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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms 
of the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0

1 Chuhuiv Department of Chamber Audits of the Management, Identification and Processing 
of Tax Risks of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine (corresponding author)
E-mail: podsohaanna@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8710-6948
2 Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, Ukraine
E-mail: hneu.gavrilchenko@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0624-2938
3 Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, Ukraine
E-mail: annetblejkk@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6471-0677

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30525/2256-0742/2023-9-5-215-222

THE POTENTIAL FOR ENSURING FOOD SECURITY IN UKRAINE 
IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ONGOING MILITARY CONFLICT

Anna Podsokha1, Olena Havrylchenko2, Anna Cherednyk3

Abstract. The subject of the research is the study of Ukraine's food security and the potential for improving it. 
Methodology. The article uses general scientific and specific methods of economic research: the method of  
content analysis (when processing scientific sources and reviewing the thematic literature, deduction and 
induction); abstract and logical method (when identifying problematic aspects of ensuring the country's 
food security, substantiating conclusions and proposals); the method of statistical calculations of regression  
economics (when substantiating the economic and mathematical model of food security, calculating the  
indicator of the actual state of self-sufficiency in food security). The purpose of the study is to assess the level of  
food security achieved by Ukraine and to identify the main factors that affect the potential for its possible 
improvement. Conclusion. Ukraine has significant potential to ensure food security at the national and  
European levels. However, over the past two years, Ukraine has lost its position in the global food security ranking 
according to the GFSI. The main problematic aspects that led to this are as follows: irrational use of land and 
labour resources, aging and migration of the rural population; sharp loss of agricultural biodiversity; high level 
of chemicalisation of agricultural production; loss of the potential for quality reproduction of agricultural land; 
significant inclusive gaps within rural areas; low level of funding for agricultural science and a predominantly 
raw material, agrarian orientation. The main reason for the downgrade of Ukraine's GFSI rating in 2022 was the  
ongoing military operations in the country. Despite the existing problematic aspects, the Ukrainian agricultural 
sector showed the highest level of sustainable development compared to other types of economic activity.  
The share of profitable enterprises in the sector was 79%. Ukraine is currently self-sufficient in food security  
for almost all types of agricultural products. The constructed economic-mathematical model showed a high degree 
of dependence of food security on such factors as the total value of assets of agricultural formations, the value 
of fixed assets and the amount of profit. It was determined that the key condition for increasing the potential  
for ensuring food security in Ukraine, both at the national and European level, should be the social responsibility  
of agribusiness and raising the level of sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas.

Key words: agricultural business, food security, agricultural companies, food, households, sustainable development.

JEL Classification: Q10

1. Introduction
The active growth of the world's population and the 

growing attention to equalising the quality of life of 
people in different countries require a solution to one  
of the world's most acute and urgent problems –  
ensuring global food security. The global path towards 
achieving the goals of sustainable development 
of society is also primarily based on the issues of 
sustainable development of agriculture and ensuring 

inclusive and equitable access to quality and healthy 
food for all segments of the population. Among the 
sustainable development goals that are currently and 
in the near future a strategic guideline for the 
development of economic blocs, groups, national 
economies and regions of individual countries,  
including Ukraine, is ensuring food security. Directly 
related: Goal 1 – No Poverty, Goal 2 – Zero Hunger,  
Goal 3 – Good Health and Well-Being, Goal 10 –  



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Reduced Inequalities, Goal 12 – Responsible 
Consumption and Production, Goal 13 – Climate 
Action; Goal 15 – Life on Land. The UN has defined 
the achievement of zero hunger as one of the main  
goals of sustainable development, which is charac-
terised as inclusive access to quality, adequate and 
safe food for all categories of the world's population, 
taking into account opportunities for healthy eating 
and achieving socio-economic and environmental  
well-being.

