Document Type: Progress Reports

The purpose of AgroInvest is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest will achieve this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs), and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs.

The scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks, as follows:

• Component 1: Support a Stable, Market-Oriented Environment
  Task 1-a: Accelerate Market Oriented Reforms
  Task 1-b: Strengthen Industry Associations
  Task 1-c: Provide Public Education for Land Rights
• Component 2: Stimulate Access to Finance
  Task 2-a: Sustainable Access to Financial Services for SMPs Provided
• Component 3: Facilitate Market Infrastructure for Small and Medium Producers
  Task 3-a: Producer Organization Development
  Task 3-b: Develop Wholesale Markets and Other Market Infrastructure

AgroInvest is a five-year project, extending to an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this project encompasses the following US Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

In the months of July, August and September 2011, the project team continued technical implementation activities in the project focus areas and completed technical and administrative start-up activities that included project accreditation, recruitment of local staff, re-location to permanent project office space, procurement and installation of office equipment and furniture. Key activities and accomplishments during this period included:

• The AgroInvest Strategic Policy Priority Needs Paper was finalized and approved  by USAID (Component 1, Task A)
• In a meeting with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee for Agrarian Policy and Land, AgroInvest provided concrete recommendations to improve the draft Law on Land Market.
• An innovative approach to “Financing and Stabilizing Ukraine’s Emerging Land Market” was developed by AgroInvest to provide an alternative to bring stability and provide financing for the emerging land market in Ukraine.
• The Strategy for the Land Rights Public Education and Outreach Campaign was finalized and approved by USAID (Component 1, Task C).
• The Program for Delivering Sustainable Legal Land Rights Services was completed and approved by USAID (Component 1, Task C).
• The Small and Medium-Sized Producer Access to Finance Strategy and Action Plan was submitted for USAID approval (Component 2).
• To facilitate SMP financing through credit unions, and linkages between SMPs and markets, the project signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with leading national credit union associations: MoU with the National Association of Credit Unions (UNASCU) was signed on September 22, 2011 and MoU with the All-Ukrainian Association of Credit Unions (VAKS) and Deposit Guarantee Program (PZV) – on September 23, 2011.
• The Strategy for Implementing Agriculture Producer Organizations’ Capacity Building Program was finalized and submitted to USAID (Component 3, Task A).
• The Strategic Plan for Developing the Agriculture Produce Market Infrastructure was finalized and submitted to USAID (Component 3, Task B).
• Based on project assessments, the Crimea, Vinnitsa and Dnipropetrovsk regions were selected as AgroInvest focus geographic areas.
• On July 11-15, 2011, the project conducted a team building and Year 2 work planning workshop. As a result, the project finalized and submitted for approval the Year 2 Work Plan and updated PMP.
• The Project completed all registration procedures with the government and received accreditation from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade on July 26, 2011.
• AgroInvest project team moved to its permanent office facilities at 4, Volodymyrska Street on August 19, 2011.
• On September 26, 2011 the project opened an office in Simferopil, Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
• AgroInvest developed and launched the bilingual Project web-site: www.agroinvest.org.ua

The purpose of AgroInvest is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest is achieving this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs), and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs.

The scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks, as follows:

• Component 1: Support a Stable, Market-Oriented Environment
  Task 1-a: Accelerate Market Oriented Reforms
  Task 1-b: Strengthen Industry Associations
  Task 1-c: Provide Public Education for Land Rights
• Component 2: Stimulate Access to Finance
  Task 2-a: Sustainable Access to Financial Services for SMPs Provided
• Component 3: Facilitate Market Infrastructure for Small and Medium Producers
  Task 3-a: Producer Organization Development
  Task 3-b: Develop Wholesale Markets and Other Market Infrastructure

AgroInvest is a five-year project, extending to an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this project encompasses the following U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

In October-December 2012, the AgroInvest project team continued technical implementation activities in the project focus areas. Key activities and accomplishments during this period included the following:

