USDA PROJECTS FOR THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

Emerging Democracies Program

USDA's Emerging Democracies Program has a two-fold
objective:  to expand, protect, or preserve overseas markets
for U.S. agricultural products, equipment, and services; and
to share U.S. expertise in order to help develop the food
and rural business systems of emerging democracies.  These
objectives are accomplished through a variety of technical
assistance projects funded by the CCC through the USDA
Emerging Democracies Program.  Questions about the program
can be directed to the Emerging Democracies Office,
USDA/FAS, AgBox 1032, 14th and Independence, S.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20250-1032, tel. (202) 720-0368, fax (202)
690-4369, electronic mail gsm.eesus@usda.sprint.com.
Activities currently underway include:

*** New Projects ***

* Russian Legislators' Introduction to U.S. Farm Bill
Process (Russia)

Russian agricultural legislators and policy makers will
travel to Washington to observe the U.S. farm bill process.
This activity was proposed to the Russian side during the
recent meeting in Moscow of the Gore-Chernomyrdin
Commission's Committee on Agribusiness.

* Grocery Training in the Russian Far East (Russia)

Training will be provided in the retail grocery business to
Russian management and staff.  Training will be held in
Portland, Oregon this fall.

* Food Industry Improvement, Diversification, and Marketing
(Russia)

USDA will provide technical assistance to Tver' and Voronezh
oblast's to complement Food for Progress donations currently
underway in those areas.  Activities will focus on training
Russians in business planning and business management.

*** Other Current Projects and Programs ***

* Cochran Fellowship Program (NIS)

This program provides short-term training in the United
States for participants from middle-income countries and
emerging democracies.  As of September 30, 1995, 669
representatives of the NIS (will) have been trained in
agriculturally related fields.  Cochran Fellows have learned
about Western-style agribusiness management, rural credit,
international agricultural trade, marketing, and policy.
The Emerging Democracies Program funds most Cochran fellows
from the NIS; however, additional money has become available
through USAID for Cochran participants in some countries of
the FSU.

* Wholesale Market Development/Market Information System
(Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine)

USDA is assisting three new independent states in creation
of market news and analysis services which will provide
badly needed information on agricultural market conditions
to both domestic and international producers and traders.

At the request of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and
Food, the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
visited Russia in summer 1992 to assess the country's market
information needs.  In May 1993, a pilot program was
established in Kaluga oblast'.  That program has since been
expanded to Belgorod oblast' and Mari-El autonomous
republic, Tula oblast', Leningrad oblast', and Rostov
oblast', Altay kray, Stavropol' oblast', and Kemerovo
oblast'.  Concurrently, USDA's Economic Research Service
(ERS) began training Russian economists in analysis of the
market information for dissemination to farmers and traders.
Eventually the program is expected to be expanded to 33
Russian provinces under the World Bank's Agricultural Reform
Implementation Support loan.

AMS and ERS have also begun efforts to create market news
and analysis services in Kazakhstan and Ukraine at the
request of those governments.  In Kazakhstan, a training
session in June 1994 at the Institute for Market Reporters
and Program Coordinators focused on the duties of a market
reporter.  A reporter's handbook was developed during the
training session.  The collection of market information
began on June 1994.  An AMS  team remained provide
assistance in Aqmola and traveled to Kazakhstan to assist in
establishing uniformity and consistency of reporting.

In Ukraine, efforts began with a seminar conducted in Kiev
to promote free market conditions and to explore ways to
develop efficient distribution channels.  In response to a
request from the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture and Food,
work to create a market news and analysis service in Ukraine
will get underway in summer 1995.

* Agricultural Policy Advisors (Kazakhstan, Russia, and
Ukraine)

Agricultural policy advisors, who assist the ministries of
agriculture with the development of agricultural and reform
policies, have been placed in several countries.  USDA has
had an agricultural advisor in the Ukraine Ministry of
Agriculture and Food since April 1994.  An agricultural
advisor served a 14-month tour of duty until December 1993
in the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and an agricultural
adviser served for 2 years in Kazakhstan until February
1995.  A request from the Belarus Ministry of Agriculture
for a U.S. advisor remains under consideration pending
adoption of more reformist agricultural policies in that
country.

* Agricultural Statistics Improvement (Kazakhstan, Russia,
and Ukraine)

USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service is
undertaking a collaborative effort with counterparts in
Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine to shift collection,
analysis, and publication of agricultural statistics in
those countries away from the support of central planning
and administration, and toward support of the free market.
Emphasis is placed on methods of measuring the private
sector, which prior to collapse of the Soviet Union did not
officially exist, and delivering information suitable for
use in a market economy to all interested end users,
including entrepreneurs.

* St. Petersburg Farm Privatization Project  (Russia)

In an effort to demonstrate various aspects of farm
management and marketing practices to a group of newly
privatized Russian farmers, USDA has aided the Russians in
establishing a farm privatization project near St.
Petersburg.   Twenty-one Russian families were selected to
participate in the program.  U.S. advisors include a project
director and two farming couples.  They are working with the
Russians on a project featuring a variety of agricultural
activities such as crop, fruit, and livestock production and
marketing.