The importance and relevance of this goal is 
confirmed by the fact that, despite the constant trends 
in the growth of food production in the world, about 
1 billion people still need to be provided with food 
in adequate quantity, quality and availability (Zero 
Hunger). This explains the numerous government 
initiatives around the world, and in particular in the 
EU, aimed at providing institutional, organisational  
and financial support for the development of  
agriculture and rural areas. For the period  
2020–2024, the EU has invested more than 
18 billion EUR in achieving food security.  
Approximately 70 countries around the world have 
received aid (Global food security). At the same time, 
the problem remains unresolved and requires further 
steps. Ukraine has huge agricultural potential, which 
can ensure its significant contribution to solving the 
global food security problem. Agriculture accounts 
for about 20% of the country's GDP. In terms of 
wheat production in 2023, despite the ongoing 
military conflict, Ukraine is one of the world's top  
10 producers. In recent years, Ukraine has been one  
of the top 5 world exporters of grain products, the 
leading exporter of oilseeds and products of its food 
processing. In 2021, Ukraine's total contribution 
to ensuring global food security was estimated by  
Ukrainian experts at the equivalent of food for 
400 thousand people (Onegina, Antoshchenkova, 
2022). The aftermath of the military conflict naturally 
affected the nature and efficiency of Ukrainian 
agriculture, but compared to other types of economic 
activity, agriculture has shown the highest degree of 
stability and dynamism. This is an undeniable fact 
about the huge reserves and opportunities for ensuring 
national food security in Ukraine and its participation 
in solving this problem at the European and global level.

2. Literature Review
Ensuring food security is a global and vital issue for all 

parts of the world, regardless of economic development 
and growth rates.

Özge Can Niyaz (2016) notes that despite the 
system of measures of pan-European state regulation 
and the annual increase in the scale of financial 
support to European agriculture, the desired safe state 
of food security in the EU has not yet been achieved.  

As pointed out by Vatsa & Miljkovic (2022), the 
main problematic aspects of food security in the EU  
countries are the low level of interchangeability of 
certain types of agri-food products and the high 
degree of dependence on agricultural raw materials, 
which are a source for food industry enterprises,  
for example, sunflower seeds, rapeseed. Understanding 
the complexity of the situation and taking into  
account the important role of Ukraine as a major 
importer for the EU, European governments have 
been taking measures for several years to improve the 
development of agricultural supply infrastructure and 
logistics in Ukraine, with the aim of ensuring pan-
European food security (Bureau & Swinnen, 2018).

The escalation of geopolitical tensions, the  
emergence and spread of global pandemics, and 
the outbreak of military conflict in Ukraine have  
significantly complicated the task of overcoming 
hunger and achieving the Sustainable Development 
Goals related to the need to ensure food security 
(Carriquiry et al., 2022; Serhiienko, et al., 2023). 
Hoekman & Mavroidis (2021) argue that the results 
and consequences of military conflicts, manifested 
in sanctions, restrictions and bans on the parties to 
the conflict, are not an effective tool and significantly 
complicate the task of achieving global and regional 
food security. This is particularly true in the case  
of the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. In 
recent years, the problem of neutralising the effects  
of climate change and the desire for climate  
neutrality have been added to the list of these 
difficulties, which should also be one of the main 
strategic guidelines for ensuring global and European 
food security (Santeramo & Kang, 2022). 

The paramount importance of food security 
for improving the quality of life of society has 
led to considerable attention being paid to the  
methodological principles for assessing its level.  
In defining the nature of food security, the FAO set  
out the basic principles of its provision: availability, 
access, utilization and stability (FAO, 2009). When 
assessing the state of food security, Bawadi et al. 
(2012) focus on its main components (quantity, 
quality, food safety, cultural traditions and national 
preferences), levels of food security (global, national, 
regional, household, individual) and generally  
accepted criteria (availability, access, use). Ukrainian 
scientists distinguish the following principles of food 
security: self-sufficiency, multifunctionality, social 
justice, independence, sustainability, balance and 
rationality (Urba & Kopytko, 2022).

In scientific practice, there are several main methods 
for assessing the achieved state of food security at 
different levels of its provision. Bashir & Schilizzi  
(2012) prefer the food intake method (DIM) 
and the method based on the scale of measuring 
the lack of the required level of food security.  



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Jones Andrew et al. (2013) use a broader set of  
methods and indicators in their study:
– Global Hunger Index;
– the volume of household consumption and 
expenditure;
– scale of access to food in households;
– diversity of household diets.

In recent years, scholars have often considered 
food security through the prism of the concept of  
sustainable development. Ahn & Norwood (2021) 
argue that food self-sufficiency and population 
well-being are determined by the achieved state of 
sustainability of food value chains, which should  
ensure a healthy and active lifestyle for people despite 
external and internal challenges. Antamoshkina and 
Rogachev (2020) analyse the issues of achieving 
sustainable food security using the following  
indicators: food price indices, gradation of the 
population by income level, share of household 
expenditure on food, and food import substitution 
indicator.

