The total amount of land controlled by oligarchs, corrupt individuals, and large
agribusinesses is thus over nine million hectares, exceeding 28 percent of the country’s arable land. The
rest is used by over eight million Ukrainian farmers.
Part 11 - What can be done to support Ukrainian farmers against the takeover of their land?
While Ukrainians are dying to defend their land, financial institutions are supporting the consolidation of
farmland by oligarchs and Western financial interests. At a time when the country faces the horrors of
the war, the government and Western institutions must listen to the calls made by the Ukrainian civil
society, academics, and farmers to suspend the land law and all land transactions.
After a long history of marginalization under previous regimes, small farmers are calling for a post-war
agrarian policy centered around farmers, environmental responsibility, and economic justice. They also
demand the inclusion of small farmers in the Plan for the Reconstruction of Ukraine – in a way that
recognizes them as equal players in the country’s food system – and the creation of a national
institution dedicated to protecting the rights of peasants, family farming, and the rural environment.
Finally, they are also asking for the development of a national program for transitioning to agroecology
and the formation of state programs that promote local food systems, shorter supply chains, and food
self-sufficiency.
These demands can form the basis for the transformation of the agricultural sector in Ukraine to make it
more democratic and environmentally and socially sustainable, in a way that benefits the majority of
Ukrainians instead of oligarchs and foreign financial interests. International policy and financial support
should be geared towards this transformation.
***