Serbia Competitive Agriculture Project Additional Financing

dropped

The parent project, financed by an IBRD loan of EUR 45.8 million (US$ 50 million equivalent), was approved by the World Bank’s Board of Directors on December 3, 2019. The project became effective on February 18, 2020. The closing date of the parent project is December 31, 2024.The proposed AF, in the amount of EUR 100 million in IBRD financing (US$ 107.85 million equivalent) to the parent project, will scale up ongoing project activities to further enhance development impact of the SCAP. The AF supports three components:Component 1: Improving the value-added of agriculture (EUR 86 million). This component is structured into two sub-components: (1.1) ‘Strengthening access to agricultural advisory and business development services’ will improve the technical assistance and business development support to agri-food producers for the identification, formulation, and implementation of productive and climate smart investments; and (1.2) ‘Facilitating access to finance for productive investments’ will scale up the current model of investments supported by the parent project for participative identification, preparation, and implementation of business plans, which will continue to be co-financed by matching rural development (MRD) grants to leverage private co-financing (private capital mobilization) to incentivize climate-smart investments. The AF will expand financing to areas that could include efficient grain production, animal husbandry, horticulture production and processing, viticulture, winemaking and micro-breweries, and development of small and medium enterprises (SME) in the agri-food sector.Component 2: Improving the capacity of MAFWM to support modern agriculture (EUR 10 million). This component will continue the modernization and digitization of services and the development of digital tools for the MAFWM in accordance with its ICT Strategy, to increase transparency and efficiency in the planning and implementation of agricultural policy measures. Component 3: Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation (EUR 4 million). This component will finance the incremental costs of project management, including coordination and supervision of the implementation, procurement, financing management, monitoring and evaluation, project audits, beneficiary feedback mechanism, and management information system.