The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has warned that, without immediate and sustained support, thousands of rural households in Ukraine may be unable to plant or harvest on schedule—threatening both national food security and rural livelihoods.

FAO calls on donors and partners to redouble their support to Ukraine’s farming families, as their role in national food security, local economies and long-term recovery is indispensable. 

There is an urgent need for assistance to help Ukrainian farmers facing restricted access to their land due to landmines, along with insufficient funds to buy necessary agricultural supplies.

According to FAO, rural households in Ukraine – many of them elderly- or female-headed – continue to depend on agriculture for their survival. They are growing vegetables, tending to a single cow or a handful of chickens, and cultivating small plots of land – often under shelling, without reliable electricity, and with limited access to markets and supplies. What used to be a routine part of their work is now life-threatening in some regions, the organizaition said in its statement.

“With the war still affecting millions, rural frontline communities remain among the most vulnerable and the least supported. These families want to be able to provide for themselves. They want to stay on their land. And emergency agricultural support is such an effective means of enabling them to do that,” said Rein Paulsen, Director of Emergencies and Resilience at FAO, during his recent visit to Zaporizka oblast, Ukraine.

Urgent support is needed to help them safely access their fields and obtain essential production resources like seeds, fertilizers, storage and energy solutions.

According to the Fourth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, conducted by the government of Ukraine, the World Bank, the EU and the UN, Ukraine’s agriculture sector has suffered $83.9 billion in damages and losses, with an additional $1.6 billion in the irrigation sector. Rural households and small-scale farmers bear a significant share of this impact and have been forced to adapt – facing land contamination, labour shortages, rising input costs and power outages. Thousands of families still lack basic tools, inputs and services needed to sustain their production and protect their livelihoods.

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