republic of tajikistan rural economy ......rural economy development project (redp) is a part of the...

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REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN

RURAL ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Stakeholder Engagement Plan

(SEP)

March, 2019

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CONTENT

Glossary .............................................................................................................................................. 4

List of Abbreviations & Acronyms .................................................................................................. 6

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 8

1.1 Purpose of the SEP ................................................................................................................... 8

1.2 About the Project ...................................................................................................................... 8

1.3 Scope and Structure of the SEP ............................................................................................... 9

2. Description of the Administrative, Policy and Regulatory Framework ............................. 10

2.1 Key National Sector Specific Legal Provisions ..................................................................... 10

2.2 Key National Social Legal Provisions and Citizen Engagement ........................................... 11

2.3 World Bank Environmental and Social Standard on Stakeholder Engagement ..................... 12

3. Summary of Previous Stakeholder Engagement Activities ..................................................... 14

3.1. Key Stakeholder Meetings and Consultations ....................................................................... 14

3.2 Community Meetings and Potential Beneficiary Needs Assessments in Agribusiness ......... 15

3.3 Community Meetings and Potential Beneficiary Needs Assessment Surveys in Tourism .... 16

3.4 Lessons Learned in Engaging Communities / Stakeholders from Previous Projects ............. 17

4. Staheholder Mapping, Segmentation and Analysis .................................................................. 19

4.1 Stakeholder Mapping.............................................................................................................. 19

4.2 Stakeholder Segmentation/ Prioritization ............................................................................... 21

4.3 Stakeholder Analysis ............................................................................................................... 23

5. Institutional Analysis ................................................................................................................... 28

6. Impact Assessment and Risk Management ............................................................................... 29

7. Stakeholder Engagement Activities............................................................................................ 31

8. Implementation Arrangements for Stakeholder Engagement ................................................ 36

8.1 Implementation Arrangements ............................................................................................... 36

8.2 Roles and Responsibilities ...................................................................................................... 36

8.3. Stakeholder Engagement Methods to be Used ...................................................................... 38

8.4 Proposed strategy to incorporate the view of vulnerable groups ........................................... 39

8.5 Information disclosure ............................................................................................................ 39

8.6 Estimated Budget.................................................................................................................... 40

9. Grievance Redress Mechanism ................................................................................................... 41

9.1 Overall Process ....................................................................................................................... 41

9.2 Procedures .............................................................................................................................. 41

9.3 Grievance Log ........................................................................................................................ 42

9.4 Monitoring and Reporting on Grievances .............................................................................. 42

10. Monitoring and Reporting of the SEP ..................................................................................... 43

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Annex 1. Description of Project Components ................................................................................... 44

Annex 2. Details of Stakeholder Consultations ................................................................................. 49

TABLES

Table 1. Previous Stakeholder Consultations with Government Structures and International Donors . 14

Table 2. Previous Consultations with Agribusiness Stakeholders ......................................................... 15

Table 3. Community and Beneficiary Assessment Meetings ................................................................ 16

Table 4. Universal Stakeholder Mapping .............................................................................................. 19

Table 5. Stakeholder Segmentation by Their Areas of Influence .......................................................... 21

Table 6. Stakeholder Analysis by the Level of Engagement ................................................................. 23

Table 7. Institutional Analysis ............................................................................................................... 28

Table 8. Impact Assessment and Risk Management under REDP ........................................................ 29

Table 9. Stakeholder Engagement Activities by the Components ......................................................... 31

Table 10. Responsibilities of key actors/stakeholders in SEP Implementation ..................................... 37

FIGURES

Figure 1. Potential Beneficiary Needs Assessment Meetings ............................................................... 16

Figure 2. Consultation with Tourism NGOs in Bokhtar, Khatlon ......................................................... 17

Figure 3. Proposed Implementation Arrangements under the REDP .................................................... 36

Figure 4. The Implementation Structure for the REDP Grant Program ................................................ 48

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Glossary

Consultation: The process of gathering information or advice from stakeholders and taking these views into

account when making project decisions and/or setting targets and defining strategies.

Dialogue: An exchange of views and opinions to explore different perspectives, needs and alternatives, with a

view to fostering mutual understanding, trust and cooperation on a strategy or initiative.

Corporate Responsibility: A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their

business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders.

Community social investments: Contributions (monetary, staff time or gifts in kind) that are made to

stakeholders, and bring benefits to these stakeholders over and above an operation’s core activities. The

beneficiaries of these contributions can range from local to national and international stakeholders. These

investments are generally aimed at addressing needs within a target community. The scope of these activities

could range from donations to charities that link with business needs and strategies, for example capacity

building and skills development amongst local residents for employment purposes, and local procurement.

Enablers: Represent local organizations to be competitively selected under the project. The “enablers” will be

local NGOs, consulting companies, Destination Management Organizations (DMO) and other service providers

to reach out to beneficiaries and support the application process.

Engagement: A process in which a company builds and maintains constructive and sustainable relationships

with stakeholders impacted over the life of a project. This is part of a broader “stakeholder engagement”

strategy, which also encompasses governments, civil society, employees, suppliers, and others with an interest

in the project.

Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA): An assessment comprising various social and

environmental studies which aim to identify project impacts and design appropriate mitigation measures to

manage negative impacts, and to enhance positive project impacts.

Grant Manager: To ensure the successful implementation of matching grant components, a consulting

company will be hired to provide technical support to project implementing agencies on grant implementation.

The Grant Manager will not have decision-making authority, and disbursements to beneficiaries will continue to

be handled from government implementing agencies. In consultation and coordination with the government, the

hired firm will prepare grant manuals detailing implementation arrangements for each type of grant and

beneficiary group. The grant manager will be competitively selected and will report to the PCU.

Jamoat: Refers to the local self-governing body at the sub-district level, administering several villages and

functioning based on the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Self-Government Bodies in Towns and

Villages” (1994, amended 2009 and 2017).

Local communities: Refers to groups of people living in close proximity to a project that could potentially be

impacted by a project. (“Stakeholders,” in contrast, refers to the broader group of people and organisations with

an interest in the project.)

Non-Government Organisations: Private organisations, often not-for-profit, that facilitate community

development, local capacity building, advocacy, and environmental protection.

Partnerships: In the context of engagement, partnerships are defined as collaboration between people and

organizations to achieve a common goal and often share resources and competencies, risks and benefits.

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Pre-Feasibility phase: The phase of a project which includes a Screening Study to identify social and

environmental fatal flaws, and a Scoping Study to identify and assess the social and environmental issues of a

proposed project and evaluate project design alternatives prior to proceeding to project feasibility.

Project: Refers to Rural Economy Development Project, which is a part of the World Bank Resilience

Strengthening Program in Tajikistan.

Project Area: A geographical area within which direct and indirect impacts attributable to a project can be

expected. Typically a Project Area is (i) unique to a project (ii) larger than the actual footprint of a project; and

encompasses socio-economic issues and impacts, as well as issues and impacts associated with other disciplines

(e.g. environment, health and safety). Defining the Project Area is used to determine a project’s area of

influence and responsibilities. It also provides guidance on the area within which impacts need to be monitored,

and managed, and it also assists with defining project stakeholders that should be engaged during an ESIA

process.

Stakeholder: Refers to individuals or groups who: (a) are affected or likely to be affected by the project

(project-affected parties); and (b) may have an interest in the project (other interested parties).Stakeholders are

defined as people or entities that are affected or may have an

interest in the Project.

Stakeholder engagement: It is a continuous process used by the project to engage relevant stakeholders for a

clear purpose to achieve accepted outcomes. It includes a range of activities and interactions over the life of the

project such as stakeholder identification and analysis, information disclosure, stakeholder consultation,

negotiations and partnerships, grievance management, stakeholder involvement in project monitoring, reporting

to stakeholders and management functions.

Stakeholder Engagement Plan: A plan which assists managers with effectively engaging with stakeholders

throughout the life of the project and specifying activities that will be implemented to manage or enhance

engagement.

Steering Committee: A Committee to be established by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan to

supervise overall project implementation. It will include key government agencies involved in the

implementation of three Risk Mitigation Regime projects. The steering committee will meet on a regular basis

and receive regular reports from the Ministry of Finance Project Coordination Unit on implementation status.

