Mercy Corps Recovery Grants for War-Torn Agribusinesses

Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian organization, with the support of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, is expanding the Ukraine Agriculture Support Program to support medium-sized agribusinesses (from 500 hectares to 3,000 hectares) and related businesses that have been affected by the war and whose recovery is critical to the farming activities of households, other farmers, and the livelihoods of the local community.

Grants for war-affected agribusinesses

The Ukraine Agriculture Support Program will consider applications from businesses operating in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions (excluding areas where active hostilities are underway, as well as areas where access is restricted or where there is a high threat to life and economic activity). In particular, support for such businesses will be considered in areas with a reduced risk of re-infection.

Financial support under the program will be aimed at replacing destroyed or damaged agricultural machinery, implements, equipment, buildings, etc.

The applicant must provide information and evidence of how the war has affected the business and how financial assistance will contribute to its recovery. Please also include a justification for the need for financial assistance and an explanation of why the recovery of your business is impossible without it.

Applications will also be assessed taking into account security risks identified by Mercy Corps.

The maximum amount of financial assistance is 300,000 US dollars.

Program participants will be selected on a competitive basis. Priority will be given to those applications that:

- Come from territories where the agricultural sector has faced a new reality characterized by constant danger, the destruction of reliable market systems, as well as large-scale destruction and looting of farms in the deoccupied territories.

- Will have a positive impact on the recovery of affected communities and will contribute to the livelihoods of farms and rural populations by applying a socially oriented approach aimed at the benefit of the local population, in particular women and vulnerable groups.

- Use a business model that involves beneficial cooperation with agricultural households or other farmers engaged in subsistence farming in this area. Examples of such cooperation may include the provision of various agricultural services (e.g., machinery maintenance services), the supply or production of various agricultural inputs (e.g., animal feed, fertilizers, seeds, etc.), the purchase of agricultural products or ensuring access to markets, etc.

Conditions for participation in the program:

- official registration and the absence of legal and regulatory restrictions for conducting business activities in accordance with the requirements of Ukrainian legislation;

- investment of own funds in the amount of up to 50% of the amount of financial assistance. The amount of own contribution is determined individually and depends on the financial capabilities of the program participant.