Article

Received 15.10.2025

Revised 03.02.2026

Accepted 31.03.2026

Published 13.04.2026

Retrieved from Vol. 30, No. 1, 2026

Pages 79 -91

Poltorak, A., Stamat, V., Sukhorukova, A., Burkovska, A., & Petrenko, V. (2026). Ukraine as a guarantor of world food security: Challenges on the way to restoring agricultural production potential. Ukrainian Black Sea Region Agrarian Science, 30(1), 79-91. https://doi.org/10.56407/bs.agrarian/1.2026.79

Ukraine as a guarantor of world food security: Challenges on the way to restoring agricultural production potential

Anastasiia Poltorak Viktoriia Stamat Anna Sukhorukova Anna Burkovska Vadym Petrenko

The main objective of this study was to analyse the challenges facing Ukraine in the process of trying to preserve and restore its agricultural production potential, which has been significantly destroyed as a result of hostilities on the territory of the state. The study used bibliometric analysis (using Google Scholar, Scopus Preview and the Bibliometrix package), system-structural analysis and synthesis, as well as historical, dialectical, graphical and descriptive-statistical methods. The study demonstrated that despite the destruction of agricultural production potential, Ukraine remains an important supplier of agricultural products to many import-dependent regions of the world. The article emphasised that world food markets continue to remain unstable, which is confirmed by the Food Price Index, which reached 127.8 points in 2025, demonstrating the vulnerability of food systems to geopolitical shocks. According to experts, as of the first half of 2026, the total losses from the destruction of the Ukrainian economy as a result of the war may reach $589 billion, of which about $72 billion will fall on agriculture. It was determined that in the structure of indirect losses of the agricultural sector of Ukraine as a result of the war, the factors that had the greatest impact were the reduction in production productivity, the decline in product prices due to the disruption of exports, and the increase in production costs. It was noted that the potential costs of reconstructing the agricultural sector of Ukraine in the period from 2025 to 2035 could exceed $55 billion, and the costs of demining could reach almost $30 billion. It was established that exports of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU reached almost $12.8 billion in 2024, which demonstrates the resilience of the agricultural sector of Ukraine and the deepening of integration into European markets. The practical value of the study lies in a comprehensive assessment of Ukraine’s agrarian losses caused by the war, an analysis of their global consequences, and the identification of strategic recovery measures