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List of Abbreviations & Acronyms

ADB Asian Development Bank

AKF Aga Khan Foundation

BDS Business Development Services

BDSP Business Development Services Providers

CEP Committee for Environmental Protection

CMU Country Management Unit of the WB

DMO Destination Management Organization

EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

EHS Environmental, Health and Safety issues

ESA Environmental and Social Assessment

ESF Environmental and Social Framework

ESIA Environmental & Social Impact Assessment

ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework

ESMP Environmental and Social Management Plan

ESS Environmental and Social Standard

E&S Environmental and Social

FHH Female headed households

FP Focal Point

FY Fiscal Year

GBAO Gorno-Badakhshan Automonous Oblast

GFP Grievance Focal Point

GM Grant Manager

GOT Government of Tajikistan

GRM Grievance Redress Mechanism

GMC Grievance Management Committee (to be established at the district, regional and national levels)

HH households

ICT Information and communication technologies

IDA International Development Association / World Bank

IFIs International Financial Institutions

IR Involuntary Resettlement

LMP Labor Management Procedures

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M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

MEDT Ministry of Economic Development and Trade

MIS Management information system

MoA Ministry of Agriculture

MoC Ministry of Culture

MoF Ministry of Finance of Tajikistan

MoF PCU Project Coordination Unit under the Ministry of Finance

MSDSP Mountain Societies Development Support Program

MSMEs Micro, small and medium enterprises

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

O&M Operations & Maintenance

OP Operational Policies (World Bank)

PAP Project Affected Person

PDO Project Development Objective

PECTA Pamir Eco Cultural Tourism Association

PIU Project Implementation Unit

PSC Project Steering Committee

RAP Resettlement Action Plan

REDP Rural Energy Development Project

REP Rural Electrification Project

RMR Risk Mitigation Regime

RPF Resettlement Policy Framework

SA Social Assessment

SC Steering Committee

SEP Stakeholder Engagement Plan

SERSP Socio-Economic Resilience Strengthening Project

SIC State Investment Committee

SMEs Small and medium enterprises

TA Technical Assistance

TDC Tourism Development Committee

TOR Terms of Reference

WB World Bank

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1. Introduction

Rural Economy Development Project (REDP) is a part of the Resilience Strengthening Program (RSP), and

finds a place in the upcoming World Bank Country Partnership Framework for the Republic of Tajikistan for

the period FY19-23. This project is expected to contribute to the Risk Mitigation Regime’s (RMR) higher-level

objectives of strengthening resilience, defined as a person’s, community’s and/or country’s capacity to adjust or

respond to, and recover from, difficulties, adverse impacts, and/or exogenous shocks, reducing perceptions of

exclusion, and preventing fragility risks. The Risk Mitigation Regime (RMR) Window is dedicated to

financing pilot development interventions as innovative prevention tools to mitigate fragility risks; and USD 87

million has been allocated for Tajikistan. The RMR window for Tajikistan is currently planning to support three

complementary operations: (a) the Socio-Economic Resilience Strengthening Project (SERSP); (b) the Rural

Electrification Project (REP); and (c) the Rural Economy Development Project (REDP), which aims to support

micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and create jobs for vulnerable groups.

The REDP has a geographical focus on the Khatlon Oblast and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast

(GBAO), which have the highest levels of absolute and relative poverty measures, respectively, and which face

fragility risks due to the proximity to unstable parts of Afghanistan, large youth populations, disparities in

service delivery outcomes, and legacies of violent conflicts. The project recognizes the significance of, and

adopts the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Standards, for identifying and assessing as well as

managing the environmental and social (E&S) risks and impacts associated with this investment project. The

reviews undertaken by the Bank has classified environmental and social risks as substantial. As a response,

Government of Tajikistan/ Ministry of Finance (MoF), and Tourism Development Committee (TDC), the

implementing agencies, have developed several key instruments to address the same. One of them is the

Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP).

1.1 Purpose of the SEP

Government of Tajikistan recognizes that the SERSP’s stakeholder profile is quite diverse and heterogeneous

and that their expectations and orientation as well as capacity to interface with the project are different. This

differential necessitates systematic efforts viz., a Plan- Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) --to enable identify

elaborately different stakeholders and develop an approach for reaching each of the sub groups. In simpler

terms, it provides an appropriate approach for consultations and disclosure. These in turn are expected to create

an atmosphere of understanding that actively involves project-affected people and other interested parties,

reaching out to them in a timely manner, and that each sub group is provided opportunities to voice their

opinions and concerns. Overall, SEP serves the following purposes: i) stakeholder identification and analysis;

(ii) planning engagement modalities viz., effective communication tool for consultations and disclosure; and

(iii) enabling platforms for influencing decisions; (iv) defining role and responsibilities of different actors in

implementing the Plan; and (iv) grievance redress mechanism (GRM). A brief about the project components

and proposed interventions are presented in Annex 1 to provide the background/ context in which this SEP is

prepared.

1.2 About the Project

Project Development Objective is to improve the sources of livelihood for local populations in GBAO and

Khatlon through tourism and agribusiness, and to promote and preserve the local culture.

The Project areas include all districts of Khatlon region (24) and GBAO region (8).

The project is structured according to four components, organized based on the types of intervention and

beneficiaries. Interventions under all four components will cover the two target sectors: agribusiness and

community-based tourism. Component 1 focuses on investments in infrastructure as enabling “public goods”

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for developing agribusiness and tourism. Component 2 supports 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, management, and

implementation support. For more detailed information about the project components, please refer to Annex 1.

1.3 Scope and Structure of the SEP

Scope of the SEP shall be as outlined in the World Bank’s ESS10. The engagement will be planned as an

integral part of the project’s environmental and social assessment and project design and implementation.

This document has 10 chapters. The first chapter, viz., this chapter serves as an Introduction. It provides a brief

about the project and the context in which the SEP is being prepared. Chapter 2 lists the regulatory framework

in Tajikistan, which provides legitimacy for SEP. A summary of the consultations held so far is presented in

Chapter 3. All the three chapters serve as a backdrop. Stakeholder Identification, Mapping and Analysis is

elaborated in the chapter 4. Institutional analysis and impact assessments are presented in Chapters 5 and 6.

Stakeholder Engagement Plan is presented in the next chapter, 7. Implementation Arrangements for executing

the SEP is presented in Chapter 8. Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) follows in Chapter 9. Monitoring,

documentation and reporting are presented last, in Chapter 10.

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2. Description of the Administrative, Policy and Regulatory Framework

The Stakeholder engagement derives its legitimacy through Article 5 and Article 12 of the constitution of

Tajikistan which was adopted on 6 November 1994 and amended two times, in September 26, 1999 and June

22, 2003. As the fundamental law of the State, the Constitution defines the structure of the government, basic

rights, liberties and responsibilities of its citizens, as well as the powers of the legislative, executive and judicial

branches. Article 5 mandates that: The life, the honor, the dignity, and other natural human rights are inviolable.

Human rights and freedoms are recognized, observed, and protected by the state. Article 12 guarantees that: The

economy of Tajikistan is based on different forms of ownership, freedom of economic and entrepreneurial

activity, equality of rights, and legal protection of all forms of ownership, including private property. Other

sector specific legislation is stated below.

2.1 Key National Sector Specific Legal Provisions

Law on Environmental Protection (2011, amended 2017) stipulates that Tajikistan's environmental policy

should prioritize environmental actions based on scientifically proven principles, and to balance consideration

of economic and other activities that have an impact on the environment with that on nature preservation and

sustainable use of resources. To secure public and individual rights to a safe and healthy environment, the Law

requires that an environmental impact assessment for any activity that could have a negative impact on the

environment. It also defines environmental emergencies and ecological disasters and prescribes the order of

actions to be taken in such situations, including the obligations of officials and enterprises to prevent and

eliminate adverse consequences, and liabilities of the persons or organizations that caused damage to the

environment or otherwise violated the Law. The Law also establishes state, ministerial, enterprise and public

control over compliance with environmental legislation, which is affected by the Committee for Environment

Protection, the Sanitary Inspectorate of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Inspectorate for

Industrial Safety and the Mining Inspectorate. Public control is carried out by public organizations or trade

unions and can be exercised with respect to any governmental body, enterprise, entity or individual.

Article 12 of the Law on Environmental Protection proclaims the right of citizens to live in a favorable

environment and to be protected from negative environmental impacts. Citizens also have the right to

environmental information (Article 13), as well as to participate in developing, adopting, and implementing

decisions related to environmental impacts (Article 13). The latter is assured by public discussion of drafts of

environmentally important decisions and public ecological reviews. Public representative bodies have an

obligation to take into consideration citizens’ comments and suggestions.

