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Armenia: World Bank Approves A New Rural Development Project

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  • Armenia: World Bank Approves A New Rural Development Project

    Harold Doan and Associates (press release), CA
    July 7 2005

    Armenia: World Bank Approves A New Rural Development Project For
    Armenia


    Press Release - World Bank

    The World Bank's Board of Directors today approved a new credit in
    the amount of US$20 million for the Rural Enterprise and Small-scale
    Commercial Agriculture Development Project (RESCAD) in Armenia.

    With this four-year project, the International Development
    Association (IDA) credit will assist the government to support the
    development of Armenia's small and medium-scale rural businesses by
    improving the ability of farmers and rural entrepreneurs to access
    markets and by stimulating market-oriented private and public
    investments in rural areas.

    `The agricultural sector continues to be a key sector for the
    Armenian economy with significant contributions to the country's GDP
    and employment. The project aims to build on the positive development
    of the sector over the past few years and will assist the government
    to support the continuing development of the sector,'- said Frauke
    Jungbluth, Head of the World Bank team designing the project. `The
    project aims to stimulate economic development in rural areas by
    supporting commercially-oriented farmers and rural entrepreneurs.`

    The main target groups of the project are small and medium-scale
    farmers and rural entrepreneurs who would benefit from improved
    information services, access to finance, improved inputs and
    technologies, and support for marketing activities. The RESCAD
    project has been developed within the framework of Armenia's
    Agricultural Sustainable Development Strategy. The project has a
    three-tiered approach with emphasis on the farm, agribusiness and
    community levels:

    The project consists of three major components:

    The Rural Business Support Component will focus on improving the link
    between production and markets for rural businesses. The component
    will aim to enable businesses to develop their supply chains
    efficiently, and to expand market opportunities through the provision
    of adequate financial services and targeted business support.

    The Farm-Focused Development Support Component will enable farmers to
    improve their productivity, production quality and market access
    through a sustainable advisory system and by increasing availability
    of quality planting material.

    The Community-Focused Economic Development Support Component's
    objective will be to stimulate economic development at the community
    level in selected rural areas through increased capacity of the
    communities to plan and manage their resources, and prioritize, fund
    and maintain key infrastructure investments with clear market
    linkages.

    The project will also be supported by a US$ 1.755 million
    co-financing Grant from the Japanese Government, supporting the
    capacity building and technical assistance activities of the RESCAD
    project.

    The Credit will be made to Armenia on standard IDA terms, including
    40 years maturity and a 10-year grace period.

    Since joining the World Bank in 1992 and IDA in 1993, the commitments
    to Armenia total approximately US$881 million for 39 operations.
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