Project ID: 1065
Executive Board Document: EB-98-63-R-18-Rev-1

Agricultural Support Services Project

The overall objective of the Agricultural Support Services Project will be to provide restructured farms and private farmers with information and access to essential inputs necessary to reduce rural poverty. Within this overall context, the five-year IFAD-supported agricultural advisory service component will aim to alleviate rural poverty, improve household incomes and food security through strengthening grass-roots-level agricultural advisory services, and support the privatization process. Thi s will be achieved by:

(i) promoting a participatory approach to technology transfer;

(ii) training farmers in the use of improved production practices;

(iii) assisting them in the preparation of business plans;

(iv) facilitating their access to input supply, seed, fertilizer and marketing;

(v) assisting them in organizing groups so as to obtain better services and solve common problems; and

(vi) creating a unified, semi-autonomous advisory service for farmers and meeting their needs.

The advisory service will be introduced across the whole country, based on a learning approach. It will also integrate with the livestock advisory services recently introduced under the IFAD-financed Sheep Development Project in Kyrgyzstan. The project beneficiaries will include resource-poor farmers and farmers' groups. The emphasis on village/community participation will have a direct impact on the functioning of water users' associations and women's and youth groups. Particular attention will be paid to women and benefiting women-headed households through the provision of training and better access to relevant agricultural and market information. At full development, it is expected that approximately 67 000-100 000 households will benefit from the project.

Innovative Features:

The economic transition in Kyrgyzstan has caused a severe disruption in agriculture and increased the poverty of rural families. As part of the privatization process, farms have been transformed from large, state-run enterprises to small independent concerns. 'New farmers' have limited knowledge of management practices and cultivation techniques for their farms, and have no capital to implement the necessary innovations. The project will seek to establish an advisory service for farmers and to supplement it with small loans for the particularly disadvantaged households. Of key importance is the element of beneficiary participation, which is to be achieved through the organization of farmers into user groups and associations. With this objective in mind, IFAD will also seek to form strategic alliances with major donors, international research institutions, key government agencies and NGOs. IFAD will use these alliances to promote greater responsiveness of these organizations to the needs and wishes of rural people and small farmers.

Loan amount:

SDR 5.9 million (approximately USD 7.9 million) on highly concessional terms.

Total project costs:

Estimated at USD 27.5 million, of which U SD 14.2 million will be provided by IDA, USD 0.9 million by Switzerland, USD 0.4 million by Germany, USD 0.8 million by the British Know-How Fund, USD 2.0 million by the Government and USD 1.3 million by the beneficiaries.

Cooperating institution:

IDA.