Water Code (2000, last amendment 2012) stipulates the policies on water management, permitting, dispute

resolution, usage planning and cadastre. It promotes rational use and protection of water resources exercised by

all beneficiaries and defines the types of water use rights, authority and roles of regional and local governments

for water allocations among various users, collection of fees, water use planning, water use rights and dispute

resolution.

New laws have been enacted since 2010 in agricultural sector, including the Law on Plant Protection (2012),

which regulates, among other things, the use and disposal of pesticides; Law on Pastures (2013), aimed at

ensuring the optimal use of pastures through their monitoring, registration and state expertise; and the Law on

Biological Diversity Management and Production (2013), which introduces the criteria of biological

production and requirements for processing, storage, transportation, packaging, labeling and certification of

biological products, which is a step towards organic farming.

Law on Dekhkan Farms (2016) provides the legislative basis for the establishment and operation of private

dehkan farms. It clarifies and fixes the rights of dehkan farm members as land users. The law improves the

management of dehkan farms and defines the rights and duties of their members. It allows farmers to legally

erect field camps on land as temporary buildings, which makes it possible to significantly improve

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productivity at the agricultural season. The law requires dehkan farms to take measures to improve soil

fertility and improve the ecological status of lands, timely payments for water and electricity, and provide

statistical information to government agencies.

Veterinary Law (2010) regulates the protection of the population against epizootic diseases, including their

prevention and elimination, and establishes measures to ensure the safety of food products of animal and

vegetable origin, as well as the safety of veterinary drugs, feed and feed additives.

Law on Food Security (2010) pays special attention to the allocation of state support funds on a competitive

basis between national producers of agricultural products within the framework of the state policy on ensuring

food security.

Law on Collection, Preservation and Rational Use of Plant Genetic Resources (2012) establishes the legal

framework for state policy in the field of genetic resources of cultivated plants and their wild relatives and

regulates their collection, conservation and rational use in agriculture and food production.

Law on Biological Management and Production (2013) establishes the legal basis for the activities of

biological (organic) management, including the production, processing, storage, import and export,

transportation, packaging, labeling and sale of organic products, i.e. Products produced without the use of

GMOs or chemical and synthetic substances, with the rational use of water in the production process. The law

establishes a system of standards and certification of organic products.

Law on Protection and Use of Objects of Historical and Cultural Heritage (2012, amended in 2017) regulates

social relations in the field of protection, use, preservation and promotion of objects of historical and cultural

heritage. Article 5 prohibits construction of new objects on the territory of objects of historical and cultural

heritage without authorized permission, while Article 21 covers measures to be taken to restore historical sites

and cultural heritage and their preparation for rehabilitation works.

Law on Tourism (1999) sets the rights and responsibilities of the tourism service providers and tourists. It also

identifies the establishment of touristic resource cadastre of state significance. The Law is relatively outdated,

and it does not describe the community-based tourism engagement; no amendments have been introduced since

1999.

Law on Internal Tourism (2017) is more advanced and provides legal provisions on standards and criteria for

homestays, agrotourism, touristic service providers, standardization and certification of touristic services and

products.

2.2 Key National Social Legal Provisions and Citizen Engagement

Law on Consumers’ Rights Protection provides for adjusting the attitudes arising between consumers and

manufacturers, executors, sellers at sale of goods, works, services; establishes the rights of consumers to

purchase goods (works, services) of appropriate quality and safe for a life and health and to receive information

on goods (works, services) and about their manufacturers (executors, sellers), provides the state and public

protection of consumers’ rights, and also defines mechanism of realization of these rights.

Law on Freedom of Information is underpinned by Article 25 of the Constitution, which states that

governmental agencies, social associations and officials are required to provide each person with the possibility

of receiving and becoming acquainted with documents that affect her or his rights and interests, except in cases

anticipated by law.

According to the Decree ‘Approval of the Order of costs reimbursements related to provision of information’

adopted on January 1, 2010, all state institutions are enabled to charge fees for providing any kind of

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information to journalists and public officials. The decree states that one page of information provided should

cost up to 35 Somoni (US$8).

Per the Law on Public Associations, a public association may be formed in one of the following organizational

and legal forms: public organization, public movement, or a body of public initiative. Article 4 of this law

establishes the right of citizens to establish associations for the protection of common interests and the

achievement of common goals. It outlines the voluntary nature of associations and defines citizens’ rights to

restrain from joining and withdrawing from an organization. August 2015 amendments to this legislation

require NGOs to notify the Ministry of Justice about all funds received from international sources prior to using

the funds.

The 2014 Law on Public Meetings, Demonstrations and Rallies (Article 10) bans persons with a record of

administrative offenses (i.e. non-criminal infractions) under Articles 106, 460, 479 and 480 of the Code for

Administrative Offences from organizing gatherings1. Article 12 of the Law establishes that the gathering

organizers must obtain permission from local administration fifteen days prior to organizing a mass gathering.

Law on Local Governments (2004) assigns a district or city chairman the authority to control over the natural

resource management, construction and reconstruction of natural protection areas, to oversee the local structures

in sanitary epidemiological surveillance, waste management, health and social protection of population within

the administrative territory. No public gathering is implemented without official notification of local

government (district khukumat).

Law on Appeals of Individuals and Legal Entities (from July 23, 2016, № 1339), contains legal provisions on

established information channels for citizens to file their complaints, requests and grievances. Article 14 of the

Law sets the timeframes for handling grievances, which is 15 days from the date of receipt that do not require

additional study and research, and 30 days for the appeals that need additional study. These legal provisions will

be taken into account by the project-based Grievance Redress Mechanism.

Labour Code prohibits forced labour (Article 8). The Labor Code also sets the minimum age at which a child

can be employed as well as the conditions under which children can work (Articles 113, 67, and 174). The

minimum employment age is 15, however, in certain cases of vocational training, mild work may be allowed for

14 year olds (Article 174 of the Labor Code). In addition, there are some labour restrictions on what type of

work can be done, and what hours of work are permissible by workers under the age of 18. Examples of labor

restrictions include: those between 14 and 15 cannot work more than 24 hours per week while those under 18

cannot work more than 35 hours per week; during the academic year, the maximum number of hours is half of

this, 12 and 17.5 hours, respectively. These limitations are consistent with the ILO Convention on Minimum

Age. In addition, Law on Parents Responsibility for Children’s Upbringing and Education makes parents

responsible for ensuring their children not involved in heavy and hazardous work and their children attending

school.

2.3 World Bank Environmental and Social Standard on Stakeholder Engagement

The World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF)’s Environmental and Social Standard (ESS) 10,

“Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure”, recognizes “the importance of open and transparent

engagement between the Borrower and project stakeholders as an essential element of good international

practice” (World Bank, 2017: 97). Specifically, the requirements set out by ESS10 are the following:

1 These provisions concern the hampering of gatherings (Article 106); disorderly conduct (Article 460); disobedience to

police (Article 479); and violation of rules of conducting gatherings (Article 480).

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“Borrowers will engage with stakeholders throughout the project life cycle, commencing such

engagement as early as possible in the project development process and in a timeframe that enables

meaningful consultations with stakeholders on project design. The nature, scope and frequency of

stakeholder engagement will be proportionate to the nature and scale of the project and its potential

risks and impacts.

Borrowers will engage in meaningful consultations with all stakeholders. Borrowers will provide

stakeholders with timely, relevant, understandable and accessible information, and consult with them in

a culturally appropriate manner, which is free of manipulation, interference, coercion, discrimination

and intimidation.

The process of stakeholder engagement will involve the following, as set out in further detail in this

ESS: (i) stakeholder identification and analysis; (ii) planning how the engagement with stakeholders

will take place; (iii) disclosure of information; (iv) consultation with stakeholders; (v) addressing and

responding to grievances; and (vi) reporting to stakeholders.

The Borrower will maintain and disclose as part of the environmental and social assessment, a

documented record of stakeholder engagement, including a description of the stakeholders consulted, a

summary of the feedback received and a brief explanation of how the feedback was taken into account,

or the reasons why it was not.” (World Bank, 2017: 98).

A Stakeholder Engagement Plan proportionate to the nature and scale of the project and its potential risks and

impacts needs to be developed by the Borrower. It has to be disclosed as early as possible, and before project

appraisal, and the Borrower needs to seek the views of stakeholders on the SEP, including on the identification

of stakeholders and the proposals for future engagement. If significant changes are made to the SEP, the

Borrower has to disclose the updated SEP (World Bank, 2017: 99). According to ESS10, the Borrower should

also propose and implement a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate the resolution of concerns and

grievances of project-affected parties related to the environmental and social performance of the project in a

timely manner (World Bank, 2017: 100).

