Agricultural service to be established in Sumy oblast with U-LEAD support

The Znob-Novhorodska Village Community in Sumy oblast is planning to establish an Agrarian Service with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme to improve food security, Ukrinform reported based on the information from the U-LEAD website.

“The amount of the project is over UAH 1.4 million. In the autumn of 2023, the residents of the Znob-Novhorodska community should see the first steps of the service,” said Ihor Agibalov, project coordinator, U-LEAD with Europe manager in Luhansk oblast.

According to him, the project’s core target group is low-income and elderly families who, with appropriate support, could increase the volume of fruit and vegetable production on their plots. The main objective is to maximize the coverage of such households and create a much larger segment of the community’s population able to feed themselves and improve their financial situation. At the same time, the Agrarian Service can potentially extend its reach to new entrepreneurs.

In this case, a mechanism can be used to recover the cost of the Service from neighboring communities and residents.

“It is important that one of the project partners is the Znob-Novhorodsky Vocational Agricultural Lyceum, which has sufficient expertise to advise households on agricultural issues and support the Agricultural Service’s activities. Students can use the equipment purchased by the project during their internships. This will not only have a direct impact on the implementation of the food security programme, but will also clearly demonstrate how the region can be developed, despite its dangerous proximity to the aggressor state,” said Agibalov.

He noted that the project’s activities also have an educational component: they promote the creation of a cooperative around a municipal enterprise within the community, involve advisory services and the population, who have begun to engage in entrepreneurial activities in the agricultural sector and develop programmes to support local cooperatives.

According to Maryna Lobova, Head of the U-LEAD with Europe Regional Office in Sumy oblast, the establishment of the Agrarian Service will continue the community work with U-LEAD as part of the Food Security Programme for 2022-2023 in the Znob-Novgorod Village Council. The development of this document was the first step. When it is ready and officially approved, the next step will be to establish the Service.

The idea will be implemented by the NGO Organic Ukraine. North and the municipal enterprise Znoba-Blahoustriy with the support of the U-LEAD Programme. The project will purchase the equipment needed to cultivate the land – a reverse-drive minitractor with various attachments. There are also plans to provide agronomic advice to local residents and create a database of households that will get land cultivation services.

As reported, on 29 April the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Resolution No. 327-r “On Approval of the Action Plan for Ensuring Food Security under Martial Law, which provides for the creation of food security programmes for local self-government authorities. To support this, the U-LEAD Programme has launched a new training initiative and selected four pilot communities. Znob-Novhorodska became one of them, and the only one in Sumy oblast. As part of the initiative, experts helped community specialists find effective tools to respond to the challenges in the food sector caused by the war.The U-LEAD with Europe: Ukraine – Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme is co-financed by the European Union and its Member States – Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, and Slovenia to support Ukraine in strengthening local governance. U-LEAD with Europe promotes transparent, accountable and multi-level governance in Ukraine that is responsive to citizens’ needs and empowers communities.

Ukrinform