Center for Citizen Initiatives
Agricultural Initiative

The Ag Initiative's mission is to assist Russian and NIS citizens, especially the needy, to produce more of their own food on a small-scale basis; provide comprehensive support to privatized farmers through extension services; and promote the development of sustainable and organic agriculture in Russia.

[About the Program] [Contacts] [Links]

Fourth Annual "Ecological Security in Agriculture" Conference
Oct. 20-22 1998, Sergiev Posad, Russia

CCI's Sustainable Agribusiness Support Project, recently funded by USAID.

CCI's Russian-language pages

Program Activities:

Humanitarian Seedlifts: Helping the Needy Grow more of Their Own Food
Sustainable Agriculture Extension Services: Creating Institutions to Serve Russia's Farming Pioneers
Rooftop Gardening -: Improving the Food Supply & Urban Environment Simultaneously

Target Market / Beneficiaries:

For receipt of seeds, AgI targets needy segments of the population throughout Russia and (when donations allow) other republics of the former Soviet Union.
Extension Service is (currently) offered to farmers in the Moskovskaya, Leningradskaya, Penzenskaya, Nizhegorodskaya, and Lipetskaya Oblasts, as well as the Krasnodar Krai.
The Rooftop Gardens project targets urban gardening enthusiasts throughout Russia.

Funding:

The Ag Initiative began in 1992. Petoseed, W. Atlee Burpee & Co./Geo J. Ball, Inc., the Asgrow Seed Company, Pan American Seed, and Shepherd's Garden Seeds have donated a total of 97 tons of vegetable seeds to CCI from 1992 - 1997, with a total retail value of over $15 million. The Ag Initiative currently receives funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Sam and Mary Mills fund of the Vanguard Public Foundation, and numerous American citizens.

Click here to find out how you can help, or request a printed copy of the Agricultural Initiative Newsletter.

Click Here to go to our Russian-language agricultural extension pages. You'll need to have Russian fonts installed on your browser; you can dowload an excellent set of these here.

Contacts:

Will Easton, Program Director
cciusa@igc.apc.org

Alexander Gavrilov, St. Petersburg AgI Director
Alla Sokol, President, St. Petersburg Urban Gardening Club
Oleg Moldakov, Extension Service Director
Suzdalskiy Prospect 3-2-45
St. Petersburg, Russia 194214
tel. (812) 515-4388
plant@mailbox.alkor.ru

Natalya Scribunova, Moscow AgI Director
tel./fax (095) 250-3429
ccimosc@glasnet.ru

Natalya Andreyeva, Extension Service Director, Farming Development Service
Ptitsegrad, All-Russian Ag College (VAKZO)
Sergiev Posad, Moscow Oblast 141300
fds@glasnet.ru
tel./fax 096-54-6-11-39
(from Moscow 8-254-6-11-39)

Sylvia & Walter Ehrhardt, Program Advisors
Ehrhardt Organic Farm
1032 Hoffmaster Road
Knoxville, MD 21758
tel. 301-834-9247
fax 301-834-5070
email: ecoag@igc.apc.org
Web: My Russian Adventure