AGRICULTURAL POLICY GROUP

Ukraine’s agricultural sector has been the focus of donor involvement since Independence in 1991. The international assistance has sought to reverse the negative impacts that the remnants of the Soviet command and control economy have had on the organisation, profitability, and incentives operating in the Ukrainian agri-food sector. This involvement has had numerous positive impacts. For instance, the donor effort, organised under the auspices of the Ukraine Agricultural Policy Project (APHD’s predecessor), was successful in ensuring that the collective farming was reformed through the Presidential Decree of December 3, 1999.

In response to the changing requirements for reform in the agricultural sector and rural areas, and in partnership with the Government of Ukraine, UNDP established the Agricultural Policy for Human Development Project, effective January 1, 2001. The project has been recognised by the Government of Ukraine as supporting structure (permanent secretariat) of the Government Agrarian Policy Co-ordination Council (Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1605 of November 29, 2001). As a result of this position, the project has been playing an essential role in creating and utilising the expanded opportunities for the reform of agri-food policy in Ukraine which have been possible since 1999. With the encouragement and support of UNDP Ukraine and its partners, the project has become the principal activity of the international assistance dealing with the Ukrainian agri-food and rural development policy on the national level.

In 2006 the Agricultural Policy for Human Development Project became an integral part of a larger initiative — UNDP Blue Ribbon Commission Analytical and Advisory Centre and is currently called Agricultural Policy Group (APG).

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