The event “Implementation of Projects on the Development of Rural Areas and Agricultural Production Using the Tools of Cross-Border Cooperation with the EU” marked the official launch of the Working Group on Rural Development of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme. The info session focused on the specific aspects of writing and implementing cross-border cooperation projects with the EU countries.
“The Working Group established cooperation with the EU project 'Institutional and Policy Reform for Smallholder Agriculture' (IPRSA). We firmly believe that the synergy of U-LEAD and IPRSA will open up new opportunities for our municipalities in terms of studying and applying best practices of the EU countries in the development of rural areas,” said Anatolii Parkhomiuk, Head of the Working Group on Rural Development.
The international expert on rural development, Richard Rozwadowski, introduced the scope of the project to the participants of the info session. It aims to promote the functionality and tools of the State Agrarian Register, develop and implement the AKIS Ukraine model (Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System), as well as provide informational support to executive authorities and local self-government bodies in the implementation of European approaches to the development of rural areas.
Partnerships are crucial to the use of cross-border cooperation tools and the successful implementation of projects. However, seeking and attracting partners often poses a challenge to Ukrainian self-government bodies and NGOs.
Where and how to look for partners?
The steps for successfully finding partners for cross-border cooperation a rather conditional. Each case has its own key condition. According to one of the speakers at the info session, the Deputy Director of the Agro-industrial Development Department of the Lviv Regional State Administration, Liudmyla Honcharenko, before you start looking for partners, you need to make a detailed analysis of the needs and possibilities of the project you need a partner for. These are resources, knowledge, expertise or other types of support needed.
Participation in international events is important for successfully finding partners in cross-border projects. Conferences, fairs and investment forums are great places to network and exchange ideas. Equally important is the use of specialised online platforms such as LinkedIn, Cities 4 Cities and United 4 Ukraine. Consultants and mediators specialising in international partnerships can also be involved to great effect.
As was emphasised by Liudmyla Honcharenko, the ability to present your project, as well as the availability of attractive presentation materials highlighting your project, its benefits and opportunities for potential partners play an important role in finding partners as well.
Another speaker at the info session, Pavlo Yarmii, Chairman of the Board of the Regional Development Agency of the Tavriiske municipality, shared some practical experience of finding partners. He pointed out the additional opportunities that partnerships open. Among other things, they expand the geography of projects and facilitate sharing experiences.
The second part of the info session focused on the development of agricultural production in rural areas. After all, comfort and the level of municipal services are not the only concerns that are essential for the population. Employment opportunities are also important. Often agricultural producers are the ones who provide such opportunities in a village. They are also the largest taxpayers in the municipal budget. Therefore, local self-government bodies have a vested interest in their development and can support existing agricultural producers and promote new ones to the best of their abilities.
EU cross-border cooperation programmes and their grant opportunities can also be useful to small farmers and agricultural producers, providing the necessary resources for scaling, modernising and developing agricultural production in rural areas. However, in order to receive a grant and successfully implement the project, you must account for a lot of factors.
Specifics of applications and funding priorities
Andrii Halias, an Expert on Market Infrastructure and Development of Added Value Chains in Berry Growing at the EU IPRSA Project, talked about them.
“You need to understand that different grant programmes have different priorities. So reading the terms carefully is the first step to success. It is especially important to look into the selection criteria of potential grant recipients, geography, turnover of the organisation, number of employees, hectares of cultivated land, years of operation, etc.; directions and recipients of grants; budget allocated to one recipient; as well as what can be the subject of a grant, and what can in no case be purchased with grant funds,” he said.
As the expert added, donors (including under the EU cross-border cooperation programmes) mostly avoid financing construction works (with rare exceptions), the purchase of used equipment and the coverage of purchases that have already been made, ceremonies, celebrations, coverage of debts, fines, loans, interest and the like.
At the same time, here are the current financing trends:
- Processing initiatives to increase the added value of produce/manufactured goods;
- Expanding the storage and processing capabilities for grains and legumes;
- Opening of new domestic and especially foreign markets;
- Creating new jobs by attracting vulnerable population groups, veterans, IDPs;
- Ensuring that residents of the municipality and smaller producers directly or indirectly benefit from the implementation of the grant, as well as other spillover effects that the implementation of the grant will have beyond benefiting the grantee;
- Social productions and engaging the youth.
