Polish agriculture is simultaneously confronting the effects of climate change, volatility in global markets, the consequences of armed conflicts and changes in the European Union’s trade policy towards third countries. According to representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, all these factors pose a serious threat to agricultural production and, consequently, to the country’s food security.
Measures considered necessary include strengthening exports, investing in water retention and the energy transition, and maintaining the competitiveness of the agricultural sector.
“The challenges associated with climate change and the high level of volatility in international markets, as well as current geopolitical developments, represent a major threat to agriculture, particularly to the durability and continuity of agricultural production. The high temperatures recorded in Poland several weeks ago, together with frosts, torrential rainfall and floods, demonstrate that climate change is a reality and that farmers are among the first to feel its effects,” Adam Nowak, Poland’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, told the Newseria news agency during the second Polish Security Forum.
“What is happening in international trade also affects farms, food processors and exporters. We have not experienced such an unpredictable situation in the agri-food sector for decades,” he added.
Geopolitical tensions and armed conflicts around the world are among the factors undermining the stability of agricultural production. One example was the disruption of agricultural markets following Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the closure of Black Sea export routes for Ukrainian food. This resulted not only in trade difficulties but also in sharp increases in the prices of commodities such as grain.
A more recent example of geopolitical developments affecting agriculture is the situation in the natural gas market. Gas can account for up to 80% of the cost of producing nitrogen fertilisers. As a result, increases in gas prices caused by the escalation of conflict in the Middle East have a significant impact on fertiliser prices and consequently raise the cost of agricultural production.
Polish Agriculture at a Critical Point of Transformation
According to the report The Competitiveness of Polish Farms under the European Union’s Agreements with Mercosur and Ukraine and the European Green Deal: Opportunities and Threats, prepared by experts from the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Polish agriculture is facing one of its most important periods of transformation since the country joined the European Union.
On the one hand, Poland’s agri-food sector is achieving record export results and strengthening its position in international markets. On the other, it is facing growing competitive pressure resulting from the planned liberalisation of trade with Mercosur countries and Ukraine, demographic changes in rural areas, the implementation of the ambitious objectives of the European Green Deal and the need to improve the structure of agricultural land ownership.
The report’s authors emphasise that building and maintaining the competitiveness of Polish farms in international markets is becoming increasingly important. In their view, it is a prerequisite for stable incomes and the ability to continue investing and modernising.
“As a government, we are trying to respond to current developments, but also to prepare for the challenges and problems we will face in the future, including those associated with Ukraine’s European integration,” Nowak said.
“Poland has already experienced a foretaste of what this integration could mean following the liberalisation of trade and the opening of European borders. We are therefore maintaining our unilateral embargo and restrictions on the entry of certain agri-food products from Ukraine because we do not want to see such significant disruption of agricultural markets again,” he added.
Poland Maintains Restrictions on Ukrainian Agricultural Products
In 2023, Poland introduced a ban on imports of selected food and agricultural products from Ukraine, including wheat, maize, rapeseed, sunflower seeds and some processed products derived from these crops.
The embargo remained in force after a new trade agreement between the European Union and Ukraine took effect, granting Ukraine liberalised access to European markets.
“No European Union country, including Poland, is able to compete on equal terms with our Ukrainian partners in agricultural markets. This is not only because of climatic, geographical and soil conditions, but also because Ukrainian food and agricultural products are not required to meet all the standards imposed on products manufactured in the European Union,” the deputy minister explained.
Ukrainian agri-food products also compete with Polish goods in international markets, including in EU countries, which receive approximately 75% of Poland’s agricultural and food exports.
Agri-Food Exports Reach a Record €58.4 Billion
“Exports are a crucial element of the Polish agri-food sector. To put it simply, 40% of Polish agri-food products have to be sold abroad. In 2025, the value of exports approached €60 billion, which is an enormous amount,” Nowak said.
“When Poland joined the European Union, exports were worth approximately €5 billion. This almost twelvefold increase demonstrates the success achieved by Polish agriculture and Polish food processors,” he added.
In 2025, exports of Polish agri-food products reached a record value of €58.4 billion, representing an increase of 8.6% compared with the previous year and 722% compared with 2005.
Agri-food goods worth €43.9 billion were sold in the EU market in 2025, an increase of 10% year on year. Exports to non-EU countries were worth €14.5 billion, 3% more than a year earlier.
Particularly strong increases in export value were recorded in several Asian markets, including Taiwan, where exports rose by 53%, the Philippines by 21%, Vietnam by 19%, South Korea by 18% and Malaysia by 15%.
According to the deputy minister, another important element in strengthening the stability of the agricultural sector is Poland’s activity at the European level and its involvement in negotiations on the future Common Agricultural Policy after 2027.
Food Security Requires Innovation and Economic Stability
“There can be no food security without knowledge, innovation and new technologies, which are being adopted by both Polish farmers and the institutions that support them,” Nowak stressed.
“We must also remember the links between farmers, processors and consumers. Food security means ensuring that consumers have access to high-quality food at affordable prices. For this to be possible, farmers and processors must have economic and financial stability, and production must remain profitable,” he said.
According to the deputy minister, greater attention will need to be paid in the coming years to security in the context of a changing climate. One of the most serious challenges is water management.
The report Water in Polish Agriculture and the Agri-Food Processing Sector, prepared by experts from the European Fund for the Development of Polish Villages and the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs, indicates that Poland is one of the most water-scarce countries in Europe.
Approximately 1,600 cubic metres of surface water resources are available annually per inhabitant. This is three times less than the EU average of 4,500 cubic metres. In a dry year, Poland’s available resources fall to approximately 1,000 cubic metres per person.
Poland is also predominantly a lowland country, with reservoir storage capacity equivalent to only 7–8% of the average annual water runoff. By comparison, the European average is approximately 20%, while in Spain and France it exceeds 30%.
Water Retention Is the Greatest Challenge
“The most important and greatest challenge we face is water management and investment in retention,” the deputy minister said.
“On the one hand, this means constructing retention reservoirs and restoring the drainage and irrigation functions of existing installations and drainage ditches. On the other, it means increasing soil water retention and improving soil health. Without retaining water, which is a key element of agricultural production, we cannot speak of food security,” he added.
Soil is Poland’s largest water-retention reservoir. The report indicates that increasing soil water retention by 20 millimetres across 14.5 million hectares of agricultural land would provide 2.9 cubic kilometres of water available to plants. This would be equivalent to the impact of a major reservoir construction programme.
Such investments appear increasingly urgent as droughts become more frequent. Agricultural drought was recorded in Poland in 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022 and in the spring of 2026.
In each of these periods, farmers’ losses were estimated at billions of złotys, while emergency compensation programmes absorbed more than PLN 10 billion in public aid over the course of a decade.
Agriculture’s Energy Transition Must Accelerate
“I would identify the energy transition in agriculture as the second major challenge. We need to use the sector’s potential to produce clean, affordable and green energy based on agricultural feedstocks,” Nowak said.
“I am referring primarily to biogas and biomethane plants, which need to be developed much more rapidly in rural Poland. Unfortunately, this is not easy under the current spatial planning regulations,” he explained.
“The third component is the bioeconomy. If we want stable agriculture and the continued development of rural areas, they must be based on the production of healthy food and clean energy, as well as on the management of raw materials that can be used by different sectors of the economy,” the deputy minister concluded.