• Finalized and submitted LGAF reports to the World Bank for review prior to their official submission of the report to the GoU and presented for public discussion.
• Announced competition for the second round of grants to industry associations for capacity building and advocacy activities.
• Scaled up the Legal Land Rights Services Program to help citizens understand and protect their land rights. The program is operational at the national level (through the Land Rights Resource Center and Web-portal project) and in eight oblasts of Ukraine (through grant agreements with three providers of secondary legal land rights services).
• Launched the Land Rights Public Education and Outreach Campaign.
• Completed the field phase of the Baseline Survey on Land Rights Awareness, Small- and Medium-scale Agricultural Producers Access to Finance, and Agricultural Market Infrastructure. The analytical report will be ready in January 2013 followed by a wide discussion of the findings through a series of roundtables.
• Developed the comprehensive “Market Survey on the Current Status of Agrilending in Ukraine” and presented the Market Survey results to AgroInvest partner banks as a meaningful platform for strategic agrilending expansion.
• Completed the multi-session training program on agrilending for credit union specialists. This program trained 156 specialists to begin conducting trainings on agrilending practices to their colleagues and SMPs.
• Developed and introduced a number of instruments to enhance the quality of lending to SMPs by credit unions, namely:
  • Individual agriculture producer creditworthiness assessment tools;
  • A financial-and-mathematical model for calculating loan interest rates;
  • Instruments to improve the quality of ag-lending loan portfolios of credit unions; and
  • Web-tools for SMPs’ to increase their awareness of, and access to, obtaining financing through credit unions.
• Presented Owner-Financing Mechanism to two leading Ukrainian banks as well as the Project’s established partner banks, and received their commitment to implement the mechanism when the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land is lifted.
• In collaboration with Ms. Horyna, a Member of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine, contributed to the adoption of law #10068 “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine (stimulation of the development of agriculture cooperation,” by the Verkhovna Rada, which was signed into law by the President of Ukraine.
• With the support of AgroInvest, the Verkhovna Rada passed the law #11221 “On amending the Law of Ukraine ‘On Agriculture Cooperation'” on November 20, 2012. This law is expected to be signed by the President of Ukraine in January 2013.
• At the request of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the Project executed an analysis of, and proposed recommendations to, the draft guidelines on accounting operations of agriculture servicing cooperatives.
• Completed the feasibility study for the development of Shelen wholesale agriculture market in Rivne oblast.
• Completed phase 1 of the feasibility study for developing a market in Hola Prystan raion, Kherson Oblast. The study focused on the production and marketing of agricultural produce in the market catchment area and proposals on the market facilities structure were prepared.
• Completed Phase 1 of the feasibility studies for developing two wholesale/retail agriculture markets in the Crimea. As a part of phase 1, the project conducted marketing studies and developed proposals on the structures of the facilities in Dobre village, Simferopol raion, and Zuya town, Bilohorsk raion.
• Selected firms on a competitive basis to conduct feasibility studies for (i) the renovation of the milk processing facility of the agriculture servicing cooperative, The Dairy Dnister, and (ii) the development of a slaughterhouse / facility in Bilozirka raion, Kherson oblast.

The purpose of the AgroInvest project is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest is achieving this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs), and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs.

The scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks, as follows:

• Component 1: Support a Stable, Market-Oriented Policy Environment
  Task 1-a: Accelerate Market-Oriented Reforms
  Task 1-b: Strengthen Industry Associations
  Task 1-c: Provide Public Education for Land Rights
• Component 2: Stimulate Access to Finance
  Task 2-a: Provide Sustainable Access to Financial Services for SMPs
• Component 3: Facilitate Market Infrastructure for Small and Medium Producers
  Task 3-a: Producer Organization Development
  Task 3-b: Develop Wholesale Markets and Other Market Infrastructure

AgroInvest is a five year project with an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this project encompasses the following U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

From January to March 2015, the AgroInvest project team marked the following key activities and accomplishments:

• Commenced the activities of the Analytical and Coordination Platform for agriculture sector industry associations
• Selected experts and initiated activities of an analytical team in the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (MAPF) to build the capacity of the Ministry to analyze policy options and prepare legislation
• Initiated competitive selection of a subcontractor to conduct a study on responsible investments in the agriculture sector
• At the request of the MAPF, supported the activities of working groups and became increasingly involved in the ongoing development process of the Comprehensive Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development in Ukraine for the period 2015 to 2020, a strategy paper being prepared jointly by the Ministry and the European Commission
• Assisted in organizing and participated in the U.S.-Ukrainian Agrarian Congress on March 24 and 25, 2015 in Washington, D.C.
• Conducted a study tour for representatives of industry associations and government agencies to the Czech Republic and Poland to learn about the experiences of select EU countries in government regulation of agricultural and food markets and the role of self-regulating organizations
• Finalized a report on government regulation of agricultural and food markets and the role of self-regulating organizations in select EU countries
• Conducted high-profile capacity building trainings on advocacy activities for national and regional agriculture sector industry associations
• Presented the USAID AgroInvest Land Rights Public Education and Outreach Campaign at the 2015 World Bank Land and Poverty Conference in Washington, D.C.
• Continued to support land reform and training of legal land rights service providers through the Land Rights Resource Center and Web-Portal
• Continued implementation of the Ten Steps to Combat Corruption in Land Relations Program
• Initiated a comprehensive analysis of local administrations’ experience in providing regional subsidies for SMPs
• Launched a training program to familiarize farmers with new lending opportunities for potential borrowers of partner credit unions
• Supported the two national-level associations of credit unions in Ukraine in advocating policy changes aimed at improving access to credit for SMPs, conducting training seminars to share best practices in lending to SMPs, and conducting a training of credit union internal auditors and on-site internal audit sessions
• Conducted four agri-technological trainings (two for financial officers of partner financial institutions to increase their ability to issue and monitor loans to SMPs and two for credit union members)
• Advocated for the passage of the draft law of Ukraine #2052 “On Amending the Tax Code of Ukraine (regarding Improving the Value-Added Taxation of Agriculture Produce Produced by Smallholdings and Marketed through Agriculture Service Cooperatives),” which was initiated and developed with technical assistance from AgroInvest; the draft law was registered in the Parliament of Ukraine on February 6, 2015.
• Advocated for the passage of the draft law of Ukraine #1599 “On Amending Selected Laws of Ukraine on Stimulating Establishment and Operations of Family Farms,” which was initiated and developed with technical assistance from AgroInvest; the draft law passed first reading on March 4, 2015.
• Developed the draft law of Ukraine “On Local Agri-Food Markets” jointly with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and presented it for public discussion
• Conducted the first phase of a training program to develop a network of consultants for small and medium-sized enterprises on implementing and ensuring high performance of certification and food safety systems based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and Global GAP standards
• Published two guides on bookkeeping for agriculture service cooperatives to help regulate relationships between cooperatives and their members who supply raw milk for processing and receive proceeds from selling finished products

