NUBiP and Swedish Partners Hold Kickoff Meeting for Joint Agricultural Cooperation Project
On 17 August 2026, representatives of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NUBiP of Ukraine) and their Swedish partners held the first working meeting of the project «Economic Development through Agriculture in Ukraine». The online meeting brought together delegates from NUBiP, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), the Swedish Veterinary Agency (SVA), and the Swedish Board of Agriculture (SJV).
The meeting followed shortly after SLU formally signed the funding agreement with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The design phase of the project has a budget of 3,083,930 SEK and will run from 15 August 2026 through 31 December 2027. Separate agreements between SLU and each of NUBiP, SJV, and SVA are to follow. The design phase is expected to result in a full proposal for a long-term agricultural sector support programme, to be submitted to Sida in early 2028.
The initiative traces its immediate origin to a meeting between the rectors of NUBiP and SLU at the ICA Rectors and Deans Forum in 2025, and it aligns with the Memorandum of Understanding on agricultural cooperation signed in 2025 between the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and Sweden's Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure. The project falls within the framework of Sweden's Strategy for Reconstruction and Reform Cooperation with Ukraine 2023–2027, under its priority area of inclusive economic development, enterprise, and trade.
The agenda included an introductory round, brief presentations by each partner organisation, and an overview of the project's background and objectives, presented by Sara Gräslund, Head of SLU Global. Katarina Börling, Research Advisor at SLU Global, presented the project's organisational structure, which includes a coordination group of three Swedish and one Ukrainian representative, a working group of six Swedish and six Ukrainian members responsible for developing the full proposal, and two smaller working groups, each comprising three Swedish and three Ukrainian members, responsible for developing pilot training programmes in livestock and crop production respectively. A dedicated group of expert consultants and a reference group will support the project throughout the design phase.
A central part of the meeting was an interactive session conducted using Mentimeter, facilitated by Brian Kuns, Senior Lecturer in Rural Development at SLU. Participants from both countries were invited to identify needs and gaps in Ukraine's agricultural sector that the future proposal should address, in order to ensure that the proposal is grounded in needs identified directly by stakeholders.
Two training programmes are being developed in parallel with the main proposal. The first, on livestock health and production, builds on SVA's established “Healthy Livestock – Safe Food” curriculum and will be piloted with approximately ten participants from Ukraine, with an initial focus on the dairy value chain. The second, on plant health in crop production, will cover crop production, including fruit, vegetable, and berry production; during this phase, the curriculum will be developed, though no pilot is planned at this stage.
Participants agreed on the next steps for the project. The working group responsible for the full proposal will hold two further online meetings between August and October, followed by an in-person meeting in Warsaw, Poland, tentatively scheduled for the week of 26–30 October, and a writing workshop in Sweden in autumn 2027 to finalise the proposal. The livestock and crop production working groups will follow separate meeting schedules extending into 2027.
Participants expressed their satisfaction with the outcomes of the meeting and their commitment to close cooperation throughout the design phase of the project.
Though this partnership is only just beginning, it stands as a testament to what shared knowledge and steady cooperation can build, even in difficult times. Together, NUBiP, SLU, SVA, and SJV are laying the groundwork for an agricultural sector that is stronger, more sustainable, and firmly on the path toward Ukraine's European future.