Since 2012, the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) 
has been a widely accepted indicator for assessing 
the level of food security achieved. Po-Chi Chen et 
al. (2019) propose to assess the actual state of the 
country's food security using the H-DEA method 
to aggregate additional hierarchical indicators and 
calculate a multidimensional indicator based on  
expert data. International organisations (FAO, 
UN, WBCSD) use, in addition to these indicators, 
a whole range of additional indicators: the level of  
food consumption and its types, the level of access  
and its correlation with the level of income, the level 
of poverty, the level of hunger, the proportion of the 
population that is undernourished, etc. At the same  
time, global strategic priorities of exceptional 
importance for current and future generations, 
challenges and threats, rather than current geopo- 
litical trends, are driving ongoing research into  
ensuring and improving food security for all countries 
and peoples without exception. 

The purpose of the study is to assess the current  
state of food security in Ukraine and identify the 
main factors that affect the potential for its possible 
improvement. 

In conducting the research, the materials of  
publications covered in the sources of scientometric 
databases, including Scopus and Web of Science, 
materials of own statistical observations, data from 
the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of 
Finance of Ukraine, and the European Commission 
were used. The current state of food security in the 
country was assessed on the basis of international 
rating comparisons, the results of own calculations 
of the indicator of the level of self-sufficiency in food 
security (as the ratio of the volume of production of 
certain types of agricultural products to domestic 

consumption), independently substantiated factors 
of the economic and mathematical model of the 
relationship between the GFSI indicator and factor 
characteristics. The main methods of research were  
the method of content analysis (when processing 
scientific sources and reviewing thematic literature), 
deduction and induction, the abstract and logical 
method (when identifying problematic aspects of 
ensuring food security of the country, substantiating 
conclusions and proposals), the method of regression 
economic and statistical calculations (when 
substantiating the economic and mathematical model 
of ensuring food security, calculating the indicator  
of the actual state of self-sufficiency of food  
security). The economic and statistical calculations 
were based on the financial statements and  
performance data of Ukrainian agricultural  
enterprises (except for large agricultural holdings,  
which were not included in the statistical sample).

3. Main Research Material
Complex trends in the development of the global  

and national economies of the world affect the quality  
of life of the population, the well-being of nations and  
the global potential of humanity to reproduce and 
maintain health. At the same time, the quality and 
accessibility of food is of paramount importance,  
and in this context, it has become one of the central 
concerns of governments in all countries. Today,  
almost without exception, national economies 
contribute to solving the problem of achieving food 
security in the global landscape. At the global level, 
the contribution of national economies to global food 
security is measured by the Global Food Security 
Index (GFSI). In the world rankings, Finland,  
Ireland, Norway, France and the Netherlands were  
the leading countries in terms of national food  
security in 2022. Ukraine ranked 71st, dropping 
13 places over the year (Figure 1).

The research has identified the main problems of  
food security in Ukraine, which have lowered  
Ukraine's place in the overall global ranking  
according to the GFSI. These include:
1) Irrational use of land resources. Ukraine has the 
highest level of ploughed agricultural land (about  
80%), which significantly restricts the potential for 
restoring its natural fertility through the restoration  
of humus.
2) Considerable rates of biodiversity loss. In particular, 
over the past twelve years, the number of cattle in 
Ukrainian agriculture has decreased by 90%. This 
has virtually eliminated the possibility of restoring 
the quality properties of Ukrainian soils by applying  
organic fertilisers of natural origin.
3) A significant degree of chemicalisation of  
agricultural production (the actual share of fertilised 



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areas is 88%; the share of areas treated with pesticides  
is 89%). The share of the area used for organic 
production is only 0.6% and has not increased over  
the past ten years.
4) There are significant inclusive gaps in the quality 
of life and well-being of the population in rural and  
urban areas of Ukraine. Traditionally, the wages of 
employees in agriculture are 20-25% lower than in  
other types of economic activity. The social infra-
structure of rural areas is virtually destroyed, which 
does not help attract labour resources to agribusiness. 
According to the World Bank, Ukraine's agricultural 
productivity is five times lower than the EU average.
5) The level of funding for innovative transformations 
in the agricultural sector needs to be increased, as 
well as the limited financial potential of agricultural 
businesses and the country's budgets, and the low  
level of funding for the development of agricultural 
science and education.
6) One of the critical problems of Ukraine's food  
security is the high share of the raw materials sector 
in agri-food production. The focus on exports of 
agricultural raw materials over the past decades has  
led to a partial loss of the potential of the domestic  
food industry. This limits the opportunities for 
increasing value added in agri-food chains.

