Encouraging Ukraine's small grain farmers to diversify
Helping Ukraine's small grain farmers find new ways to profit from their land was the focus of the "Million per Hectare" conference held in Lviv, Ukraine, on 19 and 20 February 2016.
The conference was part of a broader two-year training project to boost Ukrainian grain farmers' productivity and profitability, helping to make agrifood chains more inclusive and efficient. TCI and the EBRD run the project, with support from the Central European Initiative.
"The farmers who attended our different training modules always expressed keen interest in high-value crops because they usually can't compete well on the market with the large grain farms," said Andriy Yarmak, an FAO agricultural economist.
So, what was originally planned as a separate training module on agricultural diversification quickly evolved into a large-scale event.
TCI and EBRD organized the conference with Ukraine's Sumy National Agrarian University, its training partner, and Fruit-Inform, an agency specialized in fruit and vegetable markets in Ukraine.
"We initially planned for 150 people, but because interest was so high, close to 500 people showed up," he said.
"We had all kinds of participants from across the country, from really small grain farmers to large companies, and even bankers looking to invest in something profitable," he said. "And all of them stayed until the end, which is unusual and means that they were very interested."
Getting more value from their land
While still keeping a significant amount of land under grain production, small grain farmers in Ukraine are starting to branch out into new areas like fruit, vegetable and nut production, livestock breeding, beekeeping and even aquaculture.
The conference's first day featured presentations of different agribusiness ideas that could give farmers high returns per hectare − from the potentially most profitable crops and breeding activities for small plots of land to organic farming and niche markets.
The conference tried to show examples of how farmers could get up to UAH 1 million − roughly USD 36,800 − for each hectare, as the conference title suggests.
"But we also explained that it shouldn't really be the goal, that efficiency and value addition are what actually count when you have a restricted amount of land," said Yarmak.
Translating ideas into practice
Day two focused on seeing how those business ideas could translate into practice, with around 180 participants taking part in study tours in and around Lviv.
The day included a visit to T.B. Fruit, a leading fruit and berry processing company − and the third largest producer of fruit juice concentrates in Europe. The company's modern facilities handle the entire production cycle, from growing the raw materials to processing, storing and transporting the final products.
Participants also visited a family goat farm producing cheeses, milk and other products, as well as the largest wholesale market in Ukraine. The latter sells all types of food products, is a hub for imports and exports and provides services, technical assistance and market information.
Vadym Svetlov, a farmer from Sumy Oblast said that the conference "really opened our eyes to the numerous opportunities for high-value agriculture that are viable even for small farmers."
"It will take a while to digest all of this information, but we are now more confident of being able to implement some of these potentially attractive ideas on our own farm in the North of Ukraine," he said.
Keeping the momentum going
Ten farmers who have completed all of the training modules with the highest grades will travel to France in May as part of a week-long study tour.
There they will see how small grain farmers are also coping with the challenges of modern agriculture.
Even though the TCI/EBRD training project finishes the end of May 2016, Sumy National Agrarian University is committed to keeping the momentum going.
"For each training module, we involved a lot of good practical specialists from leading agribusiness companies and these companies have developed deeper ties with the university," said Yarmak. "The university benefits by improving their training programmes and working closer with the private sector."
"There is now enough interest at the university and among the farmers to keep the training programme going without any financial support," he said.