Integrated Assessment of Sustainable Agricultural Development in Ukraine: Linkages Between Economic, Ecological, and Social Dimensions

Sustainable agriculture has been a focus of research for over three decades, gaining particular urgency with the escalation of global conflicts, especially the Russian–Ukrainian war. Selecting appropriate parameters for objectively assessing sustainable agricultural development remains challenging, with limited studies addressing the aggregation of all relevant indicators into a single analytical framework. Given that these indicators and their quantitative values change annually, continuous updating and analysis are essential. This study was guided by selected SALSA/PRISMA principles to structure the indicator-selection process for examining Ukraine’s agricultural sector, which is vital to both national and global food security and accounts for approximately 10% of GDP, more than 50% of exports, and nearly 17% of employment. Alongside climate change pressures, the sector faces severe disruption from military aggression, undermining its economic contribution and stability. This research identifies and selects the most relevant economic, ecological, and social indicators to assess sustainable agricultural development in Ukraine, comparing values before and during the war. Based on these, this study proposes the Sustainable Agriculture Index (ISA), an aggregated measure that integrates multiple dimensions of sustainability. The ISA was calculated using a normalized weighted aggregation approach across economic, environmental, and social indicators. This approach enables a comprehensive evaluation of Ukraine’s agricultural resilience and its capacity to contribute to sustainable development under crisis conditions.