3주차|식량·물·글로벌 생존 이슈_김예지

[김예지]

Address by Mr Janusz Wojciechowski at the International Summit on Food Security, Kyiv
2024.11.23
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_24_5991
418 Words

Glossary

1. European Commission 유럽집행위원회
2. Production Support Grant 생산 지원 보조금 제도
3. FAO 유엔식량농업기구(Food and Agriculture Organization)

Script

What will be the continued role of Ukrainian agriculture, after the war, after the victory, in which we believe, and after the EU-supported reconstruction of the country?
First of all, we must focus on rebuilding farms and food production in Ukraine.
In my home country of Poland, we say: “Our farmers feed us and defend us”.
These words are in reference to the history of Poland; they now reflect the present reality of Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the war, the farmers of Ukraine have defended their land, their neighbours, and their nation.
In doing so, they have defended us, in the European Union and across the world – they have defended our democracy and our food security.
Now is our moment to honour the courage they have shown, and the sacrifices they have made.
Now is our moment to defend the farmers of Ukraine.
In particular, Ukraine should consider structural changes in its agriculture towards strengthening small and medium-sized family farms as an alternative to large-scale farms, mostly dominated by foreign capital.
Contrary to some opinions, food security does not require a system of large farms, but a well-organised and well-supported family farming system.
It is worth stressing that supporting small and medium-sized farms is one of the key elements of the Union's common agricultural policy.
The European Commission has taken several concrete steps to help the Ukrainian farming community, including small scale farmers.
For example, we have provided €50 million for the Production Support Grant scheme.
This scheme was established as a direct payment instrument to support registered small farms of less than 120 hectares, or with up to 100 milking cows per farm.
I am very pleased that over 12,000 small farms could benefit from this scheme.
Secondly, we must focus on reinforcing the value of Ukraine's agricultural products.
This can be achieved in a number of ways.
In the short term, the European Union is supporting Ukraine, to ensure your farmers get full value for their products.
For example, along with the FAO, we have worked on strengthening agricultural value chains for several products produced by small farms, such as mountain cheeses, berries, and other products.
In the longer term, we must focus on the development of agricultural processing.
At 50 million tonnes, Ukraine's exports of cereals in 2021 was the third highest in the world, after the US and Argentina.
But in terms of the value of food exports, it was only USD 24 billion, putting Ukraine in 20th place.
Exports of unprocessed agricultural products do not provide economic benefits to Ukraine commensurate with its potential.
This potential is only fully exploited when a strong agricultural sector is in synergy with the processing sector.