The Kyiv School of Economics Agrocenter continues its series of sectoral studies on Ukraine’s agricultural industry as part of its broader assessment of the country’s path toward European Union integration. This report focuses on Ukraine’s dairy sector.
Beeld: © KSE
Key findings
- Most milk is still produced by households, yet traditional small-scale “village” dairying is steadily disappearing, with no chance of surviving in its current form.
- Professional farms, by contrast, ensure quality and safety, enjoy prices more than 40 percent higher for milk sold to processors, and are consolidating to achieve better production efficiency — a global trend.
- The slow transformation of backyard farms into professional operations is tightening raw milk supply, weakening domestic processing, and limiting export potential.
- A clear regional pattern is emerging: central and northern Ukraine form the core of professional production, while the west remains dominated by smallholders — though this balance is shifting under the pressure of full-scale Russian war against Ukraine.
- Dairy products remain the second most important source of calories for Ukrainians, yet low incomes prevent consumption levels of protein and fat from reaching those seen in neighboring countries.
- Poland’s experience shows that after joining the EU, investments, combined with access to Europe’s vast market and modern technologies, can make the dairy industry not only competitive but also among the most dynamic in the Union.
Read the full text: https://lnkd.in/dBcmGerJ
Beeld: © KSE
Link to the report Eurointegration 2.0. The Ukrainian Dairy Sector