UKRAINE LOOKS TO GROW ORGANIC FOOD EXPORTS TO $1 BILLION DESPITE WAR WITH RUSSIA

Ukraine is continuing with plans to expand its organic food exports to $1 billion despite the war with Russia, a senior official at the country’s Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food has said.

During a speech delivered recently in Germany, Taras Vysotskyi, Ukraine’s first deputy minister of agricultural policy and food, said his country had in recent years seen a significant increase in the area of land under organic cultivation.

Between 2017 and 2021 the area increased from 289,000 hectares to 422,000 hectares, Mr Vysotskvi said, which works out at a 46% increase.

“Our state is the largest exporter of organic grain and oil products to the EU,” he added. “Soybeans, honey, vegetables and fruits are also exported along with their processing products.”

In 2020 the country was fourth out of 123 countries in terms of the volume of organic products imported by the EU, Mr Vysotskyi said, and also accounted for 7.8% of organic produce imported by the Commonwealth.

In total Ukraine has 528 organic producers, and the country remained a “reliable supplier” of organic products during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The war means that about 140,000 hectares of land – around one third of the total – that were under organic production cannot be cultivated, yet Mr Vysotskyi said the country was still looking to increase exports.

“By 2030, Ukraine plans to increase the export of organic products to $1 billion (€980 million), and we will actively move towards this plan, improving the national legislation in the field of organic production,” he said.

In related news, SIAL Paris Newsroom has reported how the conflict has had a significant impact on the food and beverage industry, with many companies scaling back or ending operations in Russia after it attacked its smaller neighbour.

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