The project is structured according to four components, organized based on the types of intervention and beneficiaries:
- Component 1 focuses on improving public infrastructure for the development of agribusiness and tourism.
- Component 2 supports micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and entrepreneurs in agribusiness, community-based tourism, and related sectors through matching grants.
- Component 3 focuses on strengthening skills, entrepreneurship, and business development services to enable potential beneficiaries to gain fully from the grant programs under Components 1 and 2.
- Component 4 provides project coordination and implementation as well as grant management and administration.
Grants and Matching Grants
Component 1 and Component 2 of REDP include grants and matching grants to support the development of agribusiness and tourism sectors from Khatlon and GBAO regions. The various types of grants are:
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Grants to communities, municipalities, and not-for-profit organizations to improve tourism and agribusiness infrastructure and develop local tourism attractions:
- Grants for communities, municipalities, or not-for-profit organizations to improve tourism infrastructure or develop local tourism attractions.
- Grants for communities or municipalities to improve infrastructure in public agricultural markets (bazaars).
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Financing Threshold for Grants for community-based infrastructure:
- For general calls for community-based infrastructure on agribusiness and touristic infrastructure, up to US$60,000 will be allocated to each grant proposal in Khatlon region and GBAO.
- There is no limitation on minimum grant amount.
- The financing will be 100% financing up to the limit threshold specified in the calls for proposals.
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Matching Grants to support MSMEs and entrepreneurs in the tourism, agribusiness, and related services:
- Matching grants to farmers and agribusiness MSMEs to support post-harvest storage and processing.
- Matching grants to farmers and processors in two agribusiness value chains.
- Matching grants to tourism related MSMEs to improve services and offerings.
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Financing thresholds for Component 2:
- Unless otherwise specified in the Calls for Proposal, a maximum ceiling of US$ 10,000 is established for individual farmers and individual MSMEs. For associations and farmers groups, the maximum ceiling is given by the number of individual applicant’s times US$ 10,000. However, no proposal of associations or farmers groups can go beyond US$ 60,000.
- The percentage of matching grants financing will generally be maximum 80%, while in the case that the grant beneficiary (majority owner of MSMEs, farmer, etc.) is from the vulnerable groups including unemployed youth (aged 18-29, and was unemployed for the past six months before submitting grant application), women and returning migrants (who worked in a foreign country for at least six months during the past two years as migrant worker before returning to Tajikistan), the maximum percentage could be increased to 90%.