The purpose of the AgroInvest project is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest is achieving this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment; stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs); and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs.

The scope of work identifies three main components that are refined into six tasks, as follows:

• Component 1: Support a Stable, Market-Oriented Policy Environment
  Task 1-a: Accelerate Market-Oriented Reforms
  Task 1-b: Strengthen Industry Associations
  Task 1-c: Provide Public Education for Land Rights
• Component 2: Stimulate Access to Finance
  Task 2-a: Provide Sustainable Access to Financial Services for SMPs
• Component 3: Facilitate Market Infrastructure for Small and Medium Producers
  Task 3-a: Producer Organization Development
  Task 3-b: Develop Wholesale Markets and Other Market Infrastructure

AgroInvest is a five-year project with an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this project encompasses the following U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

From April through June 2015, the AgroInvest project team marked the following key activities and accomplishments:

• Provided assistance to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (MAPF) in finalizing the Comprehensive Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development in Ukraine for 2015-2020, which is being jointly developed by the Ministry and the European Commission.
• Selected a subcontractor and commenced implementation of the study on social partnerships between agricultural land lessees and rural communities
• Developed seven draft laws that deal with land issues in the agriculture sector and presented them for public discussion.
• Prepared the annual update to the project’s Strategic Policy Priority Needs Paper.
• At the request of the MAPF, initiated competitive selection of a subcontractor to conduct a national survey of land owners, farming enterprises, and the population at large on land reform in the Ukrainian agriculture sector.
• Organized a presentation, “Pig Production Without Antibiotics: How Much It Costs,” during the 7th International Profitable Pig Production Congress in Kyiv.
• Publicly presented the report on government regulation of agricultural and food markets and the role of self-regulating organizations in selected EU countries, and developed a draft law “On the Framework of Self-Regulation in the Agrarian Sector of the Economy of Ukraine.”
• Held a two-day agricultural policy training for students and young professionals in conjunction with the Interns’ League.
• Continued support of the Analytical and Coordination Platform for agriculture sector industry associations.
• Continued to support land reform and training of legal land rights service providers through the Land Rights Resource Center and Web-Portal.
• Conducted a comprehensive analysis of local administrations’ experience in providing regional subsidies for SMPs in three Oblasts, and held subsequent discussions of the results with those administrations’ management.
• Conducted 15 training sessions in Lviv, Kherson, and Kharkiv Oblasts to familiarize 366 farmers with new lending opportunities for potential borrowers of the DCA-partner credit unions.
• Conducted 15 innovative training events on closed value chain rabbit breeding for 502 SMPs that are members of partner credit unions.
• Organized and conducted a study tour that sent seven high-ranking Ukrainian officials to Brussels to meet the European Network of Credit Unions, the Vice President of the European Parliament, and the EU Commission and share critical knowledge on the strategic development of Ukrainian credit unions and the harmonization of Ukrainian legislation with EU standards.
• Conducted six classroom and field-based Oblasttraining sessions (two per Oblast) for farmers in support of the AgroInvest and DuPont-Pioneer Partnership Program in Kherson, Lviv, and Kharkiv Oblasts.
• Launched a series of agro-technological training for members of Kherson partner credit unions to increase the effectiveness of vegetable production on their farms and to leverage their creditworthiness.
• Completed the implementation of a training course for 24 consultants to provide small and medium-sized enterprises with information and applicable suggestions on the introduction and support of HACCP and Global GAP food safety systems.
• Developed action plans and prepared the documentation required for HACCP and Global GAP certification for six partner producer organizations.
• Jointly with the USAID Regional Economic Growth Project and the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, AgroInvest conducted a two-day training in Kyiv on EU market developments; export opportunities; product quality; and food safety and certifications for fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. The training was targeted at producers, manufacturers, and exporters of fresh and/or processed fruits and vegetables. It was attended by representatives from Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

The purpose of AgroInvest is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest is achieving this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs), and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs.

The scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks, as follows:

• Component 1: Support a Stable, Market-Oriented Policy Environment
  Task 1-a: Accelerate Market-Oriented Reforms
  Task 1-b: Strengthen Industry Associations
  Task 1-c: Provide Public Education for Land Rights
• Component 2: Stimulate Access to Finance
  Task 2-a: Provide Sustainable Access to Financial Services for SMPs
• Component 3: Facilitate Market Infrastructure for Small and Medium Producers
  Task 3-a: Producer Organization Development
  Task 3-b: Develop Wholesale Markets and Other Market Infrastructure

AgroInvest is a five-year project with an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this project encompasses the following U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.

From October to December 2014, the political and social situation in Ukraine continued to stabilize. However, the country is still going through a period of economic, political, and social distress that had consequences for AgroInvest’s technical and administrative activities. A large part of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts experienced fighting between armed groups, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea remained a self-declared independent territory. Parliamentary elections were held in October and the new Cabinet was approved by the Parliament in December 2014. These changes in the GOU have also brought with them changes in the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food. In December 2014, Oleksiy Pavelenko was named as Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.

The impact of the ongoing situation in Ukraine on AgroInvest activities is discussed throughout this quarterly report.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

From October to December 2014, the AgroInvest project team marked the following key activities and accomplishments:

• Prepared analysis and comments to the agricultural sector part of the draft Action Program of the Cabinet of Ministers for 2015 and submitted these documents to the Committee of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Agriculture Policy and Land Issues;
• Provided assistance to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food (MAPF) in developing an Action Plan to implement the Cabinet of Ministers’ Action Program for 2015 and parliamentary Coalition Agreement for 2015-2016;
• Ensured submission and registration in the Verkhovna Rada of a draft law to simplify crop rotation requirements for farmers;
• Facilitated registration of two draft laws aimed at creating conditions for transforming subsidiary household farms into commercial family farms in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;
• Prepared and disseminated a report, “Recommendations on Improving Ukraine’s Pig Industry Regulations”;
• Prepared a draft manual, “The History of Ukrainian Land Legislation for Judges,” and shared it for review and comments with the National School of Judges and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development-funded Judicial Education for Economic Growth (JEEG) project;
• Printed and distributed guidelines for land-owners on concluding and implementing lease agreements for agricultural land;
• Made a public presentation and distributed a report with an impact analysis of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTAs) signed between the EU and other countries, and recommendations for implementation of the DCFTA between Ukraine and the EU in the agricultural sector;
• Prepared an analytical paper identifying Ukrainian agriculture and food products that have the greatest export potential in the short term and proposing policy interventions to help realize this potential;
• Finalized pre-award determination and commenced implementation of grant-based capacity building programs with five regional agricultural industry associations;
• Commenced participation of project experts in working groups to design a Comprehensive Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development in Ukraine for 2015 – 2020 jointly with the MAPF and the European Commission;
• Launched the official USAID Development Credit Authority (DCA) Loan Portfolio Guarantee (LPG) program between USAID and five AgroInvest partner credit unions. AgroInvest also supported the process of the credit unions paying their required DCA LPG origination fees. As such, the credit unions can now begin placing loans under DCA coverage;
• Conducted a study tour to Poland for representatives of the Ukrainian government and national associations of credit unions, providing an opportunity for knowledge sharing and exposing participants to the Polish credit unions’ successful experience transitioning to the regulatory requirements/framework of the European Union;
• Conducted five agro-technological trainings for loan officers of two partner banks and seven credit unions;
• Accomplished four internal audits of partner credit unions;
• Conducted four practical agro-technological training sessions focused on innovations in production technologies for various vegetable crops. As a part of the training, the project promoted agrilending opportunities available to those employing new technologies;
• Launched production facilities for four agricultural service cooperatives which had received grant support from AgroInvest;
• Prepared and printed two manuals of methodological recommendations on implementing HACCP-based food safety systems for small and medium-sized enterprises’ storing, handling, and processing of raw and processed food products;
• Developed and prepared for publication methodological guidelines on accounting standards for agricultural service cooperatives;
• Organized and successfully conducted the “European and Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Markets: Challenges and Prospects” conference at Shuvar Wholesale Market in Lviv. USAID Mission Director Jed Barton and various local and national members of the GOU participated in the conference.
• On December 23, 2014, two draft laws developed by AgroInvest were registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine:
  • Draft Law of Ukraine No. 1599 “On Amending Selected Laws of Ukraine with Regard to Stimulating Establishment and Operations of Family Farms”;
  • Draft Law of Ukraine No. 1600 “On Amending the Tax Code (with Regard to Stimulating Establishment and Operations of Family Farms).”

