Digital Zeitgeist – Ukrainian Farmers’ ‘We Feed The World’ Stand Against War Threatens Global Food Crisis
Ukraine’s Vital Food Exports Take a Dire Hit as Fields Become Battle Zones, With Russia Accused of Sabotaging the Black Sea Grain Corridor.
Valerii Kotenko toured the area where a Russian missile had touched down while driving his wrecked vehicle. His wheatfield had been nearby when it fell. This occurred in December. Thankfully, it didn’t blow up,” he remarked. He said that the enemy routinely bombarded Odesa oblast and his residence in southern Ukraine. “They fire wildly at us. Since they are fools, the Russians target us. Furthermore, we feed the planet.
Since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale assault started in February 2022, Ukraine’s farmers have experienced turbulence. The 120-hectare (300-acre) estate of Kotenko is only a short distance from the Black Sea port of Odesa, which was attacked by 17 Iranian drones last week. The missiles are launched in every direction. From the waters surrounding the seized Crimea, Russian battleships fire. Additional missiles are launched from the Sea of Azov and the East.
Kotenko had to save up his crop of grains, sunflower oil, and tomatoes during the early stages of the all-out conflict. The market crashed because of restricted ports and high-cost road transportation. In July 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration and Russia agreed to an agreement mediated by the UN that would allow exports to continue to places including Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Grain transportation along the Black Sea works. Despite the poor price, Kotenko was able to sell his harvest to a commodities dealer. 881 Ukrainian ships had departed by the end of the previous week from Odesa as well as the nearby ports of Pivdenny and Chornomorsk. More than 27.5 million tonnes of agricultural goods were transported. It was largely sent to the EU.
The Kremlin has expressed displeasure with the agreement. In addition to threatening to withdraw it, it recently said that it would only accept a 60-day rollover in lieu of the prior 120-day one. Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, said that the West was impeding the shipment of Russian food and fertiliser during a trip to Turkey, and he suggested that the Kremlin may strike its own bilateral agreements.
Kiev, on the other hand, charges Russia of sabotage. Each consignment is examined by Russian, Turkish, and UN inspectors. According to Kyiv, the Russians purposefully sabotage the process by leaving early in the afternoon and coming up with justifications to put off the task. As Russia deleted the names of three ships given by the Ukrainian side as they made their way home on Tuesday, no ships were approved.
Yurii Vaskov, Ukraine’s deputy minister of infrastructure for seaports and marine, called the situation urgent. “Russia is breaking the terms of the grain project in the Black Sea. The strategy of Ukrainian ports was altered. This must stop, he declared. He said that the Kremlin was applying more pressure because it wanted the West to lift its agriculture sector’s restrictions.
Vaskov warned that if the deal collapsed, global food prices would rise by 15%. More than half of Ukraine’s grain exports – 6-7m tonnes a month – went by sea, he said. On Tuesday, the UN said it was talking intensively to the parties involved. “It is in everyone’s interests to keep the initiative going,” it stressed, saying it benefited “millions of vulnerable and low-income households around the world”.
Fifty Ukrainian vessels are in an inbound queue. “The Russians think they are the boss in this situation. They believe themselves to be a superior race. They are not,” Kotenko said, describing Putin as “Russia’s Hitler”. He added: “Russia wants us to be slaves. We stopped being slaves in 1991 when Ukraine split from the Soviet Union. Now Putin wants us back in a new USSR. We are fighting against Russian fascism here.”
The 1,000-person community of Berezan is where Kotenko’s property is located. His father oversaw the collective farm during the communist era. The fields are irrigated using equipment from the Soviet period. At their low point last year, prices have increased, he claimed. Yet, costs increased due to higher prices for gasoline and fertiliser as well as wartime profiteering. “I make enough money to get by. Victory is what matters most, according to Kotenko.
