CIDA is currently considering a MEDA proposal for a C$10,000,000 agricultural value chains* development project in the Ukraine.

This five-year project will raise the incomes of small scale farmers in the Crimea and Zaporizhzhia regions by integrating them into domestic, and potentially export, markets for high-value horticulture products, including table grapes, greenhouse crops (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers), berries and new potatoes and for medicinal herbs.

The state plans to soon lift a current moratorium on the sale of agricultural land, which, when lifted, may pressure owners of unproductive and unprofitable small farms to sell out.

While the Ukraine is now part of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the prospect of an intermediate trade accord with the EU is seen as a step toward hoped-for eventual full EU membership.

It is a move that promises to drive domestic economic growth and open up significant profitable market opportunity for lucrative products that small farms are ideally suited to supplying.

Subject to CIDA’s approval, MEDA hopes to be in a position to launch this project in May.

*A value chain traces the system of processing, manufacturing, distribution, wholesale and retail that take goods from their raw state to the end customer. It is also a conduit for information both up and down the chain.