Olga Dovganyk with her harvested crops

Small farmers in Ukraine often lack access to finance to maintain and grow their businesses. This has only become more complicated since Russia launched its full-scale war.

Agricultural producers like Olga Dovganyk, owner of a 50-acre family vegetable farm in Lviv Oblast, choose credit unions as their financial partners.

“We don’t work with other financial institutions – only our credit union. I’m a retired person and a small farmer, so not a target client for banks. That’s why banks are often not ready to be flexible in terms of the loan conditions,” said Olga.

Originally established in April 2021 to help credit unions affiliated with World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project expand agricultural lending, the Liquidity Fund took on an expanded purpose after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It has been essential to ensuring there is enough available financing to meet farmers' needs during wartime.

Olga has received three loans from her credit union made possible by the Liquidity Fund, two of which came in the most difficult years of 2022 and 2023.  Despite all the uncertainty about Ukraine’s future, the loans allowed her to maintain her vegetable production.

Olga used the additional financing to purchase a potato harvester, cultivator, sprayer, and enough fertilizers and plant protection products to continue producing potatoes, carrots, cabbage and red beets to ensure food security in her community.

For people like Olga and her family, access to affordable finance also means a possibility to stay in Ukraine and contribute to the local economy.

“We used to go abroad for work, but now with finance available, we are staying here, in rural Ukraine, and can ensure jobs for our entire extended family," explained Olga.

Since its inception in April 2021, the Liquidity Fund has supported over 1,000 agricultural MSME borrowers in Ukraine, who received 1,318 loans for a total of US $3.43 million through 22 CAP Project partner credit unions. 985 agricultural loans, for a total of US $2.6 million, were disbursed during Russia’s full-scale war.