AgroInvest Quarterly Report July – September 2011

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 for 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 facilitates market infrastructure for small and medium producers, with tasks including producer organization development and developing wholesale markets and other market infrastructure. During the period of July 1, 2011, to September 30, 2011, the project team continued technical implementation activities in the project focus areas and completed technical and administrative start-up activities. Key accomplishments during this period included finalizing and approving the AgroInvest Strategic Policy Priority Needs Paper, providing concrete recommendations to improve the draft Law on Land Market, and developing an innovative approach to financing and stabilizing Ukraine's emerging land market. The project also finalized and approved the Strategy for the Land Rights Public Education and Outreach Campaign, completed and approved the Program for Delivering Sustainable Legal Land Rights Services, and submitted the Small and Medium-Sized Producer Access to Finance Strategy and Action Plan for USAID approval. Additionally, the project signed two Memoranda of Understanding with leading national credit union associations to facilitate SMP financing through credit unions and linkages between SMPs and markets. The project also selected the Crimea, Vinnitsa, and Dnipropetrovsk regions as focus geographic areas based on project assessments. The project team conducted a team building and Year 2 work planning workshop, finalized and submitted the Year 2 Work Plan and updated PMP for approval, and completed all registration procedures with the government and received accreditation from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. The project also developed and launched a bilingual project web-site, www.agroinvest.org.ua, and opened an office in Simferopil, Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The project's technical implementation is ongoing, with a focus on supporting a stable, market-oriented policy environment, stimulating access to finance, and facilitating market infrastructure for small and medium producers. The project's geographic focus is on Ukraine, with a specific emphasis on the Crimea, Vinnitsa, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The project's timeframes are outlined in the project's work plan, with a five-year implementation period extending to an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The project's recommendations and findings are based on project assessments and evaluations, and are intended to inform policy and program decisions at the national and local levels. The project's implementation details are outlined in the project's work plan, which includes specific tasks, timelines, and milestones for each component and task. The project's administrative start-up activities are complete, with the project team now focused on technical implementation and project delivery. The project's level of effort report is included in the quarterly report, providing an overview of the project's progress and accomplishments during the reporting period.