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Ukraine at BIOFACH 2016: A successful exhibition

The Ukrainian Pavilion at Biofach.

The Ukrainian pavilion was implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). (Image: Kateryna Malkova, Information Center Green Dossier)

The team of the Ukrainian Pavilion.

Ukrainian companies participated as exhibitors offering a wide range of organic products. (Image: Danylo Cherkashenko)

Eleven Ukrainian companies participated as exhibitors at the BIOFACH Fair 2016 in Nuremberg, Germany. BIOFACH (Germany) is the biggest trade fair for organic products worldwide, with more than 2,500 exhibitors from almost 90 countries. The companies offered a wide range of organic products, including cereals, oil crops, pulses, sunflower seeds and oil, groats and flakes, wild and cultivated berries and berry paste, as well as certification services.

The Ukrainian National Pavilion attracted much attention from thousands of international visitors, as the dynamically growing organic sector of Ukraine is identifying new sourcing opportunities for the fast growing organic food consumption worldwide.

According to the data from the Organic Federation of Ukraine, the organically certified area in Ukraine is increasing steadily. Currently, around 400,000 hectares of agricultural land is cultivated with organic practices by almost 200 organic producers. Organic farming is also one of the priority areas within the "Single and Comprehensive Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development in Ukraine for 2015-2020" issued by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food. In the coming years, organic surfaces are expected to expand further.

Sergiy Galashevskyy, the general manager of the Organic Standard certification body from Ukraine, says "Ukraine is widely known for being the bread basket of Europe; thanks to the country’s size and its widespread fertile black soils, Ukraine has very favourable production conditions. We used to be considered a novice in the organic production; however, due to its experience, Ukraine has become an equal partner in the organic world."

A consortium of three Ukrainian key organic stakeholders organized the Ukrainian National Pavilion: the Information Centre "Green Dossier", the Organic Standard certification body and the QueS consultancy body. Besides the 11 exhibiting companies, the Ukrainian pavilion was supported by the Swiss-Ukrainian project "Organic Market Development in Ukraine", which was implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and funded by the Swiss Confederation through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The other supporting project "Greening Economies in the Eastern Neighbourhood (EaP GREEN)" was funded by the European Commission and implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Additional support was received from the State Enterprise National Research and Information Centre for Monitoring International Commodity Markets (Derzhzovnіshіnform, DZI), which is a leading research and expert centre managed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine.

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