These laws deal with the recognition of family farms as legal entities, which allows them to take advantage of tax benefits.

The purpose of AgroInvest is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest is achieving this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs), and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs.

The scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks, as follows:

• Component 1: Support a Stable, Market-Oriented Policy Environment
  Task 1-a: Accelerate Market-Oriented Reforms
  Task 1-b: Strengthen Industry Associations
  Task 1-c: Provide Public Education for Land Rights
• Component 2: Stimulate Access to Finance
  Task 2-a: Provide Sustainable Access to Financial Services for SMPs
• Component 3: Facilitate Market Infrastructure for Small and Medium Producers
  Task 3-a: Producer Organization Development
  Task 3-b: Develop Wholesale Markets and Other Market Infrastructure

AgroInvest is a five-year project with an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this Project encompasses the following U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.

From July to September 2014, the political and social situation in Ukraine continued to stabilize. However, the country is still going through a period of economic, political, and social distress that had consequences for AgroInvest’s technical and administrative activities. A large part of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts experienced fighting between armed groups, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea remained a self-declared independent territory. In August, the President announced early parliamentary elections to be held at the end of October 2014.

On the positive side, Ukraine ratified the Association Agreement with the European Union (EU) and agreed on a military ceasefire in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in September 2014. The impact of the ongoing situation in Ukraine on project activities is discussed throughout this quarterly report.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

From July to September 2014, the AgroInvest project team marked the following key activities and accomplishments:

• Finalized proposals on reforming the activities of the State Agricultural Inspection Agency and distributed them to partner industry associations for discussion and further submission to the government;
• Prepared detailed Practical Recommendations for land-owners based on main findings of the Study of Agriculture Land Lease Agreements;
• Completed an impact analysis of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTAs) signed between the EU and other countries, and prepared recommendations for implementation of the DCFTA between Ukraine and the EU in the agricultural sector;
• Prepared an assessment of the performance of Ukraine’s Grain Warehouse Receipt System and proposed recommendations on improving its operation;
• Project experts joined the agriculture and agribusiness working group under the Reanimation Reform Package initiative (RRP) – a well-established group of Ukrainian civil society organizations that have strong support in the Verkhovna Rada and focus, in part, on agriculture reform issues;
• Held a competition and selected five regional agricultural industry associations to implement capacity building programs;
• Printed and disseminated a manual prepared by the All-Ukrainian Association of Village Mayors, entitled “Practical Advice for Village Mayors for the Improvement of Sustainable Rural Development and Agricultural Production”;
• Continued the operation of the Land Rights Resource Center and Web-Portal;
• Facilitated preparation and assisted the Land Union of Ukraine with distribution of well-structured policy proposals to prevent abuse of power and corruption in land relations, entitled “Ten Steps to Combat Corruption – Recommendations for Government Actions”;
• Expanded the Program of Legal Land Rights to Zakarpatya, a new oblast, and continued the Program in Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, and Ternopil oblasts, with an emphasis on training village mayors and village-level land managers;
• Conducted risk assessments for five credit unions – candidates for the loan portfolio guarantee program with the USAID Development Credit Authority (DCA) – and facilitated the signing of the DCA guarantee agreements between USAID and the five credit unions;
• Finalized preparation of a study tour to Poland for representatives of the Ukrainian government and national association of credit unions, providing an opportunity for knowledge sharing and allowing participants to gain exposure to Polish credit unions’ successful experience harmonizing legislation with EU standards;
• Conducted two practical agro-technological training sessions focused on innovations in production technologies for cucumbers and other vegetables. As part of the training, the project promoted agrilending opportunities available to those employing new technologies;
• Kickstarted operations at the production facilities of four agriculture cooperatives that are AgroInvest grantees;
• Completed the first round of training seminars on HACCP-based food safety standards for agricultural produce;
• Developed and sent to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food (MAPF) two draft laws of Ukraine intended to regulate establishment and operations of family farms by amending a farming law and a tax code law;
• In partnership with experts and research institutions, developed new guidelines on bookkeeping in agriculture service cooperatives.

The purpose of AgroInvest is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest is achieving this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs), and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs.

The scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks, as follows:

• Component 1: Support a Stable, Market-Oriented Environment
  Task 1-a: Accelerate Market Oriented Reforms
  Task 1-b: Strengthen Industry Associations
  Task 1-c: Provide Public Education for Land Rights
• Component 2: Stimulate Access to Finance
  Task 2-a: Sustainable Access to Financial Services for SMPs Provided
• Component 3: Facilitate Market Infrastructure for Small and Medium Producers
  Task 3-a: Producer Organization Development
  Task 3-b: Develop Wholesale Markets and Other Market Infrastructure

AgroInvest is a five-year project, extending to an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this Project encompasses the following U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.

