UN explains basics of programme for mine clearance of Ukrainian farmers' lands

The UN has recently launched a programme in Ukraine for farmers who have up to 300 hectares of land and face the need for mine clearance.

Source: Saviano Abreu, representative of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency 

The programme was launched jointly with the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

"It [the programme] is for farmers who have a maximum of 300 hectares of land who are facing this challenge with mine contamination. We are supporting them to clear their lands so that they can resume their activities. We have other supports on  mine action, but this one is quite interesting, in my opinion," Abreu said.

As part of this project, the UN will help Ukrainian farmers not only resume their activities but also undertake to purchase some of their products for humanitarian aid.

"In summary, I demine your land, I give you inputs to resume your activities and then buy at least part of what you produce to ensure food assistance either here or outside of the country. So it guarantees that farmers are going to have an income and people are going to have affordable food," Abreu said.

The programme has already been launched in Kharkiv Oblast and is supposed to expand its activities to Kherson and Mykolaiv Oblasts in the coming months.

Applications from farmers are accepted through local authorities.

Note: The UN is expecting that the humanitarian situation in Ukraine will deteriorate and is planning to assist 11 million Ukrainians by the end of the year.

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