🔱 The current challenges posed by the war require a comprehensive rethinking of food security, economic stability and rehabilitation mechanisms for the victims. In this context, sheep breeding, particularly in southern Ukraine, is of strategic importance not only as a livestock industry, but also as a tool to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), a means of physical and psycho-emotional rehabilitation of veterans, and a source of community development. Special attention should be paid to Odesa region - is one of the historical centres of sheep breeding in Ukraine.

📑Current state of the sheep industry in Odesa region
As of 2024, 194.6 thousand sheep were kept in Odesa region, the highest figure among all regions of Ukraine, accounting for 37.5% of the country's total livestock. However, compared to 2017, the number of sheep in the region decreased by 28.3%. This trend is worrying, especially given the region's high potential for industry development.

Households account for the bulk of sheep, accounting for over 75% of the total population. This reflects the dispersed nature of production, weak cooperation and limited opportunities for industrial development of the sheep industry. Only 24.4% of sheep are kept in farms and agricultural enterprises, which have greater potential for processing and market access.

📢Sheep products as a resource for the state's defence capability
In the context of a full-scale war, sheep farming demonstrates an example of multifunctionality:
✔️М Meat (lamb) is a valuable high-protein product for the military and patients in hospitals;
✔️Вовна - raw materials for the manufacture of insulating military clothing, blankets, boot covers, sleeping bags, etc;
✔️Молочна products are a storehouse of nutrients for rehabilitation nutrition.

The professional community has already tested a "trench thermostat" at the frontline - winter clothing made of wool that is significantly superior in quality to Turkish fleece and synthetic winterizer. This proves the relevance of creating a wool primary processing system in regions with a strong raw material base.
As the region with the largest number of sheep, Odesa Oblast has all the prerequisites to become a leader in supplying the Armed Forces with sheep products.

🙌 Social dimension: rehabilitation through ovotherapy
Sheep farming also has an important social component - creating conditions for the psycho-emotional recovery of military and civilians through interaction with animals. The so-called ovotherapy is a form of therapeutic contact with sheep that helps reduce anxiety, restore sensory regulation and harmonise the internal state.

The conditions of the Odesa region (mild climate, steppe expanses, the presence of agriculture) are ideal for the development of specialised farms with a rehabilitation component. Such farms can become centres for:
✔️ social entrepreneurship;
✔️ rural green tourism;
✔️ rehabilitation programmes in cooperation with veterans' support centres.

Economic potential and breeding base
Despite the decline in livestock numbers, Ukraine has preserved its gene pool of breeding stock, including 11 breeds, which makes it possible to restore the industry on a modern technological basis. Most farms in Odesa region focus on meat and wool production, which meets market demand and allows for on-site processing.

Given that Ukraine is capable of keeping more than 10 million sheep (with 518,600 sheep), it is advisable to create high-tech sheep clusters in the southern regions, particularly in Odesa Oblast. This may include:
✔️ investments in wool processing infrastructure;
✔️ creation of breeding reproducers;
✔️ educational programmes to train a new generation of shepherds;
✔️ mechanisms of state support - grants, compensation, donor-funded programmes.

🐄Sheep breeding in Odesa region - is not only a sector of the agricultural economy, but also a strategic resource in the struggle for freedom and the country's future. In wartime, its significance goes beyond traditional livestock farming - it is transformed into an instrument of national security, social recovery and international positioning of Ukrainian quality.
The task of the scientific community, the state and business is to restore sheep breeding as a decent and profitable industry that forms the food, social and defence capabilities of Ukraine.