Russia award 118-G-00-00273-00 · 1999 · agriculture · Center for Citizen Initiatives

Final report of the contractor, the Center for Citizen Initiatives (CCI), on a project (9/97-8/99) to promote sustainable agribusiness in Russia. Project targets were for the most part met or exceeded, as follows: (1) 167 agribusiness owners/managers, vs. a target of 40, were enrolled in the Productivity Enhancement Program for 1-month, agriculture-specific U.S. internships; (2) 38 clients, vs. a target of 25, received loans from Russian banks or international funds; (3) 7 Russian extension centers are serving an average of 120 local producers and agribusinesses, vs. a target of 7 centers serving an average 150 such clients (in addition, 49 seminars were conducted in 1998/99 with a total attendance of 926 people); (4) 198 Russian-language agricultural how-to guides and newsletters from the centers are available electronically via the Internet, vs. a target of 100 guides and 150 newsletters; (5) agribusiness information centers were established in 13 Russian extension centers, vs. a target of 7 (the extension centers also helped create 4 new farmers' cooperatives); (6) average profitability for all center clients increased 13.4% over 2 years, vs. a target of 20%; (7) 10 extension ma

Source: DEC abstract, PD-ABR-734 (1999). The source's own text.