Oleksandr Kaliberda from the project German-Ukrainian Cooperation in Agriculture (COA) took part in a workshop entitled "Food System Transformation in Ukraine", which was held at the Headquarters of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, Italy on October 17-18.  

This workshop was organized by the German-Ukrainian Agricultural Policy Dialogue (APD) in cooperation with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (MAPF) and international organizations to present the current state of affairs regarding food systems in Ukraine and global trends. It was also aimed at developing agricultural policy recommendations for further steps towards transforming food systems in Ukraine in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, European integration and the inclusive development of agrifood systems. 

Representatives of the MAPF, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, State Food Agency, non-governmental Ukrainian organizations and professional associations in the field of agricultural policy and rural development as well as officials of the EU, German government, FAO, IFAD, international financial organizations and research institutes made presentations about Ukrainian and international agricultural policies and systems on October 17. “The European Green Deal as well as the development of the organic sector were a part of the discussion which followed the presentations” explained Oleksandr Kaliberda, National Long Time expert of the project. Recommendations, developed by Ukrainian participants of the workshop on October 18, including the need to support the development of the organic sector in Ukraine, would be presented to MAPF and other government agencies for consideration in further development of agricultural policy in Ukraine.