One of the critical factors constraining agricultural 
potential and lowering food security ratings is the 
ongoing military conflict in the country. Active 
hostilities have created a number of acute problems  
for both the development of agricultural enterprises  
and the macroeconomic stability of the country as 

a whole. Over the past two years, the price of diesel 
fuel in Ukraine has increased by 74.5%, the cost of 
agrochemicals (fertilisers and biological pesticides) 
by 2.6 times, and the cost of energy resources by 
three times. The increase in the cost of material and  
technical resources takes place against a background 
of general problems in the logistics of agricultural 
distribution chains and a sharp negative trend in 
the decline of selling prices. Today, the main export  
routes for Ukrainian agri-food products remain small 
hubs on the Danube and railway junctions to Eastern 
Europe. The loss of sea transport links has severely 
limited the formation of resource potential and the 
ability to sell manufactured products, affecting the 
price attractiveness and profitability of agricultural 
enterprises.

1. Despite the problematic aspects and existing 
threats, the agricultural sector of the Ukrainian  
economy, even during the war, demonstrates the 
highest level of sustainability and reliability of  
economic development among all types of economic 
activity. According to the State Statistics Service of 
Ukraine, in 2022 the share of profitable enterprises in 
the country's agricultural sector was 79% (together 
with the share of loss-making enterprises – about 
21%). On average, agricultural business structures 
received 7.8 thousand USD net profit per 100 ha of 
agricultural land. The overall level of profitability of 
agricultural enterprises (excluding extensive agricul- 
tural enterprises) was 14%, the ROE index was  
17.6%, and the ROA was 9.5% (Agriculture of  
Ukraine, 2022). Such indicators indicate the existence  

the

Figure 1. TOP-10 world leaders in food security and Ukraine

Source: The 11th Global Food Security Index shows a deterioration in the global food environment for the third year, threatening food security



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of a robust long-term potential for the strength and 
stability of the agricultural sector of the Ukrainian 
economy. Such reserve, in turn, creates favourable 
conditions for ensuring Ukraine's food security 
and participation in European and global processes 
of solving the problem of hunger in the world.  
According to the results of the calculation of the  
level of food self-sufficiency of the population of 
Ukraine up to and including 2021, its indicators  
show a clear upward trend for almost all types of  
food (except dairy products). At the same time, the 
actual level of self-sufficiency in food security in the 
pre-war period was such that there were significant 
reserves for food exports, given the full supply of  
food to the population of Ukraine (Table 1).

Along with the dynamics of relatively stable  
indicators in the last pre-war years and the positive 
results demonstrated by the country's agricultural 
sector in 2022, agriculture and rural areas of the  
country suffered significant losses from the effects 
of the military conflict. To mitigate them, the  
Government of Ukraine and European government 
agencies have introduced a number of projects 
and support programmes, including: "Grain from  
Ukraine" (about 220 million USD), share grant  
programs from the EU (1.73 million USD), the 
EU Programme "Early Recovery of Ukraine" 
(150 million EUR), a package of financial assistance 
for the development of green agriculture (450 million 
EUR), the EU and FAO financial support project  
for Ukraine's agricultural sector to strengthen 
production and supply chains and adapt them to  
wartime conditions, 50 billion EUR of total EU 
loan financing over the past two years, and others 
(Ukraine: EU-FAO partnership to ensure recovery  
and development of agricultural value chains).

Along with the stable situation in Ukraine's  
agriculture during the military operations, the potential 
for food security is characterised by the following 
strengths:

1. The creation of a free land market is  
currently being accompanied by measures to find 
adequate and transparent mechanisms to ensure its 
functioning.

2. Simplification of a number of legal procedures 
(cancellation of additional seed certification  
procedures, simplification of imported feed labelling, 
simplification of agricultural export licensing, 
simplification of control over compliance with 
phytosanitary measures, simplified registration of 
agricultural machinery and preferential procedures 
for storage, transportation and use of pesticides and 
agrochemicals during martial law).