impact of war on agriculture; food supply chains; export disruptions; land contamination; rebuilding the agricultural complex
  1. Alabi, M.O., & Ngwenyama, O. (2023). Food security and disruptions of the global food supply chains during COVID-19: Building smarter food supply chains for post COVID-19 era. British Food Journal, 125(1), 167-185. doi: 10.1108/BFJ-03-2021-0333.
  2. Bibliometrix. (2025). Retrieved from https://www.bibliometrix.org/home/.
  3. Bulba, I., Drobitko, A., Zadorozhnii, Yu., & Pismennyi, O. (2024). Identification and monitoring of agricultural land contaminated by military operations. Scientific Horizons, 27(7), 107-117. doi: 10.48077/ scihor7.2024.107.
  4. Burkovska, A., & Burkovska, A. (2025). Semantic approach to food marketing: The influence of sustainable development narratives on the Ukrainian market. Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, 11(1), 317-347. doi: 10.51599/are.2025.11.01.12.
  5. Burkovska, A., Shebanina, O., Lunkina, T., & Burkovska, A. (2022). Socio-psychological determinants of food security in Ukraine: Causal aspect. Economic Studies, 31(5), 145-162.
  6. Cheng, J., & Yu, X. (2024). Regional differences, distributional dynamics and convergence of multidimensional food security levels in China. PLoS ONE, 19(8), article number e0309071. doi: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0309071.
  7. Davydenko, N., Vorobei, R., & Maslo, A. (2025). Innovation financing and its impact on the agricultural sector of Ukraine. Financial and Credit Activity Problems of Theory and Practice, 4(63), 381-390. doi: 10.55643/ fcaptp.4.63.2025.4795.
  8. Kliuchnyk, A., Shyshpanova, N., Prohoniuk, L., Galunets, N., & Husenko, A. (2025). The role of local communities in the restoration of agricultural infrastructure after destruction. Scientific Horizons, 28(4), 180-196. doi: 10.48077/scihor4.2025.180.
  9. Leal Filho, W., Fedoruk, M., Eustachio, P.P.J.H., Barbir, J., Lisovska, T., Lingos, A., & Baars, C. (2023). How the war in Ukraine affects food security. Foods, 12(21), article number 3996. doi: 10.3390/foods12213996.
  10. Lin, F., Li, X., Jia, N., Feng, F., Huang, H., Huang, J., Fan, S., Ciais, P., & Song, X.-P. (2023). The impact of RussiaUkraine conflict on global food security. Global Food Security, 36, article number 100661. doi: 10.1016/j. gfs.2022.100661.
  11. Melnyk, T., Tunitska, Y., & Banas, D. (2023). Food security of Ukraine: National and global level. Economics and Business Review, 9(3), 181-205. doi: 10.18559/ebr.2023.3.927.
  12. Pimenow, S., Pimenowa, O., Moldavan, L., Udova, L., Wasilewski, M., & Wasilewska, N. (2025). Transforming agriculture into energy: Unlocking Ukraine’s bioenergy potential for sustainable post-conflict recovery. Energies, 18(5), article number 1212. doi: 10.3390/en18051212.
  13. Poltorak, A. (2015). Assessment of Ukrainian food security state within the system of its economic security. Actual Problems of Economics, 11, 120-126.
  14. Poltorak, A., Stamat, V., Sukhorukova, A., Dovgal, I., & Onyshchenko, D. (2024). Strategies for regional disproportion management to restore economic security in the Ukrainian agricultural sector. Ekonomika APK, 31(6), 48-58. doi: 10.32317/ekon.apk/6.2024.48.
  15. Rahman, N., & Yasin, R. (2022). Children rights to “zero hunger” and the execution challenges during the COVID-19 crisis. Hasanuddin Law Review, 8(2), 139-159. doi: 10.20956/halrev.v8i2.3684.
  16. Rieznik, S., & Lee, H. (2025). Post-war revitalization of Ukrainian agriculture: Lessons from South Korea’s rural development model. Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 75E, 114-129. doi: 10.24193/tras.75e.7.
  17. Shebanin, V., Shebanina, O., & Kormyshkin, Y. (2024). Implementation of circular economy principles to promote the development of rural areas. Ekonomika APK, 31(2), 51-59. doi:  10.32317/2221-1055.202402051.
  18. Shkarupa, O., Vlasenko, D., & Makedon, H. (2025). Women’s entrepreneurship in Ukrainian agriculture: Identifying channels for strengthening strategic development. Agricultural and Resource Economics International Scientific E-Journal, 11(1), 213-239. doi: 10.51599/are.2025.11.01.08.
  19. Statista. (2025). Ukraine – statistics & facts. Retrieved from https://surl.lu/nfvnbw.
  20. Wagner, J., Nair, S.S., Skakun, S., Duncan, E.C., Li, F., Oliinyk, O., Nerry, F., Rehbinder, J., & Becker-Reshef, I. (2025). Monitoring cropland cultivation, abandonment, fallowing and recultivation dynamics with regard to conflict intensity in war-affected Ukraine. Science of Remote Sensing, 12, article number 100326. doi: 10.1016/j. srs.2025.100326.
  21. Zhao, L., Xie, W., Li, H., Sun, S., Yi, H., Zhou, L., & Yang, P. (2025). Assessing global wheat supply security based on a cascading failure model in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Food Security, 18(1), 7-28. doi: 10.1007/s12571-025-01610-z.
  22. Zomchak, L., & Kukhotska, T. (2025). Building food security resilience in Ukraine: The autoregressive approach to food price forecasting. In Studies in systems, decision and control (pp. 403-424). Cham: Springer.​ doi: 10.1007/978-3-03180935-4_19.