Animal welfare in the focus of professional development for Ukrainian agricultural professionals
On the basis of the ‘Center for Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Livestock Development and Animal Welfare’ of the Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Water Bioresources of NUBiP of Ukraine, together with the SMC HPHE and the Association of Pig Breeders of Ukraine, on March 12 and 13, 2025, advanced training was organised for pedagogical and scientific and pedagogical staff, as well as specialists in the production sector of the pig industry in the specialty 204 ‘Technology of production and processing of livestock products’ on the topic ‘Welfare of pigs on the industrial farm’.
The event was held in the format of an international scientific webinar within the framework of the international Erasmus+ project ‘Sustainable Livestock Production and Animal Welfare’ (Grant Agreement No. 101083023-SuLAWe) with the support of leading scientists in the field of animal welfare from the Swedish University of Agriculture (Uppsala, Sweden), the University of Nürtingen-Gaislingen (Germany) and the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia).
The aim of the training was to cover current issues of pig welfare, which are important for understanding current trends and future development of the livestock industry. The two-day training with international and Ukrainian experts focused on specific topics that are important for farm professionals, managers at various levels, and scientists.
The event was opened by the Dean of the Faculty of Water Bioresources Ruslan Kononenko, who stressed the importance of studying key aspects of animal welfare for teachers and researchers, as well as harmonising the curriculum of higher education students with the modern requirements of Ukraine’s European integration aspirations. Then, the SuLaWe project manager, Sara Anna Paff, Master of Science at the Graduate School of Economics and Environment at the University of Nürtingen-Gaislingen, took the floor to present the main achievements of the project in the field of animal welfare. The German partners emphasised the improvement of training programmes in terms of animal welfare for veterinary medicine specialists and technologists in the production and processing of livestock products, the development of new training modules, namely Sustainable Livestock Production, Animal Welfare, Precision Livestock Production, as well as academic mobility of students within the project. The lifelong learning centres were opened to train both students and livestock market operators to acquire relevant qualifications.
Oksana YURCHENKO, President of the Association of Pig Breeders of Ukraine, held a training session for the event’s attendees on the specifics of pig production development in Ukraine, the main trends in the industry, biosafety and digitalisation of production processes. The first person in the industry delivered unique information on the formation of supply in the pork market, the main elements of international trade and tools for ensuring the welfare of pigs through the digitalisation of production processes in industrial technology. The close cooperation of educators with the Association of Pig Breeders of Ukraine allows us to implement the best practices of pig breeding in the educational process, for example, the development of the Industry Standard for Biosafety for Pig Farms, as well as the Standard for Classification of Pig Carcasses is an important element of practical training for students.
Professor Volodymyr OTCHENASHKO described in detail the modern research and technologies in the context of pig welfare in his report. The lecturer detailed the main aspects of pig breeding development in different regions of the world, the distribution of this type of animal per unit of geographical area, and also brought to the attention of the event’s audience the main areas of research in the field of welfare. This information has become an incentive for livestock scientists to choose research areas, and the analysis of scientific literature provides a deep dive into the study of key scientific achievements in pig welfare.
Ihor DVYLIUK, Vice-Rector for Research and Teaching at the Lviv National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology named after S.Z. Ihor DVYLYUK, Vice-Rector for Research and Teaching at the Lviv National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biology named after S.Z. Gzhytskyi, gave a detailed description of the animal welfare legislation of Ukraine and the world in his report. Associate Professor of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Galia Zamaratska spoke about the Swedish experience in aspects of pig welfare during castration, and Qasim MASHOOD, a doctoral student at the same university, presented an extremely relevant topic on the causes of pork defects ‘Deciphering Pale, Soft and Exudative (PSE)-like zones: A Rising Meat quality concern’.
At the end of the first day of training, the students were given independent work on the regional peculiarities of implementing welfare principles in pig production technology, and the results of their independent work were processed on the second day of training using the flipped classroom method.
An important document was presented to the audience: ‘Roadmap for Ensuring the Implementation of EU Animal Welfare Legislation for 2025-2027’, which aims to plan activities to implement the requirements of EU legislation on the welfare of farm animals during keeping, transportation and slaughter throughout the country, as well as to introduce a system of state control over compliance with the requirements of animal welfare legislation by market operators.
The second day of the event was dedicated to practical aspects of pig welfare. Thus, Associate Professor Serhii Gryshchenko reported on the system of training livestock specialists at various universities around the world, and Associate Professor Nadiya Magrelo reported on the assessment of pig welfare using modern pig keeping technologies. In general, the speakers of the second day focused on the requirements for keeping different sex and age groups of pigs on the principles of welfare, requirements for planning future pig farms, pig behaviour with different types of enrichment materials, the use of PLF elements in pig production to improve animal welfare, and special attention was paid to the issue of pre-slaughter pig housing.
All attendees received lecture materials and references for further study, as well as a certificate of professional development licensed by the Ministry of Education and Science. The event was recorded for the purpose of posting it in the public domain to raise awareness of animal welfare.
Let us note that scientists from the Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Water Bioresources of NUBiP of Ukraine are actively involved in the implementation of national animal welfare legislation. The issue of adapting Ukrainian animal welfare legislation to EU requirements is in the focus of Ukrainian livestock producers and the government as a whole. After all, this issue is one of the key ones in Ukraine’s preparation for accession to the EU (Acquis communautaire, Title 12 – Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary).
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine has developed the Strategy for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas in Ukraine until 2030 (approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on 15 November 2024 No. 1163-r), which, among other things, provides for the implementation of the above legislation.
Given that many initiatives are being implemented in Ukraine to improve the situation with animal welfare and there is a high interest of producers and their associations in cooperation in this area, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy initiated a meeting of experts from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, representatives of international technical assistance (ITA) projects, specialised associations, business associations and other organisations to discuss the Roadmap for Ensuring the Implementation of Animal Welfare Legislation in Ukraine for 2025-2027. The meeting was held online on 26 February 2024.
The purpose of the meeting was to present and discuss the draft Roadmap for Ensuring the Implementation of Animal Welfare Legislation in Ukraine for 2025-2027, which contains
– a list of activities required to implement national legislation on farm animal welfare in line with EU requirements and their planning;
– a list of activities necessary to promote the implementation of the requirements of the legislation on farm animal welfare and their planning with the annex ‘Plan of information campaigns’;
– a list of activities required to create and implement a system of state control over market operators in relation to compliance with animal welfare legislation and their planning, with the appendix ‘Concept of trainings for specialists of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection’.
The SULAWE project participants (Natalia Hryshchenko and Andriy Getya) took an active part in the meeting and discussion, and presented the main activities of the project and the results achieved. The participants agreed to use the potential of the project and include it in the list of international technical assistance projects along with other projects (QFTP, ILCA II and IPRSA) invited to work on the implementation of EU animal welfare legislation in Ukraine for 2025-2027 (roadmap).
The first contribution of the SULAWE project was an event on 12 and 13 March, attended by more than 100 people. After the event, the organisers received a number of positive feedbacks on the activities.
We are not resting on our laurels, but are moving into the future as a united force: government institutions, science, education and the industrial sector. By joining our efforts, we are confident in building our country and ensuring food security for the population, creating all the preconditions for sustainable development and prosperity for future generations.
The next event to be organised on animal welfare is an international scientific and practical online conference ‘Politics – Business – Science – Education. Sustainable Pig Production in Ukraine’, which will bring together many EU countries to implement EU and Ukrainian welfare requirements. The event will take place on 27 March 2025, the link to registration is provided below
https://sulawe.org/international-forum-on-sustainable-pig-production-in-ukraine/
