Deal Narrative 2: As pressure builds on available agricultural land in Ukraine, can the country balance environmental protection with economic needs?

With the full-scale invasion in Ukraine by Russia in 2022, in addition to taking a heavy toll on human lives, significant negative impact from the military action on soil health and productivity has been observed, with more than 30% of Ukrainian land now unsuitable for agriculture. In the meantime, ongoing eruptions from aerial bombs, artillery shelling, mined areas, destroyed heavy military equipment, leakage of oil products, burned areas from fires, and landslides continue to drastically degrade the country’s agricultural land – and with it, Ukraine’s rural economy and export market.

For instance, in 2021, 41% of Ukrainian exports came from the agro-industrial sector, and while the statistics have subsequently been distorted by the Russian invasion, agricultural exports are widely recognised as an important part of Ukraine’s economic stabilisation. Indeed, to counter dwindling land resources and maintain agriculture as one of the country’s major economic pillars, the government has begun to promote the increased use of agricultural land in suitable and safe territories, which are mainly concentrated in the central and western regions of the country. Yet, this approach is not without problems, as this report argues, since the need for more agricultural land is deeply intertwined with the continuous rollout of land governance reforms in the last two decades – with far-reaching implications for environmental protection.

As much as the need to support the economy is obvious to respond to the Russian invasion, limited compliance with environmental legislation by agricultural companies cannot be ignored. To allow for Ukraine’s sustainable recovery, the state must strike a careful balance between the immediate need to keep the economy running and long-term goals such as healthy ecosystems and equitable land distribution. To showcase the issues at stake, we analyse two land deals from the Land Matrix database.

Authors: Oleksandra Romanova, Mariia Bielkina, Danya-Zee Pedra

WHAT ARE DEAL NARRATIVES?

Deal narratives are investigations of specific LSLAs by the Land Matrix regional and global partners that provide an in-depth and detailed analysis of single deals in addition to its global database. This deal narrative focuses on Land Matrix deals #10161 and #6651. By making this information available, the Land Matrix aims to support broad engagement and information exchange, facilitating the continuous improvement of the data. The information on the deals is based on both secondary research and in-depth field research in the region involving the relevant stakeholders.

The Land Matrix would like to acknowledge the Centre for Environmental Initiatives Ecoaction and the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group (UNCG) for their valuable contributions to this publication.

Ecoaction hosts the Regional Focal Point for the Land Matrix in Eastern Europe. Its mission is to protect the environment by influencing decision-makers and stakeholders and developing an active Ukrainian community.

UNCG is a group of Ukrainian biologists united to preserve the wild nature of Ukraine. The main goal of the UNCG is to conserve biodiversity, stablish protected areas, identify cases of illegal destruction of nature and improve environmental legislation in Ukraine.