Protests in Kyiv began on November 21, 2013, following the Government of Ukraine’s (GoU) announcement that it was suspending preparations to sign an association agreement with the European Union. On February 22, following three months of large protests and violent clashes, former President Viktor Yanukovych departed Kyiv. The Ukrainian Parliament established a new government on February 27 and set new presidential elections for May 25, 2014.

In January-March 2014 this period of major political and social instability Ukraine is facing has continued to have a sizable impact on AgroInvest technical and administrative activities. The most important developments during this period included:

• Thousands of protesters continuing to demonstrate in the center of Kyiv with demands of the resignation of the government, early elections of the President and signing of the Association agreement with the EU. These demonstrations transformed into violent confrontations between the protesters and police: first in mid-January; and then again at the end of February with more than 100 people killed. During the worst of the confrontations, AgroInvest closed its Kyiv office for a total of four days and operated under its telecommuting policy for an additional ten days in total;
• Protests and demonstrations also took place in various regions of Ukraine and had an impact on activities of Project partners in the regions. Numerous business trips by both AgroInvest staff and it partners were forced to be postponed or cancelled during this period;
• On January 16, 2014 the Verkhovna Rada passed the law on “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On Court System and the Status of Judges and Regulatory Laws on Additional Measures to Ensure Protection of Citizens” which named all NGOs and other public organizations which receive funding from international or bilateral donors “Foreign Agents.” Under this law such organizations were required to label themselves and as “Foreign Agents”, comply with much tougher reporting requirements and pay taxes on any donor funds; this law was effective for about a month and was repealed by the Parliament at the end of February as a result of tremendous international criticism. This law, while short lived, caused delays in implementation of the capacity building programs for agricultural industry associations due to the uncertainty of how the NGOs could/would continue to operate under the detrimental legislation;
• Protesters took over the main building of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Kherschatyk Street on January 24 and held it until January 29; the Ministry building was taken over again for several days at the end of February;
• The new Government was appointed on February 27, 2014. In the lead up to this transition, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Parliament of Ukraine have been functioning in a limited capacity this quarter which has delayed progress on AgroInvest and its partners’ agricultural policy activities;
• In February USAID informed AgroInvest to suspend all planned international short-term technical assistance consultants traveling to Ukraine. As such the Project delayed several international consultant’s engagements during this quarter;
• In late February and early March, Crimea became occupied by Russian soldiers. As the result of a less than transparent referendum, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea announced its independence from Ukraine and declared itself a part of Russia. On Tuesday March 18th, the Regional Contracting Officer informed all projects with active operations in Crimea to not execute any additional payments nor begin any new activities until further notice. As a result of this directive, and in discussions with USAID, AgroInvest closed its Simferopol office and has indefinitely suspended all of its Crimean activities until final directives are received from USAID;
• Due to the continuing political and social situation in Ukraine the Project is increasingly hearing from partners that potential investors (foreign and domestic) are increasingly becoming apprehensive to invest in Ukraine due to the instability. This is having an adverse impact on AgroInvest activities, especially those under Component 3 which rely on external investment/funding for the actual contraction of the infrastructure work the Project is supporting.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

Despite the ongoing political and technical turmoil in Ukraine, in January-March 2014, the AgroInvest Project team continued technical implementation activities. Key activities and accomplishments during this period included the following:

• Analyzed a database of agricultural land lease agreements and prepared a draft report which identified the most important issues related to relations between lessors and lessees and developed proposals for addressing these issues;
• Together with partner agricultural industry associations, developed proposals on simplification of the registration procedure for agricultural land lease agreements;
• Commenced implementation of a new capacity building program with the National Association of Agricultural Advisory Services “Dorada” to continue building their capacity in agricultural policy analysis and advocacy of member’s interests;
• Developed and shared with the GoU and partner organizations an analysis of legislative regulations on mandatory crop rotations and proposals on simplifying these regulations;
• Prepared and shared with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (MAPF) an analytical report on the international experience on the role of self-regulatory organizations in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policy(s);
• Based on the organizational capacity needs assessment of partner industry associations, announced a tender and received proposals for implementation of a capacity building training program for agricultural industry associations;
• Signed an agreement with the “Interns League” to support three interns engaged with the Committee on Agricultural Policy and Land Relations and the Committee on Ecological Policy, Natural Use and Liquidation of Aftermath of Chornobyl Catastrophe of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 2014;
• Re-launched the Legal Land Rights Services Program in Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava and Ternopil oblasts with an emphasis on training events for village mayors and village-level land managers;
• Conducted three training seminars for financial specialists of partner banks and credit unions entitled “Agrotechnologies for Financial Analysts” focused on various crop cultivation techniques and best practices;
• Developed and began distributing a manual for SMP accountants and managers to improve the quality of their loan applications and overall management of their agricultural enterprise’s operations. This manual is the first of its kind developed specifically for accountants in rural areas;
• Conducted four practical agrotechnological training sessions combined with lending offer promotion to farmers (customers of AgroInvest partner credit unions) covering innovations in production technologies of cucumbers and tomatoes and technological support of cucumber production in greenhouses;
• Signed two new producer organization grants:
  • Agricultural Service Cooperative Snovyanka to improve the organization’s capacity to produce organic compound feed and oil;
  • Agricultural Service Cooperative Chysta Flora to establish cool storage capabilities for fresh fruits and berries.
• Finalized and began distribution of the Scientific and Practical Commentary to the Law of Ukraine on Agricultural Cooperation and related legislative texts. This is the first ever comprehensive source pertaining specifically to the development of cooperatives in Ukraine.

