Switzerland has allocated CHF2.5 million (about UAH 100 million) to support milk production farms in the war-affected regions – Chernihiv, Kyiv and Sumy regions, the main attention will be paid to the hygiene of the milking process.
The corresponding humanitarian project is being implemented at the request of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine in cooperation with the Association of Milk Producers of Ukraine (AMA), the #SaveUA international charitable foundation and the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, according to the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy on Wednesday.
The goal of the project is to ensure food security in the regions by improving the quality and safety of dairy products produced in the country, mainly by monitoring compliance with the hygiene of its production. In particular, the control over the hygiene of the culture of milking animals will avoid failures in the further processing of milk, on the one hand, and outbreaks of diseases among consumers, on the other.
The Ministry clarified that by August 1, 232 dairy farms had already confirmed the need for humanitarian assistance, of which 95 were from Chernihiv, 78 from Kyiv, 59 from Sumy region.
“With the support of Switzerland, interested milk producers in the affected areas will receive products for washing and disinfecting milking equipment, pre- and post-milk treatment, udder hygiene wipes, gloves, reagents for the detection of latent forms of mastitis, disinfectants for livestock buildings, etc. in the amount of their quarterly needs,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy said in a statement.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, until the completion of the project in November 2022, the supported farms will be able to significantly improve their financial condition by restoring product supply chains. It is also important that the purchase of goods will be carried out from Ukrainian suppliers who operated on the market before the war, which will enable them to continue to provide hygiene products and serve dairy farms in the future.
“On the path to restoring the capacity of the Ukrainian dairy sector, it is important to support production technologies built on high hygiene standards for high-quality and safe food products,” the agency concluded in a statement.
As reported, in June the Swiss government announced its intention to hold consultations for more than 100 dairy farms from the above three areas. The government of the country sent a group of consultants to Ukraine, who provided producers with recommendations in the field of restoring livestock productivity, quality control and safety of raw milk.
