BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 17. Kyrgyzstan has inked an agreement with the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) for financing the Resilient Agri-Food Clusters Development Project in the country, Trend reports.
According to Kyrgyzstan's Cabinet of Ministers, the agreement was finalized following discussions between the Chairman of the Kyrgyzstan Cabinet of Ministers, Akylbek Japarov, and the leadership of the World Bank Group (WBG) during Japarov's working visit to Washington.
During the visit, Japarov engaged in talks with Antonella Bassani, Vice President of the WB for Europe and Central Asia, focusing on cooperation prospects in various sectors, including healthcare, education, social protection, water supply and irrigation, energy, renewable energy, and the green economy.
Additionally, Japarov met with Anna Bjerde, Managing Director of Operations at the WB, to explore further collaboration opportunities.
According to the WB, the project aims to assist farmers and other participants in the food production chain in enhancing the quality and quantity of their products and accessing more markets. This will involve providing investment loans for selected agri-food clusters, offering training and support, improving seed systems and livestock breeding, and upgrading information management systems.
Moreover, the project will prioritize the adoption of improved technologies and practices to mitigate and adapt to the impact of climate change. It will also promote the use of digital tools for accessing market information and adopting climate-smart technologies.
The project targets to provide direct support to 8,000 beneficiaries involved in the agricultural value chain, with an additional 20,000 benefiting indirectly. Direct beneficiaries include individual farmers, producer groups, small and medium processors, and other participants in the dairy and horticulture clusters.
Indirect beneficiaries comprise farming communities, household members of loan and training recipients, as well as other stakeholders in the value chain and broader rural communities.
Funding for the project will be provided in the form of a zero-interest, shorter-term loan, with repayments spread out over 12 years and a six-year grace period. The project will be implemented through 2029 by the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry and the Ministry of Finance.
Chairman Japarov is leading a delegation currently in Washington to participate in the spring meetings of the boards of governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group.