FoodChain ID and CE-LAB launch war-land restoration certification programme in Ukraine
FoodChain ID and the Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences, Agriculture and Bioingenuity (CE-LAB) have announced a strategic partnership to certify agricultural land and water systems contaminated by military operations in Ukraine, alongside a carbon claims verification programme for regenerative farming practices.
The collaboration responds to a significant agricultural crisis: according to CE-LAB, an estimated 7.5 million hectares of Ukrainian land are mined or otherwise contaminated as a direct result of ongoing military operations, posing substantial threats to food production and food security.
Certification framework and methodology
The partnership will establish an independent, ISO-based assurance framework to certify that land and water remediated through phytoremediation, crater recultivation and field diagnostics meet the standards required for a return to agricultural use. Certification will be grounded in documented clearance by authorised operators and defined environmental testing and audit criteria. Laboratory and technology services will support traceable verification of both restoration and regenerative agriculture claims, with carbon traceability programmes designed to validate transitional regenerative farming practices and underpin the international credibility of Ukraine’s carbon market projects.
Three areas of focus
The partnership has identified three core workstreams. The first is certification scheme development – an independent, ISO-based certification assurance for the remediation of war-contaminated soils and water. The second is carbon claims verification, drawing on FoodChain ID’s 25-plus years of sustainability certification experience to provide methodologies, systems and expert resource for credible, traceable claims. The third is agriculture extension services, encompassing training for farmers, agronomists, auditors and local stakeholders, alongside analytical laboratory and technology solutions to support the development of local agriculture and food sectors.
Dr Chetan Parmar, Senior Vice President of Technical Services for Europe and Asia at FoodChain ID, said: “FoodChain ID is proud to partner with CE-LAB and bring our expertise in agri-food certification to return land and water to productivity, with the resulting contribution to the global food supply.”
Dr Vitaliy Skotsyk, CE-LAB President and CEO, described the broader ambition of the initiative: “Along with FoodChain ID, we are creating a full certification pathway for reclaimed soils, forests and water systems – connecting environmental recovery with carbon markets, global trust and long-term economic regeneration.”
Scope and expansion
The programme will initially operate in Ukraine, with plans to extend to other agricultural regions. FoodChain ID serves more than 30,000 companies across the global supply chain, providing technology-enabled solutions across product
