BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 31
By Ilkin Seyfaddini – Trend:
The Rural Enterprise Support Project of Uzbekistan of the World Bank, has resulted in improved private sector engagement in the agricultural sector from 2008 through 2016, Trend reports via the bank's statement.
"It helped the sector to shift focus from the cultivation of traditional crops (cotton and wheat) to higher-value, more remunerative sub-sectors such as horticulture and livestock. The project benefitted 61,426 farmers and agro-processors, who were trained on a variety of topics related to improving farm productivity," said the statement.
The bank said the project improved irrigation and drainage infrastructure in 139,500 hectares, while the loss of water during transportation fell by about 36 percent, from 23.7 percent in 2010 to 15 percent in 2016.
The bank said that agriculture plays an important part in Uzbekistan’s economy and in 2018 accounted for 32 percent of GDP, 15 percent of export revenues, and over one-third of employment.
"Around 50 percent of population live in the rural areas and main source of income comes from the agriculture sector. The agriculture sector can produce significant results in terms of economic growth and employment in the medium-term and diversification of outputs and exports have considerable space to expand," said the statement.
The Rural Enterprise Support project focused on addressing several constraints facing the agriculture sector. These included the need for: improving access to technologies to reduce food and water losses, knowledge and markets; strengthening technical and managerial capacity in the farming and agri-business sectors; introducing new financial products and demonstrating renewable energy technologies relevant to farming.
"The Objectives of the project were to increase the productivity and financial and environmental sustainability of agriculture and the profitability of agribusiness in the project area. These were achieved through the provision of: financial and capacity-building support to farmers and agribusinesses in seven regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan (covering around 65 percent of the total population of the country), and improved irrigation service delivery through the rehabilitation of the irrigation and drainage infrastructure and the strengthening of Water Users Associations (WUAs) in the project area. Farmers were provided training to encourage adoption of water-saving technologies and renewable energy technologies relevant to farming," said the bank's report.
Approximately 139,500 hectares benefited from the improved Irrigation and Drainage infrastructure, said the statement.
Loss of water during transportation fell by about 36 percent, from 23.7 percent in 2010 to 15 percent in 2016.
The bank said some 61,426 farmers and agro-processors were trained on a variety of topics related to improving farm productivity. These included, improving soil fertility, integrated pest management, pesticide handling, organic farming and water management/water saving technologies.
"Average increase in yields per hectare was approximately 12 percent for nine key crops across the seven project districts. These included wheat, corn, rice, cotton, potatoes, vegetables, melons, fruits and berries, and vineyards.
"User fee collected per hectare increased by 32 percent between 2011 and 2014 to 9,483 soum ($1) per hectare from 7,193 soum ($0,75) per hectare. The level of saline lands decreased from 18 percent in 2010 to 13 percent in 2016 with reduced water logging. Over 62 Farmer Field Schools were established by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for demonstration of simple and affordable water saving technologies. Water saving irrigation methods, such as drip irrigation, use of black perforated film for furrow irrigation and flexible hoses were demonstrated over 751 ha. About 20,593 farmers were trained on water-saving technologies," said the report.
"Increased farmers’ and agribusinesses’ access to long-term financing. The overall agricultural portfolio of the commercial banks went up by 57 percent over the life of the project. More than 500 agribusinesses have received financing for procurement of agricultural machinery, processing equipment, packaging equipment and materials, investment in tree-crops, and poultry, fishery and livestock production," said the bank.
WB said the International Development Association provided to the Republic of Uzbekistan in the amount of $107.9 million. The government contributed $5.9 million and beneficiary contributed $29.9 million for the The Rural Enterprise Support Project.
"The primary beneficiaries of project interventions included farmers (large and small, including household farmers) as well as agribusinesses in seven regions of the country. Secondary beneficiaries included commercial banks as well as members of Water Users Associations and irrigation administrative structures, including the Basin Administration of Irrigation Systems and Administration of Irrigation Systems," said the bank.
"The project was successfully implemented by the Rural Restructuring Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture (in 2019 this agency became under the Cabinet of Ministers) and Participating Financial Institutions. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation provided parallel financing in the amount $7.7 million. The Rural Enterprise Support project design and success result stories are used to design Horticulture Development Project, Livestock Development Project and Fergana Rural Enterprise Development project which aim to further improve agricultural performance."