ARDS’ co-investment efforts support women, the elderly, and entire households

When she retired after 30 years as a grocery store shop assistant in her remote village of Snitkiv in Vinnytsia Oblast, Olena Honchar worried about the future. She struggled to make ends meet on her meager monthly pension, the equivalent of $63, and didn’t want to be a burden on her three grown children who had their own financial stresses. With plenty of energy but few options to supplement her income, Olena jumped when  a local fruit and berry processor, Triada, offered the opportunity to grow currants for profit. The processor gave Olena 420 currant seedlings in 2015, and four years later, she harvested 2,000 kilograms of currants.

 “My whole family, including my kids and grandkids, helped plant the seedlings,” said Olena. “The berries now provide us with much needed resources and support, not just for me, but for my family. Now I help them!”

Several years ago, Triada was seeking a way to increase its production. In 2015 they piloted giving away seedlings to interested local households to grow berries for the company, and Olena was among the first to accept the challenge. In 2017, USAID’s Agricultural Rural Development and Support (ARDS) activity co-invested in modernising the company's processing equipment, and Triada scaled up the seedling give-away model to further strengthen its local supply chain through fruit grown by local households. These interventions together allowed the company to more than quadruple its processing capabilities from 957 tons in 2017 to 4,100 in 2019. In addition to berries, Triada is expanding its production to other areas and now engages local households to grow pumpkins, carrots, and cherries. 

“It was hard at first,” explained Olena. “We plowed the land, prepared the soil, put in wooden poles with string to make sure the rows would be even, and planted the little bushes. Afterward we watered – thank goodness we have a lot of water -- and added organic fertilizers, manure from our own cows. Triada came and showed us how deep to plant the seedlings and gave us pamphlets on how to care for the bushes.” 

Now, Olena also grows pumpkins for Triada. The company provides growers agronomic support and trains them on safety and quality requirements.  

ARDS’ co-investment partnership provides a win-win situation for Triada and the rural households who work with it. Triada provides resources and training and receives high quality home-grown fruit in return. It helps Triada to stay competitive in a growing European market and allows 65 rural families to achieve economic stability. For participant households such as Olena’s, farming is an all-inclusive family affair that brings in much-needed extra income, and in many cases, acts as a nurturing force merging new ideas with old.