Harvest losses in Ukraine due to the war amounted to $2 billion

Due to the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine, crop losses by agrarians amounted to 2 billion US dollars. At present, there is still concern about threats to food security both in Ukraine and on a global scale.

In particular, one of the biggest challenges for monitoring food production in a war-torn country is the fact that land access remains extremely precarious. Thanks to good weather combined with farmer resilience, NASA's Harvest satellite analysis revealed a productive and high-yielding season.

In addition, despite the overall reduction in acreage due to the war, the 2023 season saw an increase in yield and production compared to 2022 for both wheat and sunflower, the two main export crops in Ukraine.

According to preliminary estimates, from 2.1 to 2.8 million hectares of agricultural land were abandoned as a result of the war. These abandoned fields make up from 6.5 to 8.5% of the total cultivated areas of Ukraine and are located along the front line.

It should be noted that Ukraine suffered economic losses in the amount of about $2 billion due to crop loss. These lost crops could have fed 25 million people for an entire year. At the same time, in 2023, due to the war in Ukraine, approximately 7% of agricultural land was abandoned.