Rationale  
Land use change, agriculture, and rural development play a critical role in the adaptation and transformation of the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe. Since 1991, Ukraine has been undergoing a transformation of its economic and social system in order to enable transition to a market economy. While the economic conditions for agriculture have changed considerably since the beginning of the 1990s, agricultural policy in Ukraine has focused on trying to revive the production level, without the comprehensive analysis of agro-ecological conditions, internal and external markets, infrastructure, farmers’ incentives, etc.

Rational agricultural land use is imperative in Ukraine. Existing agricultural systems are not appropriate for changing production, technological, economic or ecological realities. There is an urgent need for major policy changes in Ukraine towards rural welfare growth, sustainable agriculture and efficient land management, and establishment of agricultural market networks supported by adequate legislation. With the additional pressure of transition to a market economy, a new agricultural paradigm is required.

Goals
The project aims at developing a comprehensive picture of land use and agriculture, including an assessment of land resources for current and future climatic conditions, that will provide the basis for further development and elaboration of integrated strategies and policies towards maintaining the sustainability of natural resources and the environment while remaining international economically competitive.

The research has three parts:

Part I
Socio-economic aspects describes the main socio-economic features of the transition processes in the Ukrainian agricultural sector, trends in agricultural production, and changes in its farming systems and land use;

Part II
Land resources and agricultural productivity: methodology and results for base line climate provides the inventory of natural (land, climatic) resources and the evaluation of biophysical limitations and potentials of the crop production in Ukraine at the national and regional levels;

Part III
“Assessments for climate change” investigates the impacts of climate change/variability on crop production and land use change in Ukraine on the national and regional scales and indicates possible ways of adaptation over the coming three decades.

Responsible for this page: Elisabeth Kawczynski
Last updated: 16 Feb 2010