USAID is helping Ukraine to develop its agricultural potential. The country's fertile soil and large land resources could make significant contributions towards feeding a world that, according to the UN, will need to produce 70 percent more food by 2050.

Ruslan Tormosov

More than one billion people worldwide suffer from chronic hunger, and projections indicate that, without a substantial increase in the global food supply, the number of food insecure people will continue to increase. Ukraine’s robust agricultural endowment could help feed a world that the United Nations forecasts to require 70 percent more food by 2050. USAID helps Ukraine reclaim its “breadbasket” status and catalyze broad-based economic growth by constructing a stable, market-oriented policy environment; stimulating agricultural finance; and promoting more effective market infrastructure for small and medium producers. USAID promotes effective agricultural and property rights policies, international market channels, and financing mechanisms for small and medium producers.

Current program:

Agriculture and Rural Development Support (ARDS)
Chemonics International
Project Period: August 7, 2016 – July 3, 2020

The project will support broad-based, resilient economic growth through a more inclusive, competitive, and better governed agriculture sector that provides attractive livelihoods to rural Ukrainians. It will create a better enabling environment for agricultural small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture to implement sector reforms, by developing a transparent legal framework for agricultural land markets, and by implementing reforms that attract irrigation system modernization investments. The Agriculture and Rural Development Support Project will improve agriculture sector competitiveness by supporting agricultural SMEs to introduce international quality and safety standards. ARDS will support rural development by expanding employment and income opportunities and supporting target rural communities to develop viable economic strategies that stimulate economic growth.

Credit for Agricultural Producers
VEGA
Project Period: August 25, 2016 – August 24, 2020

The Credit for Agricultural Producers project will support broad-based, resilient economic growth by strengthening the capacity of Ukrainian credit unions to expand agricultural lending, which will increase employment and income opportunities in rural Ukraine. The project will create a legal and regulatory environment to strengthen credit unions as non-bank financial service providers. It will build the capacity of the two national credit union associations to develop and implement improved policies and enable the associations to deliver better services to their members. The activity will also assist credit unions to expand their agricultural loan portfolios while offering members timely economic loans. To help credit unions overcome liquidity constraints, the Credit for Agricultural Producers project will implement solutions to mobilize savings and provide access to affordable external capital.  The project will assist five credit unions to support utilization of an existing Development Credit Authority Loan Portfolio Guarantee.