Ukrainian organizations of water users have joined forces to speed up land reclamation reform by creating the Association of Water User Organizations. This structure is designed to promote the development of irrigation and the restoration of reclamation infrastructure, bringing together agricultural producers and interested parties. About this informs SEEDS.
The official presentation of the Association took place on November 22, 2024. The event was attended by agricultural producers, representatives of the UEC, authorities and international donors. The participants discussed key initiatives to support HVAC and promote hydrotechnical reclamation reform in Ukraine.
“Reclamation reform is the provision of domestic and global food security through the preservation and increase of agricultural production on reclaimed lands. Organizations of water users play an important role in the reform process. Ukrainian agricultural producers are gradually uniting and creating UECs, demonstrating good examples of the successful implementation of the reform. Pumping stations are updated using advanced technologies with minimal costs. And there should be more and more such examples”Taras Vysotskyi, First Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy, emphasized.
He also noted that a state program is in place to support the reform, which compensates up to 50% of the cost of restoration and construction of reclamation systems. The amount of compensation reaches 26,500 hryvnias per hectare of cultivated land with hydraulic melioration.
The mandate of the newly created Association covers several areas: representation of the interests of UECs in the legislative process, advocacy in state and local authorities, legal support, capacity building of existing UECs, as well as assistance to farmer groups in creating new organizations.
