April 12, 2010 issue
Farm aid renews ties to Ukraine
Produce brings higher profits in MEDA project
By Susan Miller For Mennonite Weekly ReviewINMAN, Kan. — At first, some Ukrainian farmers worried the Mennonites might be coming back for their ancestral farms.
Wright
But trust grew, and the farmers started to see the benefits of working with a Mennonite Economic Development Associates project in Ukraine, said Steve Wright, project manager.
Wright, who lives in Melitopol, Ukraine, spoke about the Ukraine Horticulture Development Project in Zaporozhye and Crimea at the Kansas MEDA dinner meeting March 13 at Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church.
About two-thirds of the 70 people attending had ancestral roots and other personal connections to Ukraine.
So far, 1,000 farmers have been helped by the five-year project. Wright predicts that number will triple in the coming year and that MEDA will reach its goal of serving 5,000 farmers.
MEDA and a local nongovernmental organization facilitate the project. MEDA and the local government are helping to fund the project with $2 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
Although MEDA did not choose to work in Ukraine because of Mennonites’ historical ties to that country, the project does provide a way for Mennonites to share with the people who live there now.
Mennonites arrived in Ukraine in the 1780s. Many emigrated from there to North America, in three waves, from the 1870s to the 1920s.
After Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, the Soviet-era collective farms were broken up. Families each received about 1.5 acres of land behind their homes and larger plots of land farther away. Today most of the large fields are leased to big farmers. Residents use their small plots of land to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs.
Although the soil is rich, Ukraine imports much of its food. The gross domestic product fell 20 percent last year, Wright said, and devaluation of the currency was 100 percent.
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