The Agriculture Information Platform has been launched in Tajikistan on the basis of the http://tajikproduce.com/ website.
The Agriculture Information Platform has been developed in the framework of the Tajikistan Agriculture Commercialization Project, which is jointly supported by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
During various international events, importers from the Russian Federation and other CIS member nations have reportedly expressed interest in Tajik agricultural goods and information about Tajikistan as a whole for the purpose of establishing long-term cooperation in this sector.
Based on the information collected, they have decided to create a universal tool that would improve access to information and promote fruit-and-vegetable exports to the CIS member nations.
For the time of being, the Agriculture Information Platform mainly provides information to Russian importers and Tajik exporters.
In the future, the Agriculture Information Platform will expand coverage providing information to the far abroad countries as well.
At the end of the Tajikistan Agriculture Commercialization Project, the Agriculture Information Platform will be handed over to Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tajikistan.
The project development objective (PDO) of the Agriculture Commercialization Project for Tajikistan is to increase the commercialization of farm and agribusiness products by improving the performance of selected value chains and productive partnerships through increased access to finance and strengthened capacity of project beneficiaries. The project comprises three components. The first component, Improvement of Technical Knowledge and Skills in Support of Commercialization, will contribute to the PDO by improving the technical knowledge and skills of participants in key agricultural value chains and productive partnerships. Support will be provided in the form of group-based interventions (training) and individual technical assistance (advisory services). An estimated 12,500 people will benefit, including male and female heads of small-scale farms, and management and staff of agri-business enterprises and agro-processors. The second component, Access to Finance for Agribusiness Enterprises and Small-Scale Commercial Farms, will support the commercialization of agricultural products by improving access to medium-term finance for the larger agri-business enterprises, providing start-up capital in the form of grants for small-scale farms involved in productive partnerships, and by ensuring the availability of financing for value chain support, which often requires short-term financing (such as, for contract farming schemes and post-harvest handling activities). Potential investments include: improved on-farm technology, storage, processing, new products, marketing, quality enhancement and food safety. An estimated 350 sub-financings are expected to be provided under this component. The third component, Institutional Capacity Building and Project Management, will strengthen the critical elements of the institutional framework and the sector's academic knowledge base re