For more details on the WB Environmental and Social Standards, please follow the below links:

www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-framework/brief/environmental-and-

social-standards and http://projects-beta.vsemirnyjbank.org/ru/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-

framework/brief/environmental-and-social-standards

http://www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-framework/brief/environmental-and-social-standards

http://www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-framework/brief/environmental-and-social-standards

http://projects-beta.vsemirnyjbank.org/ru/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-framework/brief/environmental-and-social-standards

http://projects-beta.vsemirnyjbank.org/ru/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-framework/brief/environmental-and-social-standards

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3. Summary of Previous Stakeholder Engagement Activities

The project preparation has been engaging with various project stakeholders since September 2018. The

following types of stakeholder engagement activities have taken place to date:

- Formal and informal communication with government agencies at the national, regional and local level;

- Formal and informal communication with private tourism companies and farmer associations;

- Needs assessment meetings with agricultural producers;

- Community meetings;

- Needs assessment surveys;

- Meetings with potential destination management organizations and enablers;

- Online survey among local and international tour operators; and

- Communication with local NGOs;

- ESMF and RPF public consultations and initial informal meetings.

3.1. Key stakeholder meetings and consultations

Details about the meetings and consultations held with the government agencies and international donor

organizations are presented below.

Table 1. Previous Stakeholder Consultations

Place Date Participants Key points raised

Dushanbe September 18, 2018 December 5, 2018 January 22-26, 2019

Ministry of Finance

Project scope and implementation arrangements; Project funding modalities; Project design, sub-grant allocation modalities; Implementation arrangements; and ESF requirements.

Dushanbe September 19, 2018 December 5, 2018

Tourism Development Committee (TDC)

Project scope and design, priority sectors and subsectors; Role of TDC in project implementation

Dushanbe September 19, 2018 December 6, 2018

Ministry of the Economy

Project scope and design, priority sectors and subsectors; Project scope and implementation arrangements.

Dushanbe December 6, 2018 January 29-31, 2019

11 officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, PIU of ACP

Project scope and design, priority sectors and subsectors; Role of the MoA in project implementation; Agribusiness component design; Costing of interventions; and Beneficiaries and type of support needed.

Dushanbe December 5, 2018 Ministry of Culture, TDC

Selection of historical and cultural sites to be rehabilitated.

Dushanbe December 4, 2018 International Finance Corporation

Project approaches, grant program management modalities, outreach methods, institutional arrangements.

Dushanbe January 21-25, 2019 WB country office staff

Project scope and institutional arrangements; Lessons learned;

Dushanbe January 24, 2019 Officers from International donors

Project scope and institutional arrangements; Lessons learned; and Donor mapping.

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Bokhtar, Dushanbe

Sept. 21-22, 2018 January 25-26, 2019

Officials of Khatlon and GBAO administrations

Project scope and design, priority sectors and subsectors; Existing economic opportunities for communities in two

target regions; and Regional coordinators hosting.

Hamadoni, Kulob, and Danghara Districts

April 5, 2019 District officials Potential areas for agribusiness interventions

3.2 Community Meetings and Potential Beneficiary Needs Assessment Surveys in Agribusiness

During project design and SEP preparation the team arranged for the following consultations with the

stakeholders working in agribusiness sector and identified their needs:

Table 2. Previous Consultations with Agribusiness Stakeholders


Survey on the markets in Khatlon region

March, 2019 5 public markets management

Needs assessment; Interested in expanding sales points for fruits and

vegetables, rehabilitating the existing market infrastructures, building warehouses or cold storages;

Estimated intervention costs.

Survey among agro-processors

January, 2019 14 processing enterprises

The purpose of the survey was to see what is preventing the companies from operating at higher capacities and what type of investment needs would they have in order to operate at higher capacities.

Hamadoni District, Khatlon

April 5, 2019 27 agricultural producers of Mekhnatobod group

Needs of potential project beneficiaries in Khatlon; Interested in building a warehouse with an area of 100m²

and purchasing fruit processing equipment; and Ready to contribute the cost of building a warehouse and

purchase of equipment up to 50%.

Hamadoni District, Khatlon

April 5, 2019 25 members Khusnobod agribusiness group

Needs assessment; Interested in purchasing sorting equipment, building a

warehouse, ready to share a warehouse with Mekhnatobod group; and

Ready to co-finance the cost of purchasing equipment and building a warehouse up to 40%.

Dangara district, Khatlon

April 5, 2019

32 farmers of Khuramzamin dekhkan farm

Needs assessment; Interested in construction of a warehouse of 5 tons, creating

fruit processing plant, need a mini tractor and tillers for tillage and gardening.

Kulyab district, Khatlon

April 5, 2019

25 members of Farovon milk producers

Needs assessment; Interested in purchasing refrigerators and organizing a milk

collection point.

16

Figure 1. Potential Beneficiary Needs Assessment Meetings

3.3 Community Meetings and Potential Beneficiary Needs Assessment Surveys in Tourism

During project design and SEP preparation the team arranged for the following consultations with the

stakeholders working in tourism sector:

Table 3. Community and Beneficiary Assessment Meetings


Online survey September 10, 2018 until February 12, 2019

Respondents from domestic and international tour operators

A number of enabling policies including the introduction of electronic visas are in place;

Infrastructure challenges, poor quality services, and lack of diversified tourism product offerings;

Clients frequently book homestays/guesthouses as supposed to hotel services;

Basic sanitation and quality of homestay services require interventions to attract more tourists;

Food services, quality and food safety received the lowest satisfaction rating; and

Lack of commercialization and inadequate links to tourism markets.

Dushanbe January 22, 2019 Tourism and Handicraft Associations

Relevant sub-grant financial modalities;

17

Dushanbe January 25, 2019 Members of tourism associations and NGOs

Tour operators survey results were discussed; Validation of proposed tourism interventions:

o Homestays were acknowledged as preferred accommodation by international tourists in GBAO;

o Preferences of domestic tourists; o Capacity building needs for tourism workers.

Bokhtar, Khatlon January 28, 2019 Leaders from tour operators and NGOs

Tour operators survey results were discussed; Validation of proposed tourism interventions:

o Destination management services are poor in Khatlon, staff lack knowledge on how to operate a tourism business;

o Emphasis was on the need to rehabilitate historical sites, sanitation infrastructure around them.

Figure 2. Consultation with Tourism NGOs in Bokhtar, Khatlon

3.4 Lessons Learned in Engaging Communities / Stakeholders from Previous Projects

Creation of farmer groups leads to inclusion of most vulnerable farmers, with careful consideration for

flexibility of matching contribution. In many WBG projects, the creation of the Farmer Groups has followed a

robust and participatory approach, and, in many cases, it provided a much-needed sense of empowerment,

especially for the smallest of farmers that are typically the most vulnerable. In the case of the Agriculture

Commercialization Project (P158499) in Tajikistan, most of the beneficiaries in the farmers groups were

women (more than 60%). The same project allowed for flexibility in customizing the matching contribution

depending on the size of the beneficiary to create a more equal treatment for the grant recipients who could not

contribute financially to the same extent as bigger players. REDP will give preference to the formation of the

farmers groups for accessing the matching grants and will allow flexibility in the matching grants based on the

size of the applicant. Creation of farmers groups can also be difficult, and not lead to the most efficient

outcomes in terms of operationalization of equipment, therefore the project retains flexibility in considering

individual entrepreneurs as target groups for the matching grants.

Highly successful matching grant projects provide TA to beneficiaries. The recent WBG review of 106

projects (World Bank, 2016, “How to Make Grants a Better Match for Private Sector Development”, Review of

World Bank Matching Grants Projects) shows provision of TA to prepare sound business plans the support to

create a pipeline of applicants, and continuous provision of TA to support beneficiaries from application to

implementation is the design modality which seems to be most often correlated to positive outcomes. The

financial support in the form of grants and matching grants will be accompanied under REDP by technical

assistance provided by “enablers” to ensure that as many applicants as possible receive information about the

18

program and that the successful ones fully benefit from the grant activities. The grant manager will be in charge

of selecting business development providers for support for public investment grants, support to agribusiness

and tourism MSMEs and to start-ups. The “enablers” will be recognized international or local NGOs, consulting

companies, and other service providers. Examples of such organizations include: Destination management

organizations (DMOs), associations of retail and wholesale markets, the Pamir Eco Cultural Tourism

Association (PECTA), Mountains Societies Development Support Program (MSDSP), Hotels (which can

provide technical assistance to homestays for instance), Accelerate Prosperity, Universities, accelerators or any

local donor-funded projects or local NGOs that have proven experience in providing technical assistance in the

agribusiness and tourism fields in Tajikistan.

