Luxembourg and FAO join hands to protect the livelihoods of livestock-keeping families

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a EUR 1 million project, funded by Luxembourg, to protect livelihoods and improve food security in accessible war-affected areas of Ukraine.

This is the first contribution from Luxembourg to FAO activities in Ukraine and the first to FAO’s emergency and resilience work in general in over a decade. The project is aligned with the Organization’s 2023 Response Programme in Ukraine, which aims to address immediate humanitarian needs and restore critical agrifood systems.

“According to FAO’s findings, rural households engaged in livestock production experience losses of animals and commercial relations along with war-associated damages to their property and infrastructure, making it difficult for them to remain productive and generate income,” explains Pierre Vauthier, Head of the FAO Office in Ukraine. “Rural households struggle to provide adequate shelter to their livestock and to secure quality animal feed.”

Given that the situation will remain fluid, particularly in the eastern and southern regions, FAO has designed a set of interventions in collaboration with the Government of Ukraine, local authorities, and the Directorate of Veterinary Services, aiming to safeguard livestock production and rural livelihoods. The new Luxembourg-funded project will support up to 1 500 livestock family farmers in Dnipropetrovska, Donetska, Kharkivska, and Zaporizka oblasts by improving animal shelter conditions and maintaining or increasing livestock productivity over a period of 12 months. The interventions will focus on the most vulnerable families who are recovering from the impacts of the war and who may require urgent support, including households headed by women, older persons, and people with disabilities.

“Safeguarding small-scale livestock production is critical for food security and nutrition in the country, particularly in areas recently affected by the war escalation,” added Vauthier. “Therefore, timely investments in the provision of essential support to prepare for the winter season is crucial to preserve current levels of production and support the livelihoods of host communities and internally displaced people in war-affected areas.”

To realize the project goals, FAO will use flexible implementation modalities such as cash and voucher assistance. Targeted households will receive vouchers worth UAH 12 000 (equivalent to USD 325) to purchase materials and equipment from pre-selected suppliers for repairing their livestock shelters. To provide a comprehensive support package, the same households will also receive cash transfers of UAH 3 673 (USD 100) to cover livestock feed.

To implement its 2023 Response Programme in Ukraine, FAO requires USD 205 million in total. To date, FAO has received USD 38 million thanks to contributions from Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance of the United States Agency for International Development, the European Union, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Luxembourg, the Kingdom of Norway, and the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, leaving a gap of USD 167 million. 

4 September 2023, Kyiv, Ukraine