Ukraine will need over $20B and over 10 years to restore land for the agricultural sector.

Restoring agricultural lands after the war will cost Ukraine over $20B, or about 15% of its pre-war GDP, and will take over 10 years, according to the Institute for Economic Research (IER).Ukraine owns 33% of the world’s black soil, but the war continues to destroy the ability to utilize it.

Here is the scale of the damage, according to expert estimates:

1. priority reclamation needs – about $1.1B
2. total demining cost – about $30B, of which about $22B is needed specifically for agricultural lands

According to the IER, the primary soil damage factors are:

1. explosive destruction, which mixes the most fertile upper layer with lower ones
2. soil compaction by heavy military equipment
3. chemical pollution with heavy metals and fuel
4. destruction of forest belts that protected against erosion.

Ukraine will lose some areas for agricultural use for an extended period, as some of them will not be able to be completely demined. Similar circumstances in Belgium and France show that even 100 years after the First World War, farmers still find shells.