$100,000 Worldwide Foundation Grant Launches Ukraine Ag Loan Program

The Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) unveiled a $100,000 grant program Wednesday to provide targeted aid to farmers in Ukraine as the country grips with an increasing food security crisis caused by Russia’s ongoing war against the country.

In a statement released Wednesday morning, officials with WFCU said the grant money for the Ukraine Agricultural Loan Reimbursement Program comes from the money donated to the Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund that opened days after the Russian military attacked Ukraine in February.

The grant from WFCU will go to nearly 600 farmers in Ukraine to reimburse 10% of their agricultural loan principal payments. According to WFCU, there are two requirements for Ukraine farmers to receive grant assistance:

1. Issued by a credit union that partners with World Council of Credit Unions’ Credit for Agricultural Producers (CAP) Project, a USAID-funded activity.
2. Issued by a credit union that is not operating in an active conflict zone.

“In an ever-increasing global food crisis, WFCU is doing its part to support Ukraine’s credit union member farmers who are at ground zero, facing both economic hardship and resource constraints,” Mike Reuter, executive director of WFCU, said.

WFCU stated it “will monitor the impact of the reimbursement program and convey the outcomes for both individual farmers and the collective program to the Displacement Fund’s 1,500 donors from across the international credit union community.”

So far, nearly $1.7 million has been raised for the Displacement Fund since it was announced at this year’s CUNA GAC in Washington, D.C., according to WFCU.

The Foundation also announced other assistance programs are in development to use money from the Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund “to address specific credit union and member pain points” that have been created by the Russian military invasion.