7 March 2022 - The Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) on Monday reported about a request from the European associations of farmers and agri-cooperatives Copa and Cogeca for the EU to protect its agriculture from the possible consequences of two major crises - the war in Ukraine and climate change.
The HPK recalls in a statement that Copa and Cogeca have asked the EU to do its best for all available land to be sown in 2022 so as to compensate for the blockade of Russian and Ukrainian agricultural production due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Maximum effort needs to be invested to prevent supply chain disruptions that will inevitably lead to food shortages in certain parts of the world. That is an important question of food sovereignty and democratic stability, the two associations said at a coordination meeting focusing on the humanitarian situation in the wake of the Ukraine war.
"The strong solidarity of the farmers' community with the Ukrainian people is real and evident in all member-countries. Farmers have already started welcoming refugees on their farms, they have already organised the first convoys and in addition to food, they are also sending other supplies as well as financial donations," HPK president Mladen Jakopović said.
He noted that Copa-Cogeca would soon publish on its website more information for farmers, cooperatives and all citizens wishing to support actions by the EU's farm community, and that Croatian famers and the HPK would join in as well.
In the coming days the Ukrainian farmers' organisation UNAF will join the European farm community and become a partner to Copa-Cogeca.
Copa-Cogeca expects the European Commission to adopt on 8 March comprehensive measures for a strong European response to the current humanitarian and economic crisis, the HPK said.
