Heifer-Ukraine assists rural families united into Agricultural Service Cooperatives (AS coops), which implement Heifer-Ukraine projects. By providing services to rural families in land cultivation, collecting and cooling milk, preparing mixed fodder, collecting and drying fruits/ berries and other services, AS coops help people increase their income, diversify the sources of income, and improve the quality of life. Some of the services launched by the coops are not offered in rural areas by other providers, though they are in high demand. Examples include garbage collection, gas supply, laundry etc.

Heifer-Ukraine provides support to AS coops based on the principles of integrated assistance, development of the institutional capacity of the coops, increasing the number of involved families. Examples of assistance provided to coops by Heifer-Ukraine include:

• Providing of animals and plants that are later distributed among families according to a joint decision of AS coop members;
• Providing of equipment for joint use;
• Conducting studies/trainings and consultations on business planning, marketing, accounting, and financial reporting etc.;
• Encouraging the development of value added chains;
• Promotion of new approaches to effective farming among smallholders – growing organic products, using worm composting etc.;
• Bringing the community closer through trainings, public meetings etc.

AS coops receive commission fees for their services, which they need to use to cover their expenses (salaries, other operational costs) and to invest into developing their resources.

AS coops are constantly developing – through business planning and careful planning of services, developing value-added chains, accumulating funds for capital repair of equipment and buying new equipment for the joint needs of coop members etc.

One of the most disputable and methodologically complex AS coop development issues is creating appropriate conditions for effective use of equipment. Heifer-Ukraine developed mechanisms that assist AS coops and monitor their economic effectiveness. Special policies and training were developed for coop accountants.

Heifer-Ukraine provides equipment to coops as an associated member without receiving any dividends for its shares. Equipment is always provided based on the developed business-plan for the coop. The problem of capital repair of equipment is solved by Heifer-Ukraine by requiring coops to accumulate funds from equipment use on a special coop account at the rate of monthly amortization. Before this scheme was developed, coops did not use to accumulate funds for capital repair. The special coop account is used for specifically designated purposes only. When a relevant amount of funds is accumulated, an AS coop has the right to use the money for capital repair. If capital repair is not needed and the equipment works flawlessly, AS coops can buy additional equipment they need.