Agriculture and Rural Development Support: Ukraine

General

The Agriculture and Rural Development Support (ARDS) project will support broad-based, resilient economic growth through a more inclusive, competitive, and better governed agriculture sector that provides attractive livelihoods to rural Ukrainians. The project consists of three components: Improve enabling environment and governance of the agricultural sector; Increase investment, productivity, employment, and incomes in the agricultural sector; and Improve welfare of rural communities and marginalized producers. ARDS will create a better enabling environment for agricultural small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture to implement sector reforms, by developing a transparent legal framework for agricultural land markets, and by implementing reforms that attract irrigation system modernization investments. The Agriculture and Rural Development Support Project will improve agriculture sector competitiveness by supporting agricultural SMEs to introduce international quality and safety standards and take advantage of the trade opportunities available through the EU Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA). ARDS will support rural development by expanding employment and income opportunities and supporting target rural communities to develop viable economic strategies that stimulate economic growth.