March 12, 2015 – Last month in Kiev, on February 25th, Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding to support a Canadian funded agriculture project in Ukraine.  The signing was witnessed by Ukraine's Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Mr. Oleksiy Pavlenko. Working together, the governments of Canada and Israel will assist farmers and small and medium entrepreneurs in the framework of the "Ukraine Horticulture Business Development Project (UHBDP).”

The project is implemented by MEDA - Mennonite Economic Development Associates of Canada with funding from the Government of Canada and the Israeli Agency for International Development Cooperation - Mashav. The beneficiary of the project is Ukraine's Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

"Canada is steadfast in its commitment to helping advance democracy, strengthen human rights and support sustainable economic growth in Ukraine,” said the Honourable Christian Paradis, Canadian Minister of International Development and La Francophonie. “Our support for this project, in collaboration with the Government of Israel, will help Ukrainian farmers and small and medium-sized businesses move from poverty to prosperity."

Rafael Barak, Israel's Ambassador to Canada, reflected upon its significance to Canada-Israel bilateral ties: "this agreement is another example of how Canada and Israel can leverage mutual expertise to help make the world a better place." He added, "international development is one of the key areas of cooperation—in addition to energy, security, scientific research and academic ties—that were highlighted in the Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership MOU signed last year during Prime Minister Harper's historic visit to Israel."  

The project involves sharing experiences in growing, storage and marketing of agricultural products as well as teaching best practices in the implementation of new technologies in the agricultural industry. An important element of the new project is technical assistance and training programs for gardening professionals. Special attention is paid to female farmers and small entrepreneurs who face challenges to the technical development of their businesses due to a lack of funds.

 The Project covers small and medium farming entrepreneurs in four regions of Ukraine—Zaporizhya, Mikolayev, Odessa, Kherson—and includes:

 • Provision of equipment, training, both practical and methodological assistance in establishing effective farming for farmers and households (involving Israeli and Canadian experts).

• Establishment of credit and facilitate access of farmers to finance in order to allow greater opportunities for investment.

• Assist local agricultural education institutions in the development of new courses on efficient and environmentally sustainable management of small farms Horticulture Development.

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BACKGROUND

From 2008 to 2012, the Government of Canada has invested $10.3 million in Projects of Horticulture Development and in 5,000 small farming projects in Ukraine to improve the competitiveness of agricultural products. In 2011, the State of Israel, through its Ministry of Agriculture, jointly supported the implementation of this project with the provision of  Israeli technicians to train Ukrainian farmers in the latest manufacturing technologies. The first project of cooperation between Canada, Israel and Ukraine in the field of promotion of small and medium farmers was completed in 2013.

In 2012, the governments of Canada and Israel signed a memorandum for cooperation in international development. According to this memorandum, DFATD (Canada) and MASHAV (Israel) shall execute joint projects, particularly in Ukraine. One of the priority areas for the cooperation is food security.

Based on the successful results of previous cooperation, Canada is funding the second phase of the "Ukraine Horticulture Business Development Project (UHBDP)" to further promote small and medium enterprises. The current project budget is $19,325,000 and covers a period from 2014 to 2021. It is expected that the project will assist over 30,000 farmers from the four most significant regions of Ukraine that deal with fruit and vegetable production: Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Mykolayiv and Odessa.

An important element of the new project is technical assistance and training programs for gardening professionals. Special attention is paid to female farmers and small entrepreneurs who cannot reach the technical development of their businesses due to a lack of funds.

MASHAV shall provide training for professionals and small and medium businesses, and also cooperates with agricultural educational institutions in Ukraine. In addition, MASHAV will provide advisory services to financial institutions to expand the support structures and development.