Tajikistan Minister of Finance Fayziddin Qahhorzoda has called on the IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to participate in implementation of new projects in Tajikistan.
According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Secretariat, he remarked this on July 17 in Rome while delivering a statement at a meeting of the IFAD Executive Board during the discussion of the Country Strategic Opportunities Program for Tajikistan designed for 2019-2024.
Tajik minister, in particular, underlined the significance of attraction of new investments, especially grants, for implementation of new agriculture development projects in Tajikistan.
The meeting participants reportedly included members of the IFAD Executive Board representatives of twelve donor countries.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Qahhorzoda noted a notable contribution of IFAD to the socioeconomic development of Tajikistan.
He, in particular, said that the Fund has allocated 80 million U.S. dollars over the past decade to support enhancement of Tajikistan’s agrarian sector.
Ms. Khalida Bouzar, the Director of the Near East, North Africa, Europe and Central Asia Division at IFAD, noted that the Country Strategic Opportunities Program for Tajikistan reflects the main priorities of cooperation between the Fund and Tajikistan for the next five years.
She emphasized that the Program aims to reduce poverty rate, strengthen food security and reduce climate change impacts on rural communities of Tajikistan.
Ms. Bouzar reportedly further added that the mentioned goals would be achieved through implementation of investment projects in rural areas of Tajikistan.
Headquartered in Rome, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. It was established as an international financial institution in 1977 through United Nations General Assembly Resolution 32/107 (December 15, 1977) as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference. Seventy-five percent of the world's poor live in rural areas in developing countries, yet only 4% of official development assistance goes to agriculture.
IFAD seeks to ensure that poor rural people have better access to, and the skills and organization they need to take advantage of: natural resources, especially secure access to land and water, and improved natural resource management and conservation practices; improved agricultural technologies and effective production services; a broad range of financial services; transparent and competitive markets for agricultural inputs and produce; opportunities for rural off-farm employment and enterprise development; and local and national policy and programming.
