Save The Farmers In Rural Ukraine

This is the story of 10 farmers outside of Dnipro Ukraine who pooled their money together to purchase a tractor. Unfortunately, they could not get a loan from the bank or afford to purchase a tractor outright and chose to lease a tractor from some "businessmen".

When Russia officially invaded Ukraine in 2022 the "businessmen" saw an opportunity and told the farmers they could sign their combined (+)300 Hectares of properties over to them and rent from them and keep the tractor or they would take the tractor away... Knowing that without the tractor the farmers would risk losing their properties to the government.

The farmers, of course, refused and lost the tractor and the estimated 10kusd they had paid into the tractor over the period they leased it. The majority of the work had been done, and together they worked to complete what they could by hand before the end of the farming season.

This year, without a tractor, this is an impossible task, there are just too many properties and too many Hectares to clear by hand. If the farmers cannot find some help, they will not only lose their land but their only source of income to provide for their families. In a village of 1200, 10 households losing their land and incomes would be a huge blow to the community.

This is why we (Planet of People and friends) have decided to start this Gofundme and ask for help from the public to "Save The Farmers".

This is a big undertaking, it requires a lot more money raised than previous projects done by Planet Of People and their friends... It will also require transportation of the purchased tractor to the village outside of Dnipro, Ukraine. There will also be lawyers fees as we have decided that a Communal tractor needs a community contract.

This contract will make the distribution of the tractor fair and will outline the costs of fuel being paid to be the responsibility of the farmers whose land is being cultivated as well as the shared cost of maintenance falling to all parties involved.

After the troubles they have gone through, we think it's important that this tractor builds community and will be fairly used by all parties. It will also make sure that the sole responsibility of the maintenance of the tractor is not left on the shoulders of any one farmer but be something they share in, further adding to their investment in this community project.

We have spent the last few days researching the costs of tractors, the options available vs work that needs to be done, etc and have found the best option is about USD 18,000. This cost is for a tractor that does not require purchasing outside of Ukraine(removing the cost of VAT and extra "shipping") and immediate repairs (one $400 cheaper needs tires at an estimated cost of $1500.00 before it is considered ready for use)

The exact tractor pictured is the perfect one for the community as they still have all the attachments and extra parts that were purchased for the leased tractor. This will reduce the starting cost for the community as they can utilize the equipment and parts they already have.

We have also calculated an estimated $1000Cdn for the contract (this could be much less) and $3000 for transportation, however, we will update the price at the actual rate once we have the true cost figured out. If there is any remaining donation money it will be put aside for future maintenance on the tractor, though we do not expect this to be the case.

This is an ASAP project as the farming season starts after the last frost

It takes about one week for withdrawals to be able to go through. We will not be adding the banking information to this Gofundme account until we have reached the 50% goal for the fundraiser, at which time all funds will be held in the Planet of People non-profit corporate account.

The lawyer fees for the contract will be paid before the fundraiser is finished but the rest of the funds will be held until the date of purchase. This will require a wire transfer in USD and a Director to physically be with the tractor at the time of sale.

We all understand that this is a large sum of money and that not everyone can donate. We ask that if you believe in this cause share their story/Gofundme, talk about them, and please do not let these farmers' stories go unheard.

Ordinary People Do Big Things

Planet of People, a Canadian non-profit, run by April Huggett(DefactoHumanity on Twitter) and 2 other Canadian Directors, will be handling the purchase of the tractor, a lawyer for the contract between the farmers and logistics of having the tractor delivered. Planet Of People is also registered as a Charity in Ukraine, as of January 29th, 2023.

$90.52 Cdn was raised before the Gofundme was started and will be calculated into the total amount raised at the end.