ALTERNATIVE INCOME GENERATION FOR UNEMPLOYED MINERS IN THE AGRARIAN SECTOR

ADAS International have been contracted by Britain-Russia Development Program of the Department for International Development, UK Government, (DFID) to manage and support two Russian organisations YugAgroFond and Russian-British Consulting Centrehoteles Colonia, in delivering the project in Rostov oblast of Russia (Belaya Kalitva rayon).

The project will last for 3 years.

The project team started work on 27 November 2000.

The purposeERROR MSG of the project is to develop, test and disseminate sustainable and cost-effective mechanisms for the support of alternative income generation within the agrarian sector for unemployed miners in Rostov-on-Don Oblast. This will contribute to the goalSaas Fee alberghi economici of reducing poverty and social tension among redundant miners through the adoption of economic coping strategies based on their integration into the agrarian sector.

hotels ReimsThe economy of Rostov Oblast has traditionally been heavily dependent on the mining and agricultural sectors, both of which are currently undergoing major restructuring. The closure of coal mines has generated considerable economic hardship and social tension in traditional mining communities. Oblast and Rayon Administrations, with minimal financial resources to invest in the creation of new employment opportunities, have few options for addressing rural and urban unemployment caused by mine closures and large farm reorganisation.

DFID has been supporting the process of enterprise restructuring in both the agrarian and mining sectors in Russia, targeting our support at ensuring this is a transparent, legally defensible process leading to economically beneficial and socially acceptable results. In Rostov this has involved the development of local centres of expertise providing business, technical, legal and taxation advice to existing enterprises and to individuals establishing new businesses.
This project will help identify the most effective mechanisms for supporting unemployed miners who wish to engage in agricultural production or rural support service provision. It will assist local consultants to develop and test new models of public/private collaboration for the promotion of self-employment and alternative approaches to income generation as a livelihood strategy for the newly unemployed. DFID will provide technical assistance through existing training and advisory services (YugAgroFond and the Russian British Consulting Centre), whose institutional capacity, along with that of the Rayon authorities will be strengthened. The budget includes provision to create a small micro-credit scheme on a matching fund basis with the local administration under arrangements similar to those tested in other EECAD micro-credit schemes in support of livelihood initiatives.

Stakeholders and beneficiaries
The primary stakeholders and beneficiaries in the programme will be miners who complete the programme and have a viable business as well as those they may employ. In addition, their families can be considered as beneficiaries (it is likely that family members will be the first to be employed in any fledgling business). By virtue of a reduction in unemployment benefit, there will also be advantage gained by the employment service both at local and federal level.
Secondary beneficiaries will be the Russian-British Consulting Centre and YugAgroFond who will achieve a level of experience and income and at the same time make a significant contribution to the regeneration process. Others will be the administrations of Belaya Kalitva Rayon and Rostov Oblast, a number of individual ministries, including the agriculture, energy, employment and small business support; and indirectly the coal associations and trade unions.

Outputs:

1. Mechanisms developed for the organisation and cost-effective deployment of appropriate advisory and consultancy capacity to support the creation of re-training and self-employment capacity.
   
   
2. Mechanism for fair, transparent and legally defensible land distribution and other resources allocation decisions tailored for use among unemployed miners.
   
   
3. Approaches to the mitigation of local conflicts which result from introduction of small scale producers as potential competitors on the local market by identifying areas of collaboration in a mutually beneficial way.
   
   
4. Pilot rayon fund for regional regeneration to offer micro- credit (in king and cash) established.
   
   
5. Dissemination of experience (including training materials and legal templates) to other Russian and Ukrainian Oblasts and other related DfID projects.