On June 30, 2025, Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko appointed new heads of regional executive committees and delivered a stern warning about the severe challenges facing the country’s agriculture. He publicly demanded full mobilization to address an escalating crisis, threatening that any failures would result in direct accountability for local officials

Belarus is now grappling with acute shortages in staple crops—most notably potatoes. When these vegetables do appear on store shelves, consumers encounter compromised quality or spoiled produce. By late May, prices for basic vegetables soared to roughly 3 Euro per kilogram in Minsk, pushing the Belarusian parliament to pass legislation outlawing potato shortages in retail outlets .

The livestock sector is also in distress. Official figures indicate that nearly 148,000 cattle died in 2024—approximately 11% of the total herd of 1.3 million. Veterinary authorities attribute this decline to a virulent outbreak of brucellosis. To control the disease, the government has employed strict sanitary and culling measures .

At the June 30 gathering, Lukashenko emphasized the urgency of the situation, ordering all available resources and personnel to intervene. „Do whatever is necessary, but the cattle must remain alive,” he declared, underscoring the severity of the crisis .

Belarus’s current agricultural meltdown reflects deeper structural vulnerabilities. Decades of state control and the legacy of collective farming under Lukashenko, who rose to prominence as a sovkhoz manager in the 1980s, have left the sector ill-prepared for modern challenges . Chronic underinvestment, outdated infrastructure, and growing labor shortages have all worsened the crisis.

Lukashenko’s dire rhetoric, likening the agricultural situation to wartime conditions, also revealed an element of geopolitical anxiety. He warned of foreign adversaries poised to exacerbate internal turmoil at the first sign of weakness .

In summary, Belarus confronts a multifaceted agricultural emergency: a potato deficit that threatens food security, a catastrophic loss of livestock due to disease, and a political environment aiming to suppress dissent through emergency measures and authoritarian threats. Whether the government’s emergency decrees and expanded mobilization can reverse these trends remains uncertain. Meanwhile, ordinary Belarusians face increasing anxiety over food availability and economic stability in the months ahead.