ADB to help improve agribusiness value chains in Kyrgyzstan
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $20 million loan and a $20 million grant to the Kyrgyz Republic to help small and medium-sized agribusinesses improve their processing and storage capacity and reduce post-harvest handling losses, through inclusive, resilient, and climate-adaptive horticultural value chains, Kabar reports.
“The project will enhance the resilience of farmers, including women, against market volatility, natural hazards, and climate change, and increase household and national food security,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “By equipping them with climate-smart agricultural technologies and strengthening value chains, farmers and all stakeholders along the value chains will be able to minimize resource cost and increase profitability.”
The Climate-Resilient Agricultural Value Chain Development Project will provide long-term funds to qualified participating financial institutions to extend better-structured loans for horticulture value chain investments, including fruit and vegetables. Aiyl Bank, the most prominent bank financing the country’s agriculture sector, has been selected as the first financial institution to participate in this project.
“About 80% of small businesses in the Kyrgyz Republic are currently funded by family, friends, and informal sources,” said ADB Principal Natural Resources and Agriculture Specialist Giap Minh Bui. “To stimulate private investment in modernizing agricultural value chains, it is critical that local banks have access to stable long-term funding sources and offer a range of term-lending products that are appropriate for and affordable to horticulture entrepreneurs, including women.”
Aside from establishing modern processing, storage, and refrigerated facilities, the project will also help establish contract farming arrangements between farmers and processors and/or exporters; train women business-owners; and implement measures to facilitate cross-border trade and branding for products that are unique to the Kyrgyz Republic.
These measures aim to increase profitability for horticultural producers and agribusiness enterprises, and strengthen market linkages to increase national food security.
This year, ADB launched a new 5-year country partnership strategy for the Kyrgyz Republic to support the country’s development priorities by fostering inclusive, resilient, and private sector-led growth. Since the Kyrgyz Republic joined ADB in 1994, the bank has committed 208 public sector loans, grants, and technical assistance totaling $2.5 billion to the country.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
