The Lviv Agrarian Chamber is convinced that such updates are of great importance, as they demonstrate that the Chamber continues to operate and is doing everything possible to secure victory over the enemy as quickly as possible.
From 19 to 28 April 2023, the Lviv Agrarian Chamber, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and with financial support from the French government, entered the most critical phase of providing assistance to rural households that have been hardest hit by the war and are engaged in subsistence farming. Authorised representatives of the Chamber visited 11 local communities in the Lviv region and handed out 2,150 personalised ‘Blago’ vouchers for the purchase of agricultural equipment and building materials at the Epicentre K chain of retail centres. The total value of the aid provided amounted to twenty-five million eight hundred thousand hryvnias. With these funds, certificate holders will be able to purchase the necessary plant protection products, power and hand tools, consumables, building materials, wood and metal products, paints, gardening and horticultural equipment, etc., until 31 May 2023.
Once the certificates have expired, a monitoring exercise will be carried out to determine whether this project was successful. One thing can already be stated: if over 90 per cent of potential beneficiaries attended the certificate presentation, this is a sign that people are keen to engage in agriculture and that such support could provide the impetus to start new small businesses in rural areas. After all, the main aim of this project is to improve food security in the selected communities.
Ihor Vuytsyk, Chairman of the Lviv Agrarian Chamber, thanked all the project beneficiaries for their civic stance during this difficult time for Ukraine and expressed his gratitude to the leadership of the Mostyska, Yavoriv, Radekhiv, Chervonohrad, Brody and Trostyanets territorial communities, who organised the distribution of personalised certificates in the best possible way.
It should be noted that the distribution of ‘Blago’ personalised certificates took place as part of the pilot project ‘Emergency Food Security and Assistance to People Affected by the Conflict in Lviv Oblast’, which is being implemented in Lviv Oblast by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
In addition to the 2,150 households that have received certificates, the project also aims to cover a further 1,000 households keeping pigs and chickens across 31 local communities. These households will receive balanced feed and feed and vitamin supplements, along with advisory guidance.
To date, 15 out of 31 local communities have already received feed. Special thanks for significant assistance in ensuring the delivery and distribution of feed in the Hlynianska local community go to Taras Martyniak, the LAP representative and head of the ‘Etalon-M’ farm, as well as to the Chamber’s representative in the Chervonohrad territorial community, Petro Pylypchuk – a member of the Chervonohrad City Council and chair of the standing committee on urban planning, land relations and administrative-territorial organisation.