Entrepreneurship incubator functioning in Khorog (GBAO) will serve as a practical example for the

REDP to outreach business community. It provides public services (such as support with business

registration, tools, temporary office space etc.) for entrepreneurs and small business start-uppers. This model

will be rolled out in the two regions with the objective to further attract private sector enterprises in

agribusiness, tourism and related services. The incubation provider will be in charge of outreach to communities

to ensure good applications and ideas and will provide support for the preparation of the initial proposals. The

business plan competitions will be managed by the enablers.

Integrating living culture with built cultural heritage produced economic benefits for local communities.

Community-based tourism helped generate meaningful income through a variety of means, including wages

from formal employment, earnings from selling goods and providing services, or casual labor (e.g. food, crafts,

guide services). As noted above, the living culture (e.g. arts, crafts, music) of Tajikistan has been an integral

part of cultural assets. For example, even during the centuries where the Silk Road provided opportunities for

both trade and tourism, “caravansarays” (in modern terms “rest areas” or “hotels” on the cross roads), religious

schools (madrasas), and places of prayer (mosques, churches) have supported living culture (crafts) by offering

places for training and apprenticeship, production, and marketing. They have also offered visitors opportunities

to see the built culture while enjoying and trading in silk, carpets, carvings, embroidery, and other crafts. Not

surprisingly, communities having cultural assets demanded support for projects that would not only restore the

built culture, but bring tangible and immediate economic benefits to artists and artisans.

Benefits enjoyed by the communities increased the support for and sustainability of cultural tourism

investments in built culture. If projects rely on local labor and strengthen local capacity to restore and

preserve cultural assets while creating employment, they enjoy greater support and are more likely to be

sustainable. Regardless of how small they may be, tangible economic benefits to local communities increased

ownership of sites by communities and thus contribute to the sustainability of the restoration/preservation

efforts. Making cultural assets an integral part of communities and/or integrating living culture into sites and

museums benefitted both the cultural assets and low-income households of artisans.

Cultural tourism had multiplier effects; small investments, including those for skills building, can

improve incomes, even for households that were not directly involved in the sector. For example, the skills

building activity carried out in Uzbekistan (under Trust Fund for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable

Development) not only improved the incomes of the masters and the graduates of the program, but helped the

producers of raw materials and the merchants marketing crafts, among others. Similarly, the improvement of

the exhibition facilities in an important cultural heritage site in Georgia not only provided higher levels of fees

for the protected area and thus better opportunities for its maintenance, but also benefited the water vendors,

soft drink vendors, craftsmen, and small-scale family businesses selling dried fruit and other food, all

benefitting from as visitor numbers increase. Based on the above mentioned experiences the REDP will also

support grants to improve services around four cultural sites to be rehabilitated.

19

4. Staheholder Mapping, Segmentation and Analysis

ESS 10 recognizes two broad categories of stakeholders- one, Project Affected Parties; and two, Other

Interested parties. Project-affected parties includes those likely to be affected by the project because of actual

impacts or potential risks to their physical environment, health, security, cultural practices, well-being, or

livelihoods. These stakeholders may include individuals or groups, including local communities. They are the

individuals or households most likely to observe/feel changes from environmental and social impacts of the

project. The term “Other interested parties” (OIPs) refers to: individuals, groups, or organizations with an

interest in the project, which may be because of the project location, its characteristics, its impacts, or matters

related to public interest. For example, these parties may include regulators, government officials, the private

sector, the scientific community, academics, unions, women’s organizations, other civil society organizations,

and cultural groups.

4.1 Stakeholder Mapping

Stakeholder is defined as an individual/ institution (agency) that can impact upon or get impacted by the project.

In order to define a communication process with the stakeholders, several groups that may be interested and/or

affected by the project implementation have been identified. There are a number of groups of people and social

groups who are interested in the project on different levels. Project recognizes that: stakeholders are not only

diverse and heterogeneous but also are housed both vertical and horizontal space. Accordingly, stakeholder

mapping is done vertically (across the administrative space) and horizontally (within an individual space). The

first step involves in the preparation of a universal mapping. Each stakeholder / group is rated for the relative

importance- starting from rating from 1 to 5 stars. Five being high and is to be accorded full scale attention.

This helps in assigning importance for further analysis. The Universal mapping and the relative importance are

presented below.

Table 4. Universal Stakeholder Mapping

No Level – Administrative Space Stakeholders Significance *****

1

National / Country Level Ministry of Finance *****

Tourism Development Committee *****

World Bank *****

Ministry of Agriculture *****

Ministry of Culture *****

State Investment Committee ****

Donors (ADB, USAID, EBRD, JICA, AKF, FAO, GIZ) **

Ministry of Economic Development and Trade ***

Tour Operators **

National media (newspapers, television) ***

Social Media **

20

2 Provincial Level Governor’s office ****

Universities, vocational schools ****

Agriculture & tourism students **

Line Departments (CEP etc.) **

Enablers/Destination Management Organizations/ Business Incubators

***

Other NGOs/CBOs **

Media (TV & newspapers) ***

3 District level District governments (khukumats, including line departments, youth, women, land management, economic, state environmental department)

***

Public markets *****

Museums and cultural fairs ****

Farmers associations, processors associations, agri SMEs *****

Tourist sites administration *****

Enablers/Destination Management Organizations *****

Restaurants, hotels and other service providers *****

Local media **

Contractors ****

NGOs/CSOs (not involved directly in project) *

4 Community Level Jamoats ****

Mahalla leaders ****

Community members *****

Start-ups, tourism guides and tour operators, *****

Agri-related stakeholders, including farmers, farmer groups and associations, processors, agri MSMEs

*****

Tourism-related stakeholders, such as homestays, craftsmen, artists, restaurants and other service providers

*****

Low-skilled, semi-skilled and high-skilled workers *****

Women *****

Youth *****

Returned migrants *****

Households dependent on remittances ***

Female headed households *****

Tourism support staff- cooks, drivers, cleaners, waiters ****

Musicians, artists, and crafters ***

Labourers ***

Traders ***

21

4.2 Stakeholder Segmentation/ Prioritization

The identified project stakeholders were segregated by their areas of influence. The stakeholders of high (5*)

and substantial significance (4*) form the purview of further enquiry.

Table 5. Stakeholder Segmentation by their Areas of Influence

National / Country Level

Stakeholders Area of Influence

Ministry of Finance Overall project oversight

MoF PCU Project implementation, oversight, reporting, Grant Committee administration, GRM database administration

Tourism Development Committee Tourism component oversight, Member of the Steering Committee

Ministry of Agriculture Member of the Steering Committee, technical assistance in agricultural production and processing quality improvement

Ministry of Culture Member of the Steering Committee, supervision of cultural heritage rehabilitation

State Investment Committee Member of the Steering Committee Attraction of investments from IFIs

Grant Managing International Company Development of communication and outreach plan, liaison between MoF PCU and enablers

Provincial Level

Governor’s office Responsible for oversight and coordination of activities implemented within the province

Universities and vocational schools Outreach potential low-, semi- & high-skilled workers, build their capacity

District level

District governments (line departments, culture, women, land management, economy, environment)

Ensure local development investments are aligned with district development plans; bear responsibility for quality control and standard requirements compliance; GRM Focal points

Public markets Sub-grant recipients, ES instruments implementers

Museums and cultural fairs Sub-grant recipients, ES instruments implementers

Enablers/business incubators Logistical arrangements in grant administration, implementation of project activities and ESSs implementation at the local level

Farmers associations, processors associations, agri SMEs

Sub-grant recipients, members motivators, ES instruments implementers

DMOs/ Tourist sites administration Sub-grant recipients, ES instruments implementers

Contractors Implementation of civil works in compliance with ESSs

Community Level

Jamoats and mahalla leaders Community outreach, disseminate grant related materials, arrange for public gatherings, liaison between community members and project staff, efficient two-way communication channel

Community members Beneficiaries of the sub-grant activities, participants of satisfaction surveys

Start-ups, tourism guides and tour operators Sub-grant recipients, ES instruments implementers

Agri-related stakeholders (farmers, farmer groups, processors, agri MSMEs)

Sub-grant recipients, ES instruments implementers

22

Tourism-related stakeholders (homestays, craftsmen, artists, restaurants)

Sub-grant recipients, ES instruments implementers

Low-skilled, semi-skilled and high-skilled workers

Direct beneficiaries, peer-to-peer motivators

Vulnerable groups (women, youth, FHHs, returned migrants, remittance dependent HHs)


Tourism support staff- cooks, drivers, cleaners, waiters


Project affected parties Directly affected people to be consulted before and during implementation of subgrants

23

4.3 Stakeholder Analysis

The stakeholders of high and substantial significance (ranked 5* and 4* during universal mapping) are analyzed in the Table below. The analysis

include the current status of the stakeholder, raised concerns and issues during consultations, their expectations from the project, significance of

the risk of unmet expectations and enabling conditions required to mitigate those risks.