3. Cheap and high-quality workforce in rural areas.
4. The high level of intensification of agricultural 

production helps to reduce business risks to some 
extent.

5. Long-term ROA.
6. The traditional predominance of equity capital 

in the structure of sources of financial support for 
agricultural enterprises significantly reduces the level  
of dependence of agricultural producers on the unstable 
market conditions for credit and financial resources.

7. The lowest level of shadowing of the agricultural 
economy compared to other types of economic  
activity (mainly due to the payment of the single tax).

These advantages of the Ukrainian agricultural sector 
complement the main factor in shaping Ukraine's 
food security potential – a strong resource base, the 
quality and quantity of which is crucial for increasing 
agricultural production. According to the calculations, 
the actual level of GFSI in Ukraine is closely  
correlated with the level of assets, fixed assets and 
financial results of agricultural enterprises. To 
assess the degree of connection between the GFSI  
indicator and the main factors of agricultural  
production, an economic and mathematical model  
of multiple linear regression with three factors was built:

Yi = b0 + b1 x1j + b2 x2j + b3 x3j

where
x1 – cost of total capital per 1 ha of agricultural land, 

thousand UAH;
x2 – cost of fixed assets per 1 ha of agricultural land, 

thousand UAH;
x3 – net profit per 1 ha of agricultural land, UAH;
Y is the actual level of the GFSI indicator in the 

country. 

Table 1
Level of self-sufficiency in food security in Ukraine, %

Types of food 2010 2015 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Cereals and legumes 144,1 238,9 292,9 319,2 341,3 323,3 433,20
Meat and meat products 86,1 106,2 105,1 105,0 110,2 110,1 111
Milk and dairy products 106,4 105,0 107,7 107,5 103,1 99,1 95,20
Eggs 108,5 113,9 119,8 123,9 125,9 125,0 112,40
Potato 97,7 96,3 101,7 101,5 100,0 101,0 101,50
Fruits, berries, and grapes 73,7 92,3 82,9 91,3 78,1 75,9 79,30
Vegetables and gourds 100,0 100,3 102,9 103,4 104,0 104,6 106,10

Source: аuthors' calculations based on data from (Agriculture of Ukraine, 2022)



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The mathematical model showed a relatively high 

level of reliability (R2 = 0.85), which confirmed the 
close relationship between the selected factors and  
the practical attribute.

The mathematical model of the actual level of 
national food security built on the basis of economic 
and statistical indicators of agricultural enterprises  
is as follows:

Yi = 57,01 + 0,28x1j + 0,12x2j + 0,1x3j

According to the results of the mathematical model, 
the most significant impact on the actual level of the 
food security indicator is the degree of provision of 
agricultural producers with production assets (by all 
types). Financial results (profit) have a lesser impact, 
which is explained by the specifics of its use in the 
current conditions of agricultural business in Ukraine 
and the minimisation of investment in agricultural 
production.

Among the components of the GFSI in 2022,  
Ukraine has the lowest scores in the accessibility 
component (48.1) and the sustainability and 
adaptation component (41.5). Despite the high 
level of chemicalisation of the country's agriculture,  
agri-food products are characterised by a relatively 
high level of quality and safety – 71.3. In the context  
of national importance, a significant problem for 
Ukraine today is the economic accessibility of the 
required amount of food for the population of  
Ukraine. In particular, this problem will be  
exacerbated in 2022 with the outbreak of the  
military conflict and a sharp decline in the nominal 
and real incomes of the population. According to the 
calculation materials, in 2022 the growth rate of the 
cost of the consumer food basket (in terms of the cost 
of a borscht set) was 166.5%, while the average salary  
of Ukrainians decreased by 16.5% (Figure 2).

Food is the primary expenditure of the Ukrainian 
population, occupying the largest share in the 
structure of household expenditure. In 2022,  

Ukrainians spent on average about 41.7% of all 
expenditures on food, 15.5% on housing and utilities, 
5.1% on health care, 4.4% on household transport and 
3.7% on communication. Traditionally, education, 
recreation and other non-material needs of Ukrainians 
have remained and still need to be met. The average 
household expenditure for all family members was 
10,394 UAH, i.e., 259 USD per month and about 
8.6 USD per day. According to the World Bank,  
about 24% of the population in Ukraine today lives 
below the poverty line, and this figure may soon rise 
to 55% (How the poverty rate in Ukraine has been 
changing).

