Republic of the Congo Country Strategic Opportunities Programme 2019-2024

The overall goal of this COSOP is to achieve sustainable and inclusive development of agricultural production and agribusiness while supporting the Government in its effort to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 2, 3 and 8.

This COSOP differs from past strategies in that it goes beyond production and focuses on the entire agricultural value chain, aiming to stimulate pro-poor investment and growth by enabling buyers, processing enterprises, fishers and smallholders to engage in inclusive, profitable and sustainable relationships, while prioritizing the needs of rural and peri-urban youth and women.

It will also contribute to identifying needed reforms and strengthening sector institutions and capacity for good governance in the sector.

Its three strategic objectives (SOs) are:

• Strategic objective 1: Strengthen the capacity of small-scale stakeholders and their organizations to create inclusive market linkages and agribusiness models and derive economic benefits from value chains with high economic potential.
• Strategic objective 2: Increase access by small-scale producers and other value chain stakeholders to financing and financial services.
• Strategic objective 3: Improve the policy and regulatory environment for micro, small and medium-sized enterprise development in the agriculture and food sector.