Table 6. Stakeholder Analysis by the Level of Engagement

National Level

1. Subgroup 2. Current Status 3. Concerns and issues 4. Expectations 5. Risks 6. Enabling Qualifiers

Ministry of Finance (MoF)

State budget deficit, financial management shortages

MoF has problems with accountability and governance, insufficient number of analysts and visibility specialists; If any resettlement issues, state budget funds are to be allocated to cover RAP implementation.

Fill the gap in state budget through foreign grant investments into rehabilitation of local infrastructure and quality service improvement

Moderate Disclosure of draft budgetary documents and analysis of final docs on financial performance

MoF PCU/Agribusiness PIU

Has experience in WB projects, but has limited resources and experience in managing diverse range of grant programs in agribusiness & tourism

Insufficient number of competent staff to manage large-scale projects and subprojects in the fields, lack of knowledge about ESSs, hiring additional competent staff to manage the project at regional level

Improve institutional capacity in supervising Consulting Firms, to gain experience in managing large scale grant projects

Substantial Project will include capacity building activities of PCU staff in project management, procurement, financial management, safeguards, M&E

Tourism Development Committee (TDC)

Newly established government agency (used to be part of the Youth, Tourism and Sports Committee), internal institutional procedures are being fine tuned

No institutional experience in supervising the IFIs –funded projects, insufficient number of analysts and visibility specialists; If any rehabilitation challenges with touristic sites, it will provide regulatory assistance

TDC is interested in strengthening community-based tourism as this priority is aligned in the country’s tourism strategy (until 2030) adopted in 2018

Moderate Disclosure of the project promotion and awareness materials at their website, it will secure regulatory support from central government level

State Investment Committee (SIC)

Overloaded with diverse tasks starting from attraction and coordination of investments with IFIs up to state property management

SIC supported the WB on youth entrepreneurship promotion under the WB executed project “Voices of Youth”.

Attract other IFIs funding to expand the project coverage and impacts; Create a success model of community based tourism that could be replicated to other regions through attraction of other IFIs

Moderate, Establish a national interagency steering committee to make informed strategic planning and investments

Ministry of Agriculture

Wide range of responsibilities on agricultural development, regulatory function, limited state resources, undergoing institutional restructuring

Has problems with food security, poor veterinary services, poor pesticide management, ineffective irrigation system

Expand small project organic agriculture, piloting small-scale drip irrigation systems, small-scale processing start-ups

Low Enhance coordination on agribusiness development, since other donors in two regions (like USAID Feed the Future Project works in 12 of 24 Khatlon districts)

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Ministry of Culture

Poor physical conditions of cultural heritage facilities due to limited budget resources

Their major concerns are related to sustainability of cultural facilities to be rehabilitated, who will manage and finance further activities

Insufficient number of local competent staff in archeological restorations

4 cultural sites were identified, project funding resources are pre-identified, but may require further fundraising to complete proper restorations

Have rehabilitated facilities with expanded clientele coverage and diversified services, more income generating activities to secure funding for further maintenance and sustainability of cultural heritage sites Engage foreign experts into the cultural heritage restorations

Moderate, Cultural Heritage Management Plan will be in place to plan and implement rehabilitation works on transparent and cost-effective basis

Grant Manager (GM) (prospective candidates)

Has not been recruited yet, TOR will be finalized by June 30, 2019

Anticipated that the Grant manager would be an experienced international grant administrator with sufficient local context knowledge experience, and sufficient number of competent staff.

Manage the large and diverse grant program on unbiased basis

Moderate GM will heavily rely on diverse range of enablers, their competency and experience. Efficient lines of communications will be established within the project to avoid double reporting and subordination.

Province Level


Governors’ offices in Khatlon and GBAO

Promoting the government’s vision and within their abilities and available resources are stimulating the development of agribusinesses as engines of growth and employment in rural areas

Low regional economic indicators on agricultural processing and manufacturing, high unemployment rates and lack of jobs, high regional poverty rates The project cannot create enormous number of jobs and vacancies, project funding resources are not sufficient to meet all those expectations

Support to agribusinesses, development of markets and storage solutions, construction of incubators, and increasing the number of enterprises for processing fruits and vegetables (small shops for processing fruits and vegetables) to contribute to decreased regional poverty rates.

Moderate

Examples of support from the regional or local state administration include allocation of land plots for establishment of processing facilities or attraction of investments and donor funding

Universities and vocational schools

Located in the regional centers, have long-term theory and practice balanced training programs

Need to adapt the training programs to the needs target audience and employers, local labour market

Develop curricula and certification programs for preparation of high-skilled workers in agribusiness and tourism sectors

Low Grants (scholarships) will also be offered to a limited number of students. These grants will be channeled directly to the learning institutions on behalf of the students. These will target workers, including tour guides, hospitality managers, supervisors and managers of tourism sites, etc. and preference for admission and scholarships will be given to vulnerable groups.

25

District Level

1.Subgroup 2. Current Status 3. Concerns and issues 4. Expectations 5. Risks 6. Enabling Qualifiers

District governments (khukumats, including line departments, youth, women, land management, economic, state environmental department)

Follow national legislation and local regulations, not familiar with WB standards and procedures, no idea of the new project design and implementation arrangements Low level of public investments in tourism sites and infrastructure

Local governments have governance and accountability problems, WB ESS requirements will be time and labor consuming exercise for the line departments

Have as much as possible infrastructure facilities rehabilitated in their particular district, more investments in agribusiness and tourism areas in their particular districts

Moderate Kick-off meetings will be held in each district to inform the line departments about the project investment procedures and players, their roles and responsibilities Examples of support from local governments include allocation of land plots for establishment of processing facilities or attraction of investments and donor funding.

Public markets administration

Limited market spaces are overcrowded by the sales people and customers, located mostly in the regional centers, good locations, good connectivity to the rural villages.

Infrastructural constraints: lack (cold) storages, warehouses, food safety laboratories

Participate in the grant program to improve market conditions and increase sales and incomes

Substantial, as competition will be high among the 32 districts

Consultations with Governor’s offices and economic departments will enable the grant selection committee to make informed decision on the grant awards based on the regional and local development priorities.

Museums and cultural fairs

The number of museums at the district level are limited. Cultural fairs are organized mostly by the government authorities and devoted to some cultural traditions or customs, like Suzanne fairs, honey producers day, national handcrafters’ exhibits.

Museums suffer allot in term of scare budget support to maintain and sustain the facilities and the exhibits. Low interest from the community members to the historical exhibitions. They need to incorporate new ICT-based approaches to attract young people and community to museums shows and creative events. Cultural fairs are labour and time consuming obligatory activities put on jamoats and khukumats shoulders.

Participate in the grant program to improve museum conditions and revitalize services Mobilize local private producers to generate and arrange cultural fairs with the jamoat and khukumat support to demonstrate the local products to the local and foreign tourists

Substantial, as competition will be high among the 32 districts

Communication and Outreach Plan should be in place to arrange for wide coverage of the potential grantees.

