Enhanced Competitiveness of Tajik Agribusiness Project (ECTAP)
ECTAP includes a combination of finance from the EBRD with EU grant funds expected to generate increases in capital investments by the Tajik agricultural and agribusiness sector.
ECTAP consists of three windows:
- First loss guarantee – supporting EBRD’s direct investments in Tajik agribusinesses
- Incentive grants to Tajik agribusinesses and end beneficiaries for successfully completed investments
- Technical assistance to support Agribusiness SMEs to implement capital investment projects
Launched in 2014, ECTAP was developed and funded by the European Union in close partnership with the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and has been implemented in a consortium led by the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.
The project placed a special focus on smallholders and female beneficiaries and following the “farm to fork” method, supported production, processing, quality testing and branding in the beef & dairy, poultry, goats as well as fruits and vegetables sectors. ECTAP reportedly played a crucial role in linking agribusinesses and smallholders to potential buyers as well as to suppliers of agricultural machinery and inputs.
To promote farmers’ access to finance, ECTAP built the capacities of local finance institutions and helped develop new lending products better suited for the agricultural sector. Here, ECTAP worked hand in hand with the EBRD, which continues to provide credit lines to local financial institutions for on-lending to eligible farmers, agribusinesses and extension services. The EU adds its own funding in form of grants to the EBRD loans, making access to finance more affordable.
Three interactive International Agribusiness Investment Fora have been organized with the Government of Tajikistan, mobilizing more than 750 international and local agribusinesses and agricultural suppliers to present state of the art appliances and facilitating access to advanced markets. Moreover, ECTAP also organized four study tours to Europe and Uzbekistan, which exposed participants to modern farming and agribusiness best practices.
Building on the extensive experience on the ECTAP and the EBRD’s pilot CLIMADAPT, the EBRD’s financing pillar will continue. For local financial institutions it is transformed into a follow-up Facility, Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF), to increase access to finance and enhance competitiveness agricultural value chains with high performing technologies.
