Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation pledges $2 million to support Ukraine agrifood sector
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Australian billionaire miner Andrew Forrest's Minderoo Foundation committed $2 million to the World Food Program to support Ukrainian agrifood businesses struggling with the fallout from Russia's full-scale invasion, including mined farmland and disrupted exports.
The funds will support the World Food Program’s SME agrifood facility, which helps Ukrainian agrifood businesses scale and connect with markets and investors.
Announcing the commitment at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk, Poland on June 25–26, Forrest said the investment would build capacity and unlock private capital for businesses operating in some of Ukraine's most war-torn areas.
"Now is the time to invest in Ukraine," Forrest told the Kyiv Independent at the conference. "Donors, now is the time to make a serious difference where people are suffering and investment can't go," he said.
"Rapid capital cannot be mustered by government, cannot be mustered by investment, but can be mustered by you donors."
Russia's full-scale invasion has hit Ukraine's agricultural companies hard, with landmine contamination restricting access to around 23% of Ukraine's land. Agriculture remains a key part of Ukraine’s economy, generating $22.7 billion in exports last year and around 10% of GDP, but financing has dried up as banks retreat amid war risks.
In a press statement, Minderoo said that the $2 million in funding "builds on the success of the Grain from Ukraine initiative, which has delivered more than 320,000 metric tons of food commodities to reach approximately 9 million food-insecure people across Africa and the Middle East."
Minderoo funding has also helped to deliver 23,000 tons of wheat to the Horn of Africa through the Black Sea Grain Initiative — while supporting Ukrainian farmers and demining more than 770,000 square meters of farmland to bring land back into production and revive rural livelihoods, the statement said.
The Minderoo Foundation also pledged $500,000 to the Olena Zelenska Foundation to improve the safety and resilience of schools in communities near the front line across Ukraine, Forrest announced at the conference.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Minderoo Foundation has provided 40 million Australian dollars to support humanitarian relief, agricultural recovery, demining, community resilience, and accountability efforts.
