Livestock feed distribution to benefit 5 000 households in eastern Ukraine

An additional 5 000 households will be assisted under FAO’s emergency response and recovery programme in conflict-affected eastern Ukraine, bringing to 45 000 the number of people assisted.

This time, 5 000 smallholder farms from 32 villages of Donetsk region and 17 villages of Luhansk region are receiving help from FAO in the form of livestock feed packages. All of the selected villages are located within 5-10 kilometers from the contact line.

Each beneficiary household will receive 125 kilograms of concentrated animal feed package to ensure balanced nutrition for their livestock. Specifically, each household is receiving 50 kilos of crushed corn, 50 kilos of wheat, and 25 kilos of soymeal – to help maintain good nutrition for cattle, swine and poultry.

Many villagers have already exhausted their fodder reserves, making the FAO feed package distribution very timely.

“As a result of the ongoing conflict and difficulties obtaining feed, the livestock population has declined significantly,” said Farrukh Toirov, coordinator of the FAO emergency response programme in Ukraine. “On the one hand, the conflict erodes the sustainability of rural-agricultural production. On the other, it causes higher food prices and food insecurity.”

“As a result of the ongoing conflict and difficulties obtaining feed, the livestock population has declined significantly,”

Farrukh Toirov
FAO emergency response programme coordinator in Ukraine

In addition, Toirov continued, “we should not forget about the growing monetary poverty. Without cash to buy feed, keeping animals is barely feasible for people who reside along the contact line.”

Nevertheless, FAO research suggests a growing demand for livestock farming, as low-income villagers seek to supply themselves with food.

In 2017, FAO used a targeted approach to provide high-quality seeds, hay, drip irrigation systems, poultry and animals – together with feed packages and step-by-step guidelines and educational materials – to nearly 20 000 vulnerable households.

All farming inputs distributed by FAO projects in Ukraine are procured locally in Ukraine through public tenders.

FAO plans to continue providing farm inputs in 2018. In addition, it will continue to provide farm equipment to agricultural service cooperatives – for shared usage by farm households in eastern Ukraine.

The current distribution of the animal feed packages is already under way, and will continue through mid-February.

About FAO

Since 2015, FAO has been at the forefront of efforts to measure and enhance households’ resilience to food insecurity in the East of Ukraine. It has established two project coordination offices – in Kyiv and Kramatorsk. Today the local team of experts applies their technical expertise through humanitarian action to support and preserve agriculture-based livelihoods that have suffered from the armed conflict.

22 January 2018, Kyiv, Ukraine