UKRAINIAN FARMING: STATUS, PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

Farming in Ukraine is an important component of the national economy and ensures the country’s food security. Despite its significant potential, the industry faces a number of challenges and opportunities. This article examines the state of Ukrainian farming since the full-scale invasion, its problems and prospects. The war has had a significant impact on all sectors of the economy in Ukraine, and it undoubtedly brings huge losses and damages to the country. This also applies to small farms. Despite everything, farming in Ukraine remains an important component of the national economy, ensuring the country’s food security. And despite its significant potential, the industry faces a number of challenges and opportunities. In our opinion, farming has a high degree of adaptability to various market signals, flexibly reacts to market conditions through changes in production programs, specialization and diversification of economic activity. This flexibility and variability allows farms to have certain advantages compared to medium and large agricultural enterprises and contributes to the development of competition in Ukrainian agriculture. However, various external influences, such as: lack of working capital, weak material and technical base, complexity and constant change of the taxation system, unregulated land relations, instability of state support, restrain the development of farms in the domestic economy. Especially in the current difficult times for the country. Therefore, it is urgent to find the most effective management methods that would allow farms to fully fulfill their socio-economic function in the development of the village. Many farmers have already undergone hardening in wartime conditions, blackouts and even the destruction of farms as a result of Russian aggression. Small agricultural producers have proven their higher stability, flexibility and efficiency compared to large agricultural companies. And despite all the adversities, skeptical and pessimistic forecasts, the development of farms in Ukraine continues and is supported by the state.