A plan for rebuilding and modernising water and agriculture in Ukraine during and after the Russian invasion

After the brutal invasion by Russia on February 24, 2022, regular water authorities in Ukraine (at all levels) became war- and crisis-stressed and under-staffed due to the mobilization. They were no longer able to adopt a constructive programmatic and project-based approach and asked the NGO Primavera for help. Primavera formulated the programme Phoenix and contacted relevant Dutch Authorities and potential partners for the different activities. Phoenix consists of an umbrella activity to be implemented by Primavera, for which the Dutch Government was asked for financial support. Under this umbrella we will bring Dutch and Ukrainian partners together and formulate project proposals for which we will then find support and required inputs. This request for support by the Dutch Government would be strengthened by a request by the Ukrainian Government.

The following blocks of projects are defined under the Phoenix umbrella:

Block 1 War damage database. World Bank has the initiative for this project on coordinating and compiling a database of ongoing and developing projects for the assessment of war damage and the programming and financing of repairs. Primavera is assisting in collecting local data on war damage and contacting the Netherlands Water Partnership for technical and financial support by its members.

Block 2 Agro-monitoring and cooperation. Using the data and results of Block 1, Wageningen University and Research and the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences will set up a system for agro-monitoring and modelling of economic losses in rural areas, crop production during and after the current war.

Block 3 Rural development through local consolidated communities. The recently formed so-called Local Consolidated Communities with local governance and local taxation brought democracy to the grass roots of the Ukrainian population. Together with the Food and Agricultural Organisation, Primavera will develop a few rural development projects with a number of Consolidated Local Communities. This will include developing Water Users Associations and involving local water users in the development and implementation of rebuild activities and projects.

Block 4 Education and training. Wageningen University and Research, UNESCO-IHE, Rivne University and the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv will develop the necessary new water and agriculture education program to prepare Ukraine for EU regulations and EU membership.

Block 5 Institution building: Water Alliance. Institution building will be important for Ukraine to become  member of the European Union. Primavera, together with the Netherlands Water Partnership will set up a platform where Ukrainian and Dutch decision makers can openly and freely discuss in a safe environment institution building. The Water Alliance will act as a think-tank for further integration of Ukrainian Water-Laws into the requirements of the European Union. Of special importance is sharing of experience with planning and implementation of the  EU  Water Framework Directive.

Block 6 Agri-food transition. Primavera and Wageningen Metropolitan Food Clusters will develop, together with Ukrainian and Dutch farmers and entrepreneurs in the food chain a  technical cooperation project on modernising the damaged food chain.