We’re assessing organic farming’s climate mitigation potential in Ukraine. Here’s how.

As part of our work in Ukraine, Dr. Yurii Zalavskyi, from the National Scientific Centre Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry, (Kharkiv) travelled to the University of Kassel to use the land-use model LandSHIFT to assess risks, co-benefits and trade-offs for different LMTs in Ukraine.

Applying this spatial simulation model will help us to better understand what the potential is for organic farming in Ukraine. We’re interested in exploring this, because ramping up organic farming practices looks like it might be a good way to restore Ukraine’s famously fertile soils, many of which have been badly degraded by the ongoing conflict. Restoring these soils is essential not only for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions, but also because of the crucial role Ukraine’s agriculture sector plays in global food security.

This visit allowed Yurii to work closely with several of LANDMARC researchers based at the University of Kassel, including Professor Rüdiger Schaldach, Dr. Janina Onigkeit, Florian Wimmer and Ellen Kynast.

This visit was made possible not only by funds from LANDMARC but also from MSC4Ukraine (under the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, personal grant for Dr. Natalia Prozorova).