Improving food security in Ukraine through agricultural recovery
“I am so grateful for this project, this support, thank you.” – Nadia, project participant
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia began a broad military assault on Ukraine. Since then, millions of Ukrainians have endured intense hostilities, which killed and injured thousands of civilians, forced millions from their homes, and destroyed livelihoods. To this day, civilian infrastructure, including aid facilities, is being attacked. The war has destroyed livelihoods and threatened food security throughout Ukraine.
The Center for Disaster Philanthropy awarded a grant from the CDP Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Recovery Fund to Corus International to rebuild the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and internally displaced people, increase local climate-adaptive agricultural capacity and production, and improve food security in Kharkiv Oblast.
With this support, Corus implemented a project called “Restoring Livelihoods in Agriculture in Ukraine,” which included distributing materials and training participants to help them restore farming on their properties and increase food production. One of the thousands of people Corus helped through this project was Nadia.
Nadia is a 63-year-old woman who lives in Derhachi, Kharkiv, with her two grandchildren and two cats. She has been a farmer her entire life and has a small garden of 0.2 hectares (about half an acre).
Shortly after the war started, large swaths of territory in Kharkiv were occupied by Russian forces.
Nadia recalled: “The village became a frontline, and almost everyone left after the occupation. I was one of only four households who remained.”
The area was heavily shelled, and Nadia’s home sustained some exterior damage. During the time that Derhachi was occupied, shelling occurred daily, and Nadia was not able to tend her farm.
Although the area has since been liberated, Nadia needed help to get back on her feet. Corus stepped in to provide support.
Through the program, Nadia received one package of ‘Borscht Seeds,’ which included seeds for tomato, cabbage, onion, carrots, beets and dill, along with lids for canning and preserving harvested vegetables. She also received essential agriculture tools to support the maintenance of her farm, including a grass cutter, chain saw and an electric water sprayer.
By October, when the harvest season was nearing its end, she had harvested all the vegetables she had planted; she even shared some of the tomato seeds with her neighbors.
“I cooked and ate the vegetables, made borscht, and the rest have been stored in the cellar.”
Inside her cellar, the shelves are lined with jars of tomato, beets, onions and tomato juice— an essential ingredient for Borscht—and many pickled variations of the vegetables. Many of the jars are topped with the special canning lids provided by Corus to preserve the contents through winter, and she said she has stored enough to last her through the winter months.
Nadia also gained new knowledge about production for winter food security through her attendance at multiple training sessions developed by Ukrainian agricultural organizations that Corus supported throughout the project to revitalize agricultural extension services with specialized wartime considerations. Some of the most useful information was about preventing pests from infecting crops and shifting agriculture methods.
When speaking to Corus about the project, Nadia expressed immense gratitude for the support she received and said, “Your support has helped me so much; it has lifted my life.”
Nadia is just one of the 5,715 people Corus has helped through this project. Check out this video to hear from other participants and learn more about the work:
Livelihood support is crucial for long-term recovery and resilience. CDP is proud to support Corus International’s efforts to provide critical agricultural livelihood recovery solutions, strengthen local capacities and systems, and improve food security and household income for war-affected populations in Ukraine.
We are also pleased to share that CDP’s funding helped Corus source $1.3 million in additional funding from other donors who were willing to follow the path of recovery and learning. This enabled Corus to expand the benefits to larger geographies, position local organizations to serve as the masterminds of the project design, and demonstrate the true spirit of partnership and localization.
Story by Ruja Entcheva from information provided by Corus.