Farmers associations, processors associations, agri SMEs,

Limited number of reliable and responsible associations, due to financial crisis many SMEs are closed or surviving, NGOs are donor-driven and mostly rely on donor funding

Their major concern is to be excluded by the project activities, to have sufficient competency meet the grant technical and reporting requirements

They are interested in participation and offering quality and affordable services to the project at the local level

Substantial Tender bidding announcements will be widely disseminated through diverse information channels (newspapers, websites, info boards at the khukumats, business incubators)

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Cultural sites’ administration ( 4 pre-selected)

Have undergone or are currently in the process of receiving limited rehabilitation

Require general improvements and redesign to make them accessible, poor user services; Lack of funds and capacities to upgrade, manage, commercialize and preserve the touristic sites

Become part of a historical/religious circuit in the region

Low Subcomponent 1.2: will finance rehabilitation, beautification, general improvement of selected sites to create a recognizable anchor site of historical/cultural significance for the country as a whole, and a religious/cultural tourism circuit

Community level


Jamoat Though they are supposed to be self-governing bodies, jamoats have insufficient financial resources, they have no own budget to arrange for full coverage of their operational costs

Jamoat’s major concern is that besides their daily work too much voluntary workload will be on their shoulders

Gain experience, to improve livelihoods at their territory

Moderate Kick-off will be held at the each khukumat level, with participation of the jamoat heads to guide them on the project investment procedures, their roles and responsibilities

Mahalla leaders

There are eyes and hands of local jamoat and khukumat in rural areas. They are core groups of self-organized bodies, the so called mahalla councils.

Their major concern is too much voluntary workload to be on their shoulders. They have no salaries. All their activities are not remunerated.

Contribute for the benefit of their community improvement

Moderate Motivation incentives should be identified by the project implementers, as they are instrumental in two-way communications.

Community members

Direct beneficiaries of the grant activities, communities in rural areas do respect the cultural traditions and customs

Community facilities are deteriorated to enabling them to get together to have cultural and traditions celebrations

Their expectations that the grant proposals will address the community needs, not only the private owners’ interests. Have more local jobs created.

Substantial Community workers should be attracted as labour source; however they should be contracted in writing and paid wages for the work they complete.

Start-ups, tourism guides and tour operators,

Their number is limited, the quality of service are poor. Start-uppers are discouraged.

Start-uppers have not experience and relevant skills. Guides and operators are limited in their operations due to low demand and poor supply of their services.

Gain knowledge and skills through participation in grant implementations and capacity building activities

Substantial Their capacity will be built through Subcomponent 3.2: Support for strengthening private sector skills in tourism.

27

Agri-related stakeholders, including farmers, farmer groups, processors, agri MSMEs

Limited opportunities to sell products in the local markets; limited access to small scale processing and storages; Limited access to large scale buyers and processors

Lack of funds and knowhow to access technology to process and to innovate Weaknesses in value chain that would allow local farmers to aggregate products and to improve quality to sell to large-scale processors.

These groups plan to apply with their business proposals for REDP grant programs to grow to the next level of their development.

High due to potential exclusion and competition

Secure access to information about the equipment grants and business planning capacity building opportunities among large groups of stakeholders

Tourism stakeholders (homestays, craftsmen, artists, restaurants)

Low quality tourism offerings (food, accommodation, souvenirs and experiences)

Lack of funds and skills to upgrade the facilities; lack of support to innovate;

Have access to funds, capacity building activities and TA to strengthen their capacity and upgrade their facilities

Substantial, as competition is high among 32 districts

Outreach program and materials should be easy to reach and easy to understand, jamoat level info sessions should be utilized

Low-skilled, semi-skilled and high-skilled workers

Limited number of refresher courses, unaffordable course fees, accessible location of educational schools

Lack of sufficient level of competencies to provide goods and service to tourists

Have on-job training opportunities

Moderate Skill building educational services for the service providers are organized by mobile teams, apply peer-to-peer approach

Poor and Vulnerable


Youth and women

Limited economic opportunities to continue education

No skills, insufficient knowledge, the only option to go for labour migration

Have equal access to entrepreneurship trainings

Substantial, competition will be high

Priority during selection will be given to youth. Project will work to avoid exclusion of youth through diverse range of outreach activities and mobile groups

Returned Migrants

An increasing number of Tajik migrants who have been deported and/or are banned from (re-)entering Russia, without livelihood options, frequently with difficulty in repaying debts

No employment, no start-up capital Have access to skills-building trainings and individual grants to start up small businesses

Substantial The number of in-kind grants is limited, the project will help them to develop business plans to be eligible to the Employment Agency no-interest credits as well

FHHs Find themselves left alone and impoverished, entirely dependent on help from family, relatives and friends

No –self confidence, no profession, no competency to apply for jobs

Participate in the local capacity building workshops, to have access to grants

Substantial The number of individual grants is limited, project gives priority to vulnerable groups, especially women. The project will help them to develop business plans to be eligible to the Women Committee grants on business start-ups

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5. Institutional Analysis

The engaged existing institutions have been analyzed in the below Table. The institutions to be recruited or to

be established are not covered by the below analysis.

Table 7. Institutional Analysis

Group/ Agency Current Role Change/Adjustments suggested Rationale

National

MoF Serve as the financial guarantor for all IFI-funded projects, has a PIU responsible for implementation of two WB-funded projects

The existing PIU at the Ministry of Finance (MoF PIU) will be transformed into a Project Coordination Unit (PCU) which will have dual responsibilities: one, coordinate across the two ministries; and other, implement agricultural activities under the project as a PIU. It will be responsible for all project management, procurement, financial management, safeguards, monitoring & evaluation, and GRM

Large and diverse grant program in 32 districts. Limited number of competent in-house staff, in general, and lack of tourism specialists, in particular, warrants extensive out sourcing. MoF to outsource the grant program to an international company.

Tourism Development Committee

Responsible for development and implementation of consistent national policy in the tourism sector

A separate PIU will be established at the Tourism Development Committee and will implement the tourism related activities

Lack of experience with large IFI-funded projects make the TDC establish a PIU for effective provision of technical and implementation assistance.

District

Existing business Incubators

Provide business start-up services and consultations

The incubation providers will be in charge of outreach to communities to ensure good applications and ideas and will provide support for the preparation of the initial proposals

Business incubators will be rolled out in the two regions with the objective to further attract private sector enterprises in agribusiness, tourism and related services.

Community Outreach and facilitation enablers

Non-existing Propose external non governmental agencies to function as Enablers.

TOR needs to be developed and mechanisms to monitor their functioning and performance to ensure achieving Inclusion.

Local Governments/ Khukumats

Oversee development activities, liaison between national government and jamoats/ communities

Support arranging outreach activities, implement regulatory oversight and support, will establish GRM Committee at the district level

They are authorized local bodies to oversee and support project implementations at the district level

Local

Jamoat Liaison between local government and mahalla leaders

Voluntary work for the benefit of the livelihoods improvements, support with E&S screening forms

Jamoats will serve as an efficient instrument for community mobilization through mahalla leaders and land management issues

Mahalla leaders Liaison between jamoat and community members, tool of community outreach and mobilization

No changes in the role Mahalla councils will support arranging community outreach and essential on the demand site to promote social accountability under the grants to be awarded

29

6. Impact Assessment and Risk Management

The project team has identified potential positive and negative impacts and risks and analyzed the role and

responsibilities of different (key) actors in risk management. The table below lists the proposed mitigation

measures to be used at different levels.

Table 8. Impact Assessment and Risk Management under REDP

Level Positive Impacts Negative

Impacts

Risk Mitigatory Measures

National The project will finance

interventions for preventive

support aimed at addressing

fragility, conflict and violence

risks that have constrained

development progress in

Tajikistan

None Staff rotation at the

national institutions,

incompetency of local

staff, new recruitments

may hinder smooth

implementation of the

project

The capacity of national

institutions and structures will

be build to develop, plan and

implement FCV risk mitigation

projects

Provincial The project will improve the

overall economic conditions

through rehabilitation of

public infrastructure

(markets and tourist sites).

Cultural heritage sites will

become part of a

historical/religious circuit in

the regions.

Skill enhancement for the

public and private sector

would target the

development, maintenance

and sustainability of the

tourism assets, the marketing

of the regions internationally

through skills-building, and

entrepreneurship support.

None Political and economic

relations are based on

highly personalized

relationships, which in

the long run diminish

chances for economic

expansion and stability.

Mitigation measures would

include the establishment of a

PCU at a central government

agency that would assume

responsibility for the project as a

whole and thus help to address

potential governance challenges.

The PCU will also help to set up

a mechanism for transparent

monitoring of project

implementation. PCU will

recruit two Field coordinators to

assist with Project

implementation at the regional

level.

District Investments in improved

agribusiness and touristic

infrastructure and income-

generating opportunities will

contribute to improvement in

living standards in the target

districts.

