By Anastasia Dolmatova

The EBRD is launching AgriAcademy, a free-to-use online learning platform for agribusiness employees, as part of its continuing  support for Ukraine’s agri-food sector. The platform aims to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of a vital Ukrainian economic sector, which has been badly affected by the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian agricultural companies of all sizes are experiencing a shortage of qualified specialists in every subsector. An in-depth study, commissioned by the EBRD, has identified a lack of knowledge and skills as a major deficit, significantly affecting competitiveness in the sector. This is partly due to the low use of digital technologies and the absence of the right digital environment for transferring and acquiring expertise.

The specialised online courses are included in master’s degree programmes at top agricultural universities. They have been adapted to fit the needs of Ukrainian agribusiness for the first time. Up to 30 e-learning modules will be available on the platform – which will provide unlimited free access – covering key areas identified by the survey, including agronomy, process management, sales and retail, livestock, horticulture and vegetable growing, agrarian innovations and more.

The initiative is funded by the EBRD’s Ukraine Stabilisation and Sustainable Growth Multi-Donor Account (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, United States of America, and the European Union as the largest donor).

To date, the EBRD has invested almost €18 billion(US$19.08billion) in Ukraine. In partnership with donors, it has committed €900 million of funding to projects across the country since the Russian invasion in February 2022. The Bank has undertaken to commit €3 billion of financing to Ukraine in 2022-23 in equal partnership with international donors.