UNDP in Ukraine

For the residents and authorities of Dzhankoy District in Crimea it's been a remarkable day today, as they opened a local agricultural market in the village of Ermakovo. The market was created by the members of the agricultural service cooperative (ASC) “Severniy Ermak”, with the support of the UNDP-led 'Crimea Integration and Development Programme' (CIDP). It will now offer sales services to cooperative members as well as to other small traders. The new market in Ermakovo will become yet another small step on the way to reducing poverty in the entire region, contributing to the achievement of one of the Millennium Development Goals in Ukraine.

Those who live in rural areas know how difficult it is to grow farm products. It is even more difficult to sell these products, especially in villages located far away from district centres or Simferopol. To make both ends meet, people go to highways and trade illegally on roadsides – they sell home-grown fruit and vegetables to passing by Crimeans and tourists. Naturally, such practice often sparks up conflicts between unauthorised traders and the regulatory authorities.

“Our district is constantly facing the issue of unauthorized trade along the highways”, noted Elena Chernikova, deputy chairperson of the Dzhankoy District Council. “This market is the first example setting a good trend. The residents of neighbouring villages – Pridorozhnoe and Stolbovoe – are now intending to create similar markets”.

In 2008, the residents of Ermakovo identified the creation of an agricultural market as the top priority for local community development. In August 2008, the most active community members, highly motivated to form an ASC, established an initiative group.

For two years, UNDP's CIDP had been facilitating the initiative group’s formation and development. Over the period, the Programme specialists delivered over 100 consultations on different issues.

“We have gone along this path together. And we are fully aware of the difficulties we met on our way”, Ayder Seitosmanov, UNDP's CIDP Regional Development Advisor, addressed Ermakovo residents. “Our specialists have always been here, by your side”.

The profound knowledge and skills enabled the ASC “Severniy Ermak” members to work out their own business plan and develop a viable project to set up a fully functional farm-market. From the total cost of UAH 319,100, UAH 159,700 (50.1%) was contributed by the cooperative members, UAH 153,900 (48.2%) was provided by the UNDP-led CIDP, and UAH 5,500 (1.7%) was provided by the district authorities.

UNDP’s assistance to Ermakovo village residents is part of the mini-project titled “Supporting small farmers and non-profitable cooperatives”. Non-profitable service cooperatives are a particular type of enterprise favouring small agricultural producers: instead of profit-making activities they are focused on satisfying the economic needs of their members, thus helping them to achieve decent living standards. Cooperative members act simultaneously as clients and owners of the enterprise.

United within agricultural service cooperatives, small farmers have more capacity to develop their production: cooperative members can use equipment of each other and keep their products in common storehouses, acquire seeds, seedlings and fertilizers wholesale, influence prices and maintain them on a good level, and, finally, receive financial and consulting support from the government and international organizations.

Since 2007, withing the CIDP's implementation, UNDP has supported a total of 22 ASC projects with 20 grants amounting to USD 116,771. These include cooperatives providing services on drip irrigation, milk storage and cooling, processing grain into fodder, infrared drying of fruits and vegetables, etc.

For more information, please contact Anna Bakumenko, CIDP Communications Associate, by phone (+380652) 248 009 or email anna@undp.crimea.ua