Empowering Communities: Fuel vouchers to farmers during the harvest season in Mykolaiv, Ukraine

Two years on since Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine those living along the frontline oblasts face the highest levels of food insecurity. 1.8 million people are struggling to restore food production and agriculture-related livelihoods.

Repeated attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure, such as the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023 and the reduced water levels in the Kakhovka Reservoir have implications for crop production in Kherson and other regions in southern Ukraine. Thousands of hectares of agricultural land alongside the Dnipro River were affected by the floods, leading to crop losses and insufficient time for farmers to replant for the 2023 season.

With funding from Global SAE-A Co., Ltd., CORE coordinated with local authorities across Mykolaiv Oblast to deliver fuel vouchers to farmers during the harvesting season. The vouchers enabled farmers to harvest crops, prepare land for the next round of cultivation, and de-mine their fields, if needed. Farmers received one-time distribution of vouchers
based on the number of hectares owned.

This learning brief shares lessons drawn from CORE’s fuel voucher assistance program and includes considerations and recommendations for scaling in this context.