The purpose of AgroInvest is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest is achieving this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs), and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs

The scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks, as follows:

• Component 1: Support a Stable, Market-Oriented Environment
  Task 1-a: Accelerate Market Oriented Reforms
  Task 1-b: Strengthen Industry Associations
  Task 1-c: Provide Public Education for Land Rights
• Component 2: Stimulate Access to Finance
  Task 2-a: Sustainable Access to Financial Services for SMPs Provided
• Component 3: Facilitate Market Infrastructure for Small and Medium Producers
  Task 3-a: Producer Organization Development
  Task 3-b: Develop Wholesale Markets and Other Market Infrastructure

AgroInvest is a five-year project, extending to an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this Project encompasses the following U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

In July-September 2013, the AgroInvest project team continued technical implementation activities in the project focus areas. Key activities and accomplishments during this period included the following:

• Developed proposals on improving the main provisions of the draft Law of Ukraine “On Agricultural Land Circulation”, presented them to partners, discussed them during regional public events, and submitted them to the Government of Ukraine (GoU) through the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food (MAPF) in the form of an “alternative” draft law;
• Five agricultural industry associations were selected through a competitive process for grant awards to build their capacity in advocacy and agricultural policy analysis and commenced implementation of the capacity building programs with two associations: the Ukrainian Pig Breeders Association and Organic Federation of Ukraine;
• Implemented a large-scale training campaign for state registrars and notaries on new registration procedures in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and the State Registration Service. Training events were conducted in 10 regions with a total of 1,222 participants, representing 34% of the total number of state registrars in Ukraine and 1-2 public notaries per rural raion;
• Continued the Land Rights Public Education and Outreach Campaign reaching an additional 1.8 million people through a variety of media instruments. The Legal Land Rights Services Program continued with an increasing focus on improving governance and democracy in the target communities through the newly developed and innovative expert groups on land issues at the raion level involving local authorities, NGOs and community groups;
• In cooperation with subcontractor TA Consult, developed innovative training modules to be used in the comprehensive agrotechnological trainings for partner financial institutions;
• Raised awareness of SMPs on opportunities of accessing lending resources via a press tour which also sparked the development of an educational video entitled “Revival of Rural Credit Cooperation”;
• Initiated a public dialog among credit unions and their governing bodies regarding introducing new legislative initiatives that could impact credit unions’ agrilending abilities;
• Conducted two specialized agrotechnological trainings for SMP-customers of partner credit unions, their customers and potential financial partners (Agro Capital Management and Oikocredit Ukraine) to promote modern technological solutions for peach production combined with affordable lending offers and, the concept of using partner technological support as an effective instrument for risk hedging for lending through credit unions;
• Completed the national gender analysis of rural agriculture issues and opportunities. The analysis will be used to help shape Ukrainian policy initiatives with a specific focus on the needs of rural women and communities as well as to shape the activities of the AgroInvest Project and its programmatic partners;
• Conducted the training of trainers of the trainers who will be working with NGOs throughout Ukraine to better understand and integrate gender mainstreaming into their activities focused on rural development.

The purpose of AgroInvest is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest will achieve this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs), and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs.

The scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks, as follows:

• Component 1: Support a Stable, Market-Oriented Environment
  Task 1-a: Accelerate Market Oriented Reforms
  Task 1-b: Strengthen Industry Associations
  Task 1-c: Provide Public Education for Land Rights
• Component 2: Stimulate Access to Finance
  Task 2-a: Sustainable Access to Financial Services for SMPs Provided
• Component 3: Facilitate Market Infrastructure for Small and Medium Producers
  Task 3-a: Producer Organization Development
  Task 3-b: Develop Wholesale Markets and Other Market Infrastructure

AgroInvest is a five-year project, extending to an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this project encompasses the following US Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

In the months April, May and June 2011, the project team launched technical implementation activities in project focus areas and continued with technical and administrative start-up activities that included recruiting local staff, project registration, project introduction to local partners, selection of office space, and procurement of office equipment. Key activities and accomplishments during this reporting period include:

