The agriculture of Ukraine amidst war and agroecology as a driver of post-war reconstruction

This paper reveals the nature and extent of the damage inflicted upon Ukraine’s agrarian sector by Russian military actions, as well as the pre-existing deficiencies that have adversely affected its functioning during wartime. Proposals from governmental institutions, researchers, agricultural producers’ associations, and civil society may be categorised into three potential postwar reconstruction scenarios: maintaining its pre-war predominantly raw model, enhancing investment attractiveness, and strengthening the orientation towards sustainable development. The potential consequences of implementing each identified model for economic entities in agriculture and for society in the progression towards European Union membership have been outlined. This paper contends that transition towards development based on contemporary (innovative) principles of agroecology is essential for creating resilient local and, consequently, national agricultural and food systems. Meanwhile, the role played by different categories of agricultural producers utilising agroecological practices in enhancing the resilience of agrifood systems and the main directions for promoting the dissemination of these practices have both been revealed. The practical significance of the research results involves the possibility of their implementation in developing a coordinated version of the post-war reconstruction and the further development of Ukraine’s agrarian sector, the defining feature of which should be an approach that aligns with the principles of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, further incorporating a transition to agricultural development based on agroecology.