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A one-day workshop to discuss the draft Agricultural and Rural Investment Strategy (ARIS) took place in Kyiv. It was co-organised and facilitated by the Institute for Rural Development. The ARIS is a joint work between the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy (MAP) with the support of the World Bank.
The purpose of the ARIS is to propose a coherent vision for public investment in support of agricultural and rural development. The document was prepared by the team of local and international experts and is articulated around three investment priorities to ensure development of the rural economy :
- develop a performing family based agricultural sector through a set of efficient services (advisory services, training, rural finance, marketing, etc.) and based on a well articulated agricultural policy;
- create rural employment outside the agricultural sector through promoting off-far activities, rural businesses and private rural services;
- re-invest in maintaining and improving rural economic infrastructure.
The ARIS was presented by one of its developers, Mr. Benoist Veillerette from the FAO Investment Centre. He said the purpose of this document was to change the situation when rural investment is 2.7% of the total investment volume (compared to 25% in early 1990-s.) and to give renewed impetus to the rural development.
To achieve this the document envisages a shift in emphasis of support from pure agricultural production to human capacity building, rural community and individual business initiatives as it is practiced in developed economies. During the open discussion and debate in reaction to the ARIS the representatives from central and regional authorities, expert and civil circles shared their impressions, visions and expectations regarding the proposed document.
Director of the Institute for Rural Development Svitlana Prokopenko stated that the necessity to apply the entire complex of market approaches had already matured in our society, in particular, in the rural areas. ‘At last we are moving away from the time when investment was made exclusively in tractors and fertilizers. A key ARIS feature is investment in rural dwellers, their knowledge and skills to enable development of rural areas in the nearest future’, said the expert.
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