Climate Resilience and Agriculture Development Project

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The proposed project is fully aligned with the upcoming CPF FY23-27 which attaches great importance to improving competitiveness, enhance resilience and support a more sustainable growth. The Albania Climate Resilience and Agriculture Development Project (CRAD) will contribute to Objective 3.2: “Depolluting the economy and better managing natural resources” for High Level Outcome 3 (HLO 3) “Enhanced resilience to climate change and natural risks and better management of natural resources”, as well as Objective 1.2: “Improved enabling environment for private sector growth” and Objective 1.3: “Improved quality and sustainability of public services” for HLO 1: ‘A more sustainable growth’. The proposed project is also highly consistent with the World Bank’s overall development frameworks – Resilience, Inclusion, Sustainability, and Efficiency (RISE) and World Bank Group Climate Change Action Plan 2021–2025: Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID), in terms of addressing long-term development challenges and contributing to post pandemic build back better. The proposed Climate Resilience and Agriculture Development Project will work through an integrated approach that combines the promotion of the agri-food sector’s competitiveness with increased climate resilience and a more sustainable growth. The proposed project would include the following three components. Component 1 will focus on supporting resilient and climate smart agriculture, productivity improvements and improving market access through investments to shorten the value chain, strengthen resilience of food supply and develop a modern and reliable irrigation delivery services and drainage network for high-value agricultural production. The project would support (i) development of five Micro Food Hubs in the peri-urban areas of main cities in the regions of Tirana, Shkodra/Lezha, Vlora and Gjrokastra to provide better market access to local producers while supporting short supply chains and resiliency in urban food supply; (ii) development of two typical food product clusters in the regions of Berat and Dibra, to create the enabling environment for the valorization of two typical food products (olive oil and processed fruits and vegetables) through the aggregation of producers (consortium), and the improvement of quality and market access with the development of their technical and marketing capacity; (iii) development of a Climate Smart Agriculture IT Platform to collect all the relevant information such as soil type, hydrometeorological data, agriculture practices (i.e. use of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, etc.), and guide the farmers toward resilient agriculture practices; and (iv) modernizing selected irrigation and drainage schemes for high-value agricultural production through support of innovative interventions to advance resilience, productivity, and sustainability of the agriculture sector. Component 2 will focus on addressing weak compliance and control mechanisms related to food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary standards which currently impede competitiveness and create market access inequalities both in the local and export markets. The project would provide support to increase institutional capacity to implement the food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary requirements through (i) establishment and upgrading of Border Inspection Posts to increase the competent authority capacity to perform official controls (documentary, identity and physical controls) for live animals, products of animal and non-animal origin, plants and plant products as well as agricultural inputs; (ii) improvement of diagnostic support in the areas of food safety, veterinary and plant health analyses; and (iii) development of storage capacity for detained goods which do not comply with food safety, veterinary or plant health standards. Component 3 will focus on establishing a sustainable and effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system for agricultural and rural development policy in Albania. Support will be provided to build the monitoring capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and municipalities to increase their ability to measure and analyze agricultural policy impacts to support evidence-based policymaking, as well as to ensure capacity for project implementation and monitoring.