In Ukraine, five potato enterprises are developing hubs to collaborate with local farmers, supported by the USAID AGRO Program.
"Regardless of weather conditions or market situations, the outcome for potato producers largely depends on the ability to sell their products and the opportunities for crop sales. A sustainable approach for farmers is to partner with a processor under a contract farming model, which ensures a guaranteed market for part of their harvest at competitive prices," stated in USAID AGRO.
Within these hubs, potato growers are fostering collaboration, implementing contract farming, and expanding infrastructure for processing and storing potatoes.
For instance, the company LLC "Strong Energy West" accepts potatoes from farmers in the region. Part of the harvest is immediately processed into starch, while the rest is placed into special clamps for temporary storage.
As part of the project, the enterprise installed new modern equipment for potato cleaning provided by the USAID AGRO Program. It also constructed a new potato storage facility for temporary storage of the product, extending the processing season by 1–2 months. This will increase the volume of potatoes grown for processing, thereby attracting more local farmers to collaborate.
This year, the company expects to receive 12-13 thousand tons of potatoes from 20 local farms for processing into high-quality starch and subsequent export to the EU.
Source: kurkul.com