Ukraine has developed a Draft Food Security  
Strategy for the period until 2030. Its main goal is to 
ensure access to safe food for all social groups in the 
country and create conditions for food independence. 
The strategy defines key priorities, tasks and  
mechanisms for achieving the strategic goal. The main 
sources of financial support for the implementation 
of the strategy are the state and local budgets, as 
well as funds not prohibited by the legislation of  
Ukraine. While paying tribute to the full scope and 
content of the defined food security strategy, it should 
be noted that the weakest point of any government 
initiative in Ukraine is their insufficient funding. 
According to the authors, the strategy pays insufficient 
attention to the tools for ensuring food security on 
the basis of sustainable and inclusive development, 
as well as to the areas of action related to the strategic 
development of green agriculture and rural areas.

Transformational changes on the basis of  
sustainable development should become the basis 
for intensifying the attraction of socially responsible 
investment flows to the agricultural sector of  
Ukraine. This transformation is based on the 
introduction of digital technologies (Kramarenko, 
2022). In addition, the existing problems of increasing 
chemicalisation and degradation of agricultural 

119,7 125,8
107,8

120,3

166,5

120,5 115,9 115,6 123,1

83,5

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140

0
20
40
60
80

100
120
140
160
180

2018 2021        2019  2020

Cost of a borscht set

2022 

Average salary

Figure 2. Rate of change in the cost of food and average wages in Ukraine, %

Source: calculated by the authors on the basis of their own statistical research and  
data (Socio-economic indicators)



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land should be solved in the short term by socially  
responsible agricultural enterprises. It is the source of 
creation of agricultural and food products, the quality,  
quantity and availability of which will meet the  
criteria and indicators of food security of the country. 
Moreover, it is socially responsible agribusiness that 
develops on the basis of sustainability and "green"  
agro-economy, which can create the potential for 
Ukraine's participation in ensuring the food security 
of the EU countries and solving the global hunger 
problem in the world. In the conditions of a military 
conflict, when the vector of directing the state's  
financial resources is predominantly non-agricultural, 
it is responsible agribusiness that should take on 
the main functions of contributing to ensuring the  
nation's food security. Modern challenges encourage 
to increase the role of food security not only for  
Ukraine, but for the world society as a whole 
(Irtyshcheva, 2022; Popadynets, 2021).

At the same time, the state must provide 
comprehensive systemic institutional support and 
create conditions for stabilising the investment  
climate in the agricultural sector and for representing 
and protecting the investment interests of Ukrainian 
farmers in the European economic area.

4. Conclusions
Ensuring food security is the most important 

global challenge of modern times, affecting the life  
expectancy, health and quality of life of the world's 
population. Ukraine has a strong agricultural potential 
and all the conditions to ensure national food  
security and participate in international processes 

to eliminate hunger on a European and global scale. 
Despite the challenging environment, economic and 
political instability, and the ongoing military conflict.

Ukraine's agriculture demonstrates relatively high 
indicators of sustainable development compared to 
other sectors of the Ukrainian economy. At the same 
time, the consequences of the hostilities could not but 
affect the state of food security: in 2022, Ukraine lost 
13 positions in the GFSI global ranking. The main 
problems in ensuring the country's food security were 
identified:
– Irrational use of land and labour resources, ageing  
and migration of the rural population;
– sharp loss of biodiversity;
– high level of chemicalisation of agricultural 
production;
– loss of potential for high-quality reproduction of 
agricultural land;
– significant inclusive gaps in rural areas;
– low level of funding for agricultural science and 
the predominantly raw material orientation of the 
agricultural sector.

Despite these difficulties, Ukraine is now  
sufficiently self-sufficient in terms of food security 
(with the exception of dairy products, fruit, berries 
and grapes). In particular, the self-sufficiency rate 
for cereal products is 433%, which indicates the  
potential for ensuring food security at the national  
and European level. The authors of the article 
believe that this can be achieved by intensifying 
the transformation of the Ukrainian agricultural  
sector towards sustainable development and increasing 
the level of social responsibility of agricultural 
enterprises.

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Received on: 09th of October, 2023
Accepted on: 25th of November, 2023
Published on: 28th of December, 2023