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was prepared and negotiated with the Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Food. The MoU was signed on May 11, 2011.
• An Agricultural Policy Environment Assessment was undertaken with a main objective of providing an up-to-date and effective policy analysis and reform agenda as well as to identify the most appropriate way to address policy issues with human and budgetary resources available to the Project. A final version incorporating the Mission’s comments was sent to USAID on June 8, 2011.
• A position paper titled, “Potential for Ukraine to Participate in USAID’s Feed the Future (FTF) Initiative” was developed to inform the Office of Economic Growth (OEG) of opportunities and challenges for Ukraine to become a FTF Partner Country. The paper was discussed with Mission OEG staff on June, 29 2011.
• Three technical assessments were conducted: Rapid Assessment of Legal and Institutional Framework for Industry Associations (Component 1), Assessment of Regulatory and Institutional Barriers for Increasing Access to Finance for Small and Medium-Scale Producers (Component 2) and Wholesale and Regional Markets Assessment (Component 3). These reports were submitted to USAID on June 30, 2011.
• An Implementation Agreement between Chemonics International Inc., USAID Mission to Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova and Agrarian Markets Development Institute (AMDI) was signed on April 4, 2011.
• The AgroInvest Grants Manual was approved by USAID.
• AgroInvest finalized its Subcontracts Manual.
• AgroInvest completed its internal Procurement Procedure Guidelines.
• A grants/subcontracts training for AgroInvest staff was completed.
• A pre-award responsibility determination was conducted for potential grant recipient AMDI.
• Key technical and administrative staff were hired.
• The Project was registered with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade on June 8, 2011.

The purpose of AgroInvest is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest is achieving this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs), and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs.

The scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks, as follows:

• Component 1: Support a Stable, Market-Oriented Environment
  Task 1-a: Accelerate Market Oriented Reforms
  Task 1-b: Strengthen Industry Associations
  Task 1-c: Provide Public Education for Land Rights
• Component 2: Stimulate Access to Finance
  Task 2-a: Sustainable Access to Financial Services for SMPs Provided
• Component 3: Facilitate Market Infrastructure for Small and Medium Producers
  Task 3-a: Producer Organization Development
  Task 3-b: Develop Wholesale Markets and Other Market Infrastructure

AgroInvest is a five-year project, extending to an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this Project encompasses the following U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

In April-June 2013, the AgroInvest Project team continued technical implementation activities in the Project focus areas. Key activities and accomplishments during this period included the following:

• Initiated implementation of grant programs with two new agricultural industry associations that were selected on a competitive basis to build their capacity in advocacy and agricultural policy analysis.
• Announced a new grants tender to select up to five industry associations to develop their capacity in advocacy and agricultural policy analysis.
• Completed the Baseline Survey and discussed its findings at 10 public events, including seven regional events, generating 186 media appearances.
• Scaled up the Legal Land Rights Services Program and the National Information Campaign “My Land, My Right” to help citizens understand and protect their land rights which resulted in over 1,700 consultations, 57 public events and the dissemination of 3,481 printed materials and 182 media appearances on land during the reported period.
• Established working relationships of two partner banks with a company – an agricultural industry leader – and its two pilot distributors. Most noteworthy, Kredobank developed two special lending offers for SMP-customers of the company which are served by the pilot distributors.
• Finalized and launched activities for the subcontract on specialized agro technological trainings for credit officers of partner financial institutions.
• Completed the Assessment of Agrilending to Small and Medium-Sized Agriculture Producers in the Ukrainian Banking Sector, and the report on the feasibility of the application of a microfinance instrument to subsidize a portion of interest rates charged by financial institutions (interest rate buy down project).
• Short term consultant Bill Maltby, U.S. Agricultural Finance and Credit Unions Specialist, provided his assessment and recommendations to partner credit unions on how to address and overcome current challenges and work towards ensuring their sustainability.
• Conducted a study tour to the Netherlands for credit union officers to learn about the Dutch system of agricultural cooperative banks and develop working relations with Dutch agricultural input suppliers.
• Developed two new specialized credit products for small and medium-sized agriculture producers, and supported the finalization and promotion of six other credit products previously developed by AgroInvest.
• Conducted five training sessions for 157 farmers from southern and western regions – clients of the partner financial institutions. The trainings aimed to improve the creditworthiness of agricultural producers through sustainable development of their agricultural activities on the basis of turn-key solutions offered by AgroInvest and its financial partners
• The Decree of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food (MAPF) of Ukraine #315, dated May 21, 2013, on Approval of Model Bylaws of Agricultural Service Cooperative was signed. The Model Bylaws were developed by the AgroInvest Project at the MAPF’s request.
• The systematized scientific and practical commentary to the Law of Ukraine on Agricultural Cooperation and related legislative texts was developed and approved by the MAPF.