman, turned magazine editor, with a passion for good stories. He believes the best life lessons can be found down a dirt road.
