Over 40,000 Ukrainian households to receive vegetable seeds through USAID

This is stated in the press release of the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities, which is available to Ukrinform.

The Association received requests for seeds from 380,000 households. Given the limited amount of seeds, they were distributed first to the de-occupied communities that had sent requests.

In January 2023, Bayer announced its readiness to donate 530 kg of carrot seeds and more than 350 tonnes of corn seeds to farmers through the USAID Agricultural Resilience Initiative (AGRI-Ukraine). Soon after, seven other international seed companies (Enza Zaden, Lark Seeds, Nunhems, Hazera, Seminis, Rijk Zwaan, and Syngenta) provided another 401 kg of cabbage, carrot, radish, tomato, cucumber, corn, onion, watermelon, melon, and zucchini seeds. In total, more than 40,000 households will receive vegetable seeds, including more than 30,000 from 145 frontline and de-occupied communities.

The seeds will be delivered to the local governments of the communities, where responsible representatives of village or town councils will organize the distribution of seeds to the community residents. The organization of seed logistics is provided by the UGA with the logistical support of the USAID Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities (AGRO) program.

Ivan Slobodianyk, Executive Director of the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities, said that with the support of USAID AGRO, the "United Communities" project has already delivered about 1,200 tonnes of critical goods to communities, from food to modular houses and industrial generators. Currently, the association is implementing a program to provide communities with seeds for the sowing season, which are provided by the participants of the Agriculture Resilience Initiative - AGRI-Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, USAID AGRI is implementing a number of programs to support agricultural producers in Ukraine. In particular, it provides UAH 367 million to co-finance projects to support the processing of grains, oilseeds, and legumes in Ukraine, as well as provide small farmers with fertilizers for spring and winter crops.