Food security, food sovereignty and collective action during the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian and global perspectives

It is clear that the war in Ukraine will jeopardize food security in Ukraine and globally.

Much has already been said about the decline in Ukrainian food production and exports, but we still know too little about how Ukrainian food producers are coping with the war.

Our project will explore how different agri-food models in Ukraine – large industrial and small household farms – respond to the challenges of war and what role solidarity initiatives and collective action play in this.

We will also study the impact of the war on the Ukrainian and global food systems by examining disruptions in food supply chains and emerging cross-border networks of solidarity.

We will contribute to the current theoretical and policy debates about “who will feed the world” and discuss the overlapping meanings and opportunities for synergy between food security and food sovereignty.

Our research will be based on interviews with key actors in Ukrainian agriculture (food producers, grain traders, civil society, policy makers) and expert interviews conducted in Europe and Ukraine.

We adopt a flexible methodological approach to adapt our research methods to the uncertain situation, and will be able to collect our data remotely if needed based on our previous research contacts and network in Ukraine.

A series of online workshops with scholars, practitioners and activists will help the project keep abreast of the changing situation and serve as a platform for co-learning and co-production of knowledge