None The choice of one

location over others for

the attraction of

investment into market

and storage

infrastructure, large

agro-processing, or

other facilities might

lead to some risk of

stakeholder

dissatisfaction.

Equally, the choice of

certain cultural heritage

sites over others could

engender resentment in

some groups.

Wide public awareness

campaign will be arranged by

the enablers to disseminate the

grant selection criteria and

priorities to the target groups.

Enablers will use the existing

information channels to reach

out the potential grant applicants

especially in remote and border

areas of two regions.

4 sites were pre-determined and

agreed with the Governors’

offices and the MoF and TDC at

the project preparation stage.

30

Communi

ty

members

The project will improve access

to improved basic rural

infrastructure, youth inclusive

services and livelihood

activities

Temporary

limited access

to some public

infrastructure

facilities to be

rehabilitated.

Some

households

may lose lands

in the process

of creating

infrastructure.

Choices of

some other

households

may not

receive

attention.

Majority of the

community members in

target districts

predominantly

dependent on

remittances and have no

sufficient funds to meet

the matching grants

requirements. High

expectations of grant

allocations from local

entrepreneurs could lead

to social tensions and

resentment when

expectations are not met.

Negative social impacts will be

avoided by the communications

and awareness-raising activities

that clearly communicate

subproject eligibility criteria and

implementation arrangements to

stakeholders within Project

areas.

Economic risk will be mitigated

through diversifying types of

grants and preferential access

for vulnerable groups, as well as

wide communications and

awareness-raising activities that

clearly communicate diverse

grant eligibility criteria to

stakeholders within Project sites,

and the operation of the GRM

should applicants raise concerns

afterwards.

Vulnerabl

e groups

They are expected to benefit

from several types of grants, as

grant programs will provide

preferential access to

vulnerable groups.

Depriving

vulnerable

groups of land

and other

assets in the

guise of

voluntary

donations and

in the name of

the "common

good".

Exclusion risk. Certain

individuals or groups

will have no or limited

access to various

opportunities and

resources that will be

available to members of

the target groups. For

example, women and

youth have weak

connections with state

structures due to

remoteness of location,

low capacity and no

interest in public and

community life. Others

might be excluded due

to elite capture and/or

lack of sufficient

educational background.

The exclusion risk is

high, as the high

competition will be held

between diverse range

of groups and businesses

within 32 districts.

Voluntary donations will be

required to first meet a set of

strict criteria before the land

donation is accepted, for the

benefit of vulnerable groups no

land donations are accepted

from them. Exclusion risk will

be prevented and/or mitigated

through community grants for

organizing cultural events for

youth and women. Wide

outreach activities and efficient

tools will be applied to reach the

target groups in remote areas.

Youth will be given priority to

access to skill-building

programs. Women will be given

a priority to access grants in

agribusiness, tourism, and

related services.

31

7. Stakeholder Engagement Activities

The table below presents roles and responsibilities of key actors in stakeholder engagement to be conducted under the project.

Table 9. Stakeholder Engagement Activities by the Components

Subgroup Levels of Engagement

Project Phases Engagement Channels

Venue Frequency Instruments Purpose Responsible party

National Level

Ministry of Finance

Notification Planning, Implementation, Post implementation

Written requests via official letters and e-mails

virtual, visits, official meetings

As needed Progress reports, official requests and letters

To keep informed the Financial Guarantee of the GoT

MOF PCU

Tourism Development Committee

Notification Planning, Implementation, Post implementation

Written requests via official letters and e-mails

virtual, visits, official meetings

As needed Progress reports, official requests and letters

To keep informed the sectoral supervisor

TDC PIU

World Bank Interactive Collaboration

Planning, Implementation

E-mails, implementation support and supervision missions, prior review of bids, mid-term review

virtual, site visits to the target districts, VCs

Quarterly reports, biannual missions, regular monitoring visits by the CMU

Aide Memories, monitoring reports, due diligence reports

To keep informed about the project implementation progress, challenges faced and seek for approvals for the project transactions and procurements

MOF PCU

MoA, SIC, MoC

Information Implementation Official written invitations

MOF office or one of the PSC member offices

biannual PSC meetings To keep informed about the project achievements and seek for advise on strategic decisions

MOF PCU

MOF PCU Interactive Collaboration

Implementation, post implementation

E-version of the progress reports

Virtual, official meetings

Quarterly Progress reports To keep informed about the grant program achievements

Grant Manager

Governor’s office

Information Implementation, post implementation

e-version of the progress reports

virtual, official meetings

quarterly progress reports To keep informed about the project achievements

Field Coordinator

District administrations lines departments

Information Implementation, post implementation

face-to-face meetings, workshops

khukumat office

as needed progress reports To keep informed about the project achievements

Field Coordinator supported by Enablers

32

Wide public Information Planning, implementation and post implementation

virtual media offices, online, grant sites

as needed ads, articles, broadcasts, postings

To arrange for wide outreach and coverage of to the project achievements

MoF PCU, Field coordinators

Grant recipients/grant beneficiaries

Consultation Implementation, post implementation

Face to face Grant sites, surrounding communities

GM- quarterly, PCU -semi-annually

M&E reports, PCU monitoring reports to track the Results Framework indicators

To monitor the progress and evaluate the grant outputs

GM, MoF PCU M&E Specialist

Subproject level - Level of Engagement for Component 1


Project Phases Engagement Channels

Venue Frequency Instruments Purpose Responsible Party(-ies)

Enablers/BDS providers

Interactive Collaboration

Planning, Implementation, post implementation

Face to Face, in writing, online

Grant manager or enablers offices, online

On regular basis

Workshops, e-mails, phones calls, written requests and reports

To facilitate the grant application process at the local level

Grant Manager

District administration

Consultations Planning, implementation

Face to face, in writing

khukumat offices

as needed official meetings, letters

To share local ownership for public infrastructure improvements planning & implementation

Enablers, Field coordinators

Cultural heritage sites management organizations

Interactive collaboration

Planning, implementation


Management organizations offices

As needed Grant contracting negotiations, action planning discussions, cultural heritage management plans, monitoring plans and reports

To share local ownership and responsibility for subprojects planning and implementation

Field coordinators, enablers, GM

Management of public infrastructure and tourism attraction sites

Information Planning Face to face, in writing, media,

Management organizations offices, public spaces

Intensive outreach during two weeks per grant cycle

public meetings, letters, leaflets, info boards of khukumats, ads

To arrange for wide outreach of potential grantees

Enablers, Field coordinators,



Planning face to face, virtual

Management organizations offices, enablers offices

Two weeks prior the grant submission deadline

Grant proposal package

To provide technical assistance in proposal designing

Enablers, business incubators

33

Grant applicants

Consultation Planning face to face potential grant proposed site

before submitting to the grant proposal

E&S screening forms

To meet the WB ESS requirements

Enablers together with grantees

Grant Committee


Implementation Face to face, in writing

MoF PCU or TDC PIG office

once per cycle

Grant selection matrix and evaluation sheet based on the Grant Manual

Evaluation and selection of grantees

GM

Subproject/grant recipients

Consultation Planning Workshop Khukumat offices, public spaces

before contract signing

ESF training workshops


MOF PCU E&E specialist



Implementation Face to face, in writing, phone calls

Management organizations offices, enablers offices

Before, during and after grant implementation

Grant contracting negotiations, action planning discussions, monitoring plans and reports, sustainability plans

To arrange for smooth implementation and sustainability of the grant activities

Enablers, GM

Local subcontractors


Implementation Workshops Subcontractors or enabler’s office

as needed Subcontractor’s ESMP, LMP developed


MOF PCU supported by enablers



Project Phases Channels of Engagement

Venue Frequency Instruments Purpose Responsible Party(-ies)

Enablers/BDS providers





On regular basis


To facilitate the grant application process at the local level

Grant Manager

Small- and medium-scale processors and storage providers

Information Planning Face to face, in writing, media,

associations offices, enablers offices

Intensive outreach during two weeks per grant cycle

List serves, public meetings, leaflets, ads, social media postings, website news, TV& radio ads

To arrange for potential applicants outreach

Enablers

34



Planning face to face, virtual

Management organizations and enablers offices

Two weeks prior grant submission deadline

Grant proposal package

To provide technical assistance in proposal designing


Individual farmers, groups, or associations, processors

Information Planning Face to face, in writing, media

Associations offices, business incubators, jamoat offices

Intensive two-week outