Agricultural aid program designed to promote reform and inform country’s farmers
The Canadian government hopes its most expensive aid program to Ukraine ever will promote agricultural reform and keep the country’s farmers abreast of the sector’s latest developments.
One of the first results of the Facility for Agricultural Reform and Modernization program will be to establish four agricultural extension service offices to provide consulting to farmers. The first office is scheduled to open in the western city of Lutsk in July.
Launched in March 2003, the CDN $9 million [$6.6 million], 5-year program is intended to set up partner relationships between Canadian and Ukrainian agricultural businesses.
Under the program, grants of up to CDN $75,000 will be awarded to Ukrainian and Canadian companies that present proposals for mini-projects.
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will provide CDN $6 million [$4.5 million] of the total project budget. The remaining CDN $3 million will come as in-kind donations from the three provinces.
According to the Canadian Embassy, FARM will be the biggest aid package the country has ever given Ukraine.
“This is a very focused activity,” said Tim Marshal, manager of international development at Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership, which will administer the project.
Marshal said the program would focus on institution building in the agricultural sector, development of civil society and creation of agricultural extension service.
The Canadian government also launched this year a project devoted to improving the quality of the country’s grain. The aim of the CDN $3.4 million [$2.5 million] 2.5-year project is to help producers compete on the international and domestic markets.
Rick Morgan, Canadian Grain Commission executive manager, told the Post the project seeks to increase trade by improving the quality of grain to meet international standards. Other goals include increasing the availability of loans for farmers, working with commodity exchanges and introducing the use of warehouse receipts to serve as a legal agricultural currency.
The project will include an evaluation of the current domestic grain situation, training sessions and drafting of legislation based on Canadian experience. In addition, grain inspection and commodity exchange specialists will travel to Canada to visit the Canadian Grain Commission and Canada Wheat Board, among other institutions.
Yun Chong Pan, head of the technical cooperation section at the Canadian Embassy, said the key motivation for Canadian programs is to promote the country’s democratic and market transformation.
“Agriculture is the most important sector in Ukraine. It is also the sector where commitment to reforms is the strongest. Therefore we believe that we’re working with the leader of the economy and society,” Yun Chong said.
“Agriculture has about one quarter of our technical support budget in Ukraine,” he said.
