AgroInvest Quarterly Report January - March 2012

The project's objective is to support a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulate access to financial services for small and medium producers, and facilitate a more effective market infrastructure for these producers. The project's scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks. Component 1 focuses on supporting a stable, market-oriented policy environment, with tasks including accelerating market-oriented reforms, strengthening industry associations, and providing public education on land rights. Component 2 aims to stimulate access to finance, with tasks such as providing sustainable access to financial services for small and medium producers. Component 3 focuses on facilitating market infrastructure for small and medium producers, with tasks including producer organization development and developing wholesale markets and other market infrastructure. During the January to March 2012 quarter, the AgroInvest project team continued technical implementation activities in the project focus areas and established a new project presence in Kherson, facilitating outreach across southern Ukraine. Key activities and accomplishments during this period included monitoring and responding to changes to the draft Law on Land Market, conducting the second phase of the National Land Rights Media Campaign, and conducting the World Bank/AgroInvest Land Governance Assessment Framework initiative. The project also supported the development of a series of revised pieces of legislation governing agricultural cooperative organization and taxation, and engaged the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives to develop model cooperative statutes for discussion and dissemination. Additionally, the project signed a bridge subcontract with the Agrarian Markets Development Institute to engage in priority policy issues, including the provision of secretarial support to the new Public Council under the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food. Furthermore, the project developed over 15 new agricultural small and medium producer lending products for national and regional banks as well as credit unions, with a particular focus on Crimea and Kherson oblasts. The project also conducted a review of the Ukrainian credit union system and lending practices, compared it to the US experience, developed recommendations, and delivered a successful training to representatives of the two project-supported national credit union association task forces. The project's producer organization development specialists conducted the first round of the post-harvest handling and logistics grant program, receiving 11 applications from cooperatives and producer organizations. The project provided input to five applicants, requesting them to revise their submissions and reapply in the following round. Three applicants were selected for direct project financial support. Market infrastructure work focused on gaining Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food recognition of status and developing feasibility studies for the regional wholesale market in Rivne. Support to a network of five raion markets/logistics platforms was also agreed in Kherson Oblast and implementation work initiated. In Crimea, the Project provided consultations on market organization and conducted initial work on feasibility study design for two local logistics centers. The project's technical implementation activities are ongoing, with a focus on achieving the project's objectives and making progress towards its goals. The project's quarterly highlights demonstrate its continued efforts to support a stable, market-oriented policy environment, stimulate access to finance, and facilitate market infrastructure for small and medium producers.