* Russian Agricultural Commodity Exchange  (Russia)

USDA is supporting efforts in Russia to develop a
competitive marketing system, including a grain exchange,
through a consortium of three U.S. universities (North
Dakota State University at Fargo, the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign, and Southern University at Baton Rouge)
and two U.S. commodity exchanges (the Merchants' Exchange of
St. Louis and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange).  All work
together to implement a program aimed at developing a pool
of skilled, market-oriented merchandisers operating in the
cash markets, commodity exchanges, and country buying
stations.  Several traders have been trained in a series of
short courses held in Russia and the United States.  The
project has also assisted in creation of the Russian Grain
Union, a private-sector association analogous to the
National Grain and Feed Association.

* Agribusiness Linkage Program  (Russia, Poland, and
Baltics)

The goal of AgLink is to promote U.S. trade activities with
countries whose markets have only recently become accessible
to U.S. businesses.  The program provides access to the
agribusinesses of the NIS, Poland and Baltics, while also
enhancing the entrepreneurial skills of foreign agribusiness
managers.  AgLink establishes the initial link between
small- and medium-sized U.S. businesses and comparable
overseas businesses by identifying appropriate, matching
firms.  The program also provides financial and
administrative support for U.S. visits to the overseas
company, and for training of the overseas manager in the
U.S. company.  There are active programs in each of the
three geographic areas.

* Handbooks on Marketing, Storage, and Handling  (Russia)

A project was initiated with Volunteers in Overseas
Cooperative Assistance (VOCA) to publish and distribute
three USDA references in Russian.  Agricultural Handbook 66,
The Commercial Storage of Fruits, Vegetables, and Florist
and Nursery Stocks, is being distributed by VOCA.
Agricultural Handbook 668, Tropical Products Transport
Handbook, has been translated and edited, and is now in the
process of being published.  The third reference,
Agricultural Marketing and Transportation in the United
States, is being updated and should be available soon.
Other marketing references also have been identified and
excerpts have been translated for use in training seminars
and visits with Russian officials.

* St. Petersburg Terminal Market (Russia)

In cooperation with the Center for Strategic International
Studies, USDA is funding a feasibility study for
construction of a wholesale terminal market serving the St.
Petersburg area.  While primarily focused on distribution of
locally produced perishables, it will also provide some
opportunities for handling imported fruits and vegetables.

* Popcorn Seed Training (Russia)

In cooperation with a private investor and trader, USDA is
funding training of Russian farmers and technicians in use
of U.S.-origin hybrid popcorn seed.

* St. Petersburg Port Study (Russia)

This study prepared a detailed technical appraisal of bulk
and container cargo handling problems at the port of St.
Petersburg and investigated Kaliningrad and Klaipeda as
alternative ports.  The study addressed equipment, storage
facilities, computer information systems, operations
management, and shipping problems.  The study concluded that
although port capacity was adequate, severe institutional
and operational problems greatly reduced actual capabilities
to handle cargo.  Recommendations include methods for
improved data gathering and distribution regarding port
conditions, an assessment of the feasibility of constructing
a small grain storage facility at the port of St.
Petersburg, the potential for increased use of the river
system to move cargo to inland destinations, and options for
using alternative ports during periods of congestion at St.
Petersburg.

* Private Seed Company Training (Ukraine)

In collaboration with the American Seed Trade Association,
USDA is funding training of new private seed company
employees in Ukraine.  The trainees will form the core of
the emerging private hybrid seed sector in Ukraine.  These
training funds will leverage a $32 million World Bank loan
to Ukraine for establishment of a private-sector seed
industry.

* Improved Beef and Dairy Genetics (Ukraine)

This training and seminar program will help improve the
Ukrainian beef and dairy sector's productivity, and allow
the U.S. to capture a substantial share of this emerging
market for livestock genetics.  The introduction of U.S.
genetic material must be coupled with good management
practices to ensure a substantial return to the farmer and a
continued demand for U.S. semen, live animals, and embryos.
Technical support for this program will be provided by staff
of the USDA Agricultural Research Service Dairy Genetics and
Dairy Program (Beltsville, Maryland) and Beef Genetics
Program (Clay Center, Nebraska).

*** U.S. Agency for International Development-Funded
Programs Implemented by USDA ***

* Extension Service  (Armenia)

This program, fully funded by the FREEDOM Support Act
through USAID, is creating an extension service in Armenia.
One director, seven U.S. extension agents, and four short-
term specialists have been placed in Armenia.  They have
been working on a variety of issues including integrated
pest management, cooperative development, and low-input
sustainable cropping.  Initiatives include identifying major
limiting factors to Armenian production, and establishing a
farm advisor network.

* Faculty Training Program  (Russia, Ukraine, and
Kazakhstan)

USAID has provided funding for training agribusiness
professors in market-oriented agricultural economics,
marketing, and related disciplines.  This program is
intended to "train the trainers" of the next generation of
rural entrepreneurs in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.