Project area. The project will be implemented in the most deprived areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina not yet covered by ongoing IFAD-supported projects. The final selection will be made during subsequent phases of project design. Target group. The target group will be composed of: (i) subsistence smallholders with few animals and a limited cultivated area who will be assisted in shifting their farming practices towards high-value commodities with a growing commercial demand (milk/meat and temperate fruits); (ii) rural dwellers with little or no farming experience and/or very limited productive farming resources, who will be assisted in creating or expanding on-farm enterprises and in generating off-farm income, for example through small and medium-sized enterprises; (iii) rural entrepreneurs - farming and non-farming - who will be assisted in developing enterprises that can add value to rural production and boost the overall rural economy; and (iv) producers' associations, processors' associations and other forms of rural organizations. The project will ensure that gender concerns underpin all activities supported by the project. Project objectives. The project's overall goal is to increase incomes and employment for poorer rural inhabitants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who often have no formal employment and rely on smallholder agriculture for their livelihoods. To achieve this, the project will improve access to financial resources and to business and technical support services so that project beneficiaries can invest in setting up or expanding a wide variety of rural enterprises (both on- and off-farm). The project will also help build an institutional and policy framework conducive to agricultural and enterprise development. Flexibility to respond to the needs of the target group, the demands of the market and changing circumstances will be a key feature of the project. Project description. Apart from project management, the project is expected to have three components, which will be fine-tuned during project design: (i) rural livelihoods development; (ii) market access infrastructure; and (iii) rural financial services.
Important features. Despite agriculture's small contribution to GDP, farming and the associated activities have the potential to play a major role in reviving the rural economy and reducing poverty, given that nearly half of the rural population rely to a large extent on smallholder agriculture for their livelihoods. IFAD has been strongly involved in rural development in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1996, and has created a recognized niche through its promotion of smallholder livestock production, the mainstay of the rural economy. IFAD is now one of the main supporters of rural poverty reduction initiatives in the country. The proposed project is consistent with IFAD's country strategic opportunities paper of 2005. It is also aligned with the priorities set forth in the poverty reduction strategy for 2004-2007 and the revised medium-term development strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project will build on IFAD's success in adopting the supply chain approach to smallholder livestock production and commercialization in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by replicating this experience in other parts of the country and applying it to other commodities such as temperate fruits. Innovative features of note include: (i) creation of clear and monitorable collaborative arrangements with private sector firms engaged in the relevant supply chains, in line with IFAD policy guidelines; (ii) a focus on developing pro-poor supply chains and - even more importantly - on capacity-building of smallholders so that they can benefit from the supply chain activities; and (iii) a design concept firmly based on active partnership and operational collaboration with a number of other donor-financed programmes, thereby enhancing donor harmonization at the project level. Potential cofinanciers. Discussions are ongoing with the OPEC Fund for International Development. Opportunities for partnership in this project will be explored with other major donors. Interested cofinanciers are invited to contact IFAD. |
|
 |
 |
 |
