Accelerating Private Investment in Agriculture Program

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The development objective of the Accelerating Private Investment in Agriculture Program Project for Ukraine is to alleviate select constraints to increased participation of the private sector, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in agricultural input and output markets of Ukraine. The proposed Program for Results (PforR) is fully aligned with the World Bank Group Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Ukraine FY2017–2021. The Program contributes to the CPF’s cross-cutting theme of better governance and anticorruption. The Program contributes to the CPF’s focus on addressing climate change. The Program supports the World Bank Group’s corporate priority of maximizing finance for development (MFD).The Government Strategy and Action Plan for Leveraging Private Investment in Agriculture (GSAP) sets forth a broad range of measures to mobilize private investment in the agriculture and agribusiness sectors. The GSAP comprises the following components: (a) guaranteeing the stability, predictability, and transparency of agricultural policy and the state support system; (b) stimulating diversification in agricultural production and promoting integrated development of rural areas; (c) strengthening the capacity of the national food safety system; (d) improving the efficient use of available infrastructure for storage and transportation of agri-food products, creating a stable climate for investments in infrastructure and logistics; (e) improving tenure security, value, and transparency of the use of state agricultural land; (f) improving water resource management and user-led irrigation service delivery; (g) creating preconditions for improved access to agricultural inputs for all types of agricultural producers; and (h) improving access to finance and risk management instruments for all stakeholders using EU and international best practices. The Program will further support the state support reform process and will support Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food (MAPF) in implementing a set of key actions to improve the transparency, efficiency and targeting of state support. The expected benefits will be: (a) strengthened capacity of MAPF to evaluate policy instruments from the standpoint of efficiency, effectiveness, and equity (including through KPIs); (b) improved transparency of state support to agriculture; (c) improved awareness and application rates by small and medium agricultural producers for state support; (d) improved statistical information on agricultural producers; and (e) improved alignment of the state support system with EU requirements and practices.