Cooperatives Contribute to Ukraine’s Agri-Food Recovery and EU Accession

On 9 July, Cooperatives Europe and Legacoop, in collaboration with SOCODEVI and the Cooperative Academy, co-organised a high-level workshop on the cooperative contribution to Ukraine’s agri-food sector recovery. Held in Rome as an official side event to the Ukraine Recovery Conference, the two-panel discussions brought together representatives from the Ukrainian Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the EU, the Ukrainian and Italian cooperative movements, and international cooperative development organisations.

🌐 The first panel focused on international cooperative solidarity and its impact on Ukrainian cooperatives’ competitiveness and access to the EU single market and global value chains. It featured success stories from Ukrainian honey, dairy, and grain cooperatives, highlighting the resilience of the cooperative model despite the 2022 war of aggression.

“With the support of our Canadian and European colleagues, we were able to rebuild a new cooperative model—moving away from the appropriation of private property and towards election-based cooperative democratic governance.”
— Sophia Burtak, Rural Businesswomen Network

👥 The second panel explored the broader role of cooperatives in Ukraine’s reconstruction and EU accession, beyond just the agri-food sector. Speakers highlighted the link between agriculture and social cohesion, the importance of EU integration for the sector, and lessons learned from the 2004 enlargement.

“I personally believe cooperatives can become the backbone of our economy.”
— Oksana Osmachko, Vice-Minister, Ukrainian Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food

Examples of cooperative contributions included rural municipality twinning between Italy and Ukraine, women’s formal economic participation, technical assistance across value chains, and training on EU acquis.

Key takeaways:

• The Ukrainian government adopted the Rural and Agricultural Development Strategy 2030 in November 2024, positioning cooperatives as a key pillar for rural development. It is actively working to align with the EU acquis, including the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

• Enlargement remains one of the EU’s strongest geopolitical tools but comes with challenges that must be addressed to avoid negative impacts on both candidate and Member States.

• Cooperatives from across the world—including Italy, Canada, Sweden, and the UK—are stepping up to support a resilient cooperative movement in Ukraine, despite the ongoing war.

• Ukrainian cooperatives are entering value chains and offering a sustainable, democratic alternative. Cooperation among producers helps them meet market demands and boost competitiveness.

• Ukraine is a major player in global agriculture. Aligning export structures and investing strategically will be key to long-term integration.

• In July 2024, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) issued recommendations on addressing sustainability challenges related to enlargement in its opinion, “How to ensure the social, environmental and economic sustainability of the EU agri-food sector with future enlargement?”

Cooperatives Europe continues to work with partners and cooperatives in Ukraine 🇺🇦 through #coops4dev🌍 to support a participatory, people-centred EU accession and recovery path. This includes building a multi-stakeholder cooperative dialogue across the region as part of its broader commitment in accession countries.

▶️ Watch the full recording

Or watch on Zoom (pass: W5b4*L#T):
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/DDCWIaXsZengTPYCJl_PQQ9sLvX5RqSjmsN4IwdbHjKOnur8rBtDG_0-lyZgl5TA.23S-EQrJ9grFiiml?startTime=1752043839000