The largest grain logistics company in Ukraine, Nibulon, stated that expenses had soared. Andriy Vadaturskyy. He said that they had increased from $12 to $92 for a tonne of wheat selling for $270. Hence, this season, Ukrainian farmers planted 40% fewer crops. He cautioned that the shortage, which amounted to a loss of 27 million tonnes of grain, would be felt sharply starting next year.
“My fear is this could be a bomb, a migration bomb,” Vadaturskyy said. It was probable that countries in North Africa would experience hunger, which in turn would drive migration into Europe. Putin understood the situation well, he said. “The Russians behave like gangsters. They created the problem. They kill Ukrainians and don’t give a stuff for the law.”
The parents of Vadaturskyy, Oleksiy and Raisa, perished in their Mykolaiv mansion in July of last year when a Russian cruise missile struck it. At the time, Oleksiy served as the CEO of Nibulon and was also the vice-chair of Ukraine’s grain organisation. He was a pro-European businessman. Zelenskiy called it “premeditated murder,” to quote him. The first-grain bulk carrier from Ukraine was preparing to depart when everything happened.
Vadaturskyy said there was no concrete proof that Moscow had murdered his parents in an interview with the Guardian. Although he noted that “Windows 10 metres distant were unbroken,” he claimed that the missile had fallen in their bedroom. The company’s 80 ships and 39 additional ships were stranded in Mykolaiv. Because its port on the Southern Bug River is excluded from the grain project, exporters will pay more for transportation.
Andy Hunder, the president of the US Chamber of Commerce in Kyiv, said the business wanted the corridor to be prolonged for at least one year, with Mykolaiv included. He said: “Global food supply chains and security, including world food prices and hunger rates, are at significant risk again due to the Russian side’s artificial reduction of Ukrainian grain and oilseeds export volumes.”
Eugene Babalik, a farmer in another area of the province of Odesa, claimed that he had borrowed $100,000 (£80,000) to get through the hardships of the previous year. Banks were hesitant to lend, so the government turned to a project funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for funding. The praise encouraged him to continue. It meant he did not have to fire any of the 12 staff who worked on his 1,600-hectare farm.
Babalik said he was in touch with farmers who had experienced Russian occupation in Kherson province. Some stayed; others fled. Soldiers stole tractors and shot up older agricultural equipment. “One friend could see from a GPS tracker that his combine harvester was in Chechnya,” he said. “They end up in Russia and Crimea.” The Russians had mined agricultural land, he said, with many farmworkers being blown up.
The port of Pivdenny, a vast complex of gleaming grain chutes, truck parks, and administrative buildings next to the Black Sea, is not far from his property. Two missiles fell close by, according to Babalik. 700 metres away from his grain shed, one struck an energy substation and the other a grain silo. Thankfully, our defences are effective. We have become accustomed to these attacks. It frequently takes place. I barely hear the bangs, he said.
Kotenko, in the meantime, drove down the street to visit Mamuka Sakeishvili, a neighbour who had immigrated from Georgia to Ukraine 30 years before. In a sizable greenhouse, Sakeishvili raised sweet corn, aubergines and peppers. Dogs howled in the muddy yard outside. He added that his veggies will be sold in a nearby market and that this winter had been warm and exceptionally moist.
In a nation that has long served as the world’s breadbasket, both men felt that raising food during a war was patriotic. “If we are hungry, we can’t fight. People won’t have anything to eat if we don’t sow, Kotenko said. He claimed that he had ignored his wife’s advice and purchased a combine harvester before the invasion despite her warnings that it was an expensive toy. He suggested that more investment would have to wait until Ukraine overcame Russia.
The wildlife of Ukraine has been among the few benefactors of the conflict, according to Kotenko. The previous year, hunting was outlawed. Kotenko said that there were more animals now. Many hares live here. Additionally, pheasants, partridges, and quails,” he said as a hare sprinted through his lush wheatfield and vanished towards a tomato patch. “This is wonderful news. We need to let them be, he replied.
online sources: theguardian.com, chamber.ua