Our Approaches

Program of ICF Community Wellbeing – is a set of strategically connected projects that focus on achieving long-term goals – strengthen the capacity of small farms and the achievement of economic stability. ICF Community Wellbeing Projects may cover one community or extend its activities in several regions of Ukraine.

Each initiative is developed taking into account the ICF Community Wellbeing approach that is based on four main key elements, namely:

• Incomes increase, development of value added chains
• Environment protection
• Women Empowering
• Social capital development

Incomes increase, development of value added chains

Focusing its activities on increasing the income of smallholders ICF Community Wellbeing provides  animals and seeds, seedlings, provides trainings to improve  farming management in order to implement the most effective and advanced technologies, promotes cooperation of smallholders and uniting them in Agricultural Service Cooperatives (ASCs). It also provides trainings and equipment to agricultural service cooperatives to provide servicers for coop members and create benefits of the produced farm products. Provision of such support at the community level is primarily focused on the urgent need for regional and national market. Smallholders and small farms that introduce new technologies, increase and sell their products using the ASC services, when cooperating to sell lager volumes together receive much more economic advantages in comparison to small individual farmers not united in coops. This integrated approach allows transforming the economy focused on survival and subsistence into stable economically efficient farms with stable marketing channels.

Environment protection

When implementing projects ICF Community Wellbeing implements best practices and initiatives that reduce the negative environmental impact of agricultural production and processing. ICF Community Wellbeing supports projects that cover development of organic production, efficient use of natural resources (including water and land resources), use of recycling compliant materials and implement appropriate approaches of waste management.

Women empowerment

Projects of ICF Community Wellbeing include establishment of services, infrastructure, and provision of automatic equipment that will ease the burden of farm keeping and housekeeping work for women; provide trainings for families – participants of ICF Community Wellbeing projects, promoting awareness of the importance of a redistribution of roles in farm and house management.

Social Capital

ICF Community Wellbeing promotes mobilization and organizing of rural communities by increasing the capacity of existing and creation of new organizations and networks that bring together community members/different communities to achieve a common goal, increasing incomes and solving community problems. Agricultural service cooperatives that are implementing projects of ICF Community Wellbeing in regions of Ukraine receive not only  trainings and equipment to provide services to coop members but also systematic consulting support to be able to ensure stable operation even after the completion of projects. ICF Community Wellbeing promotes the involvement of all members in decision-making in cooperatives and the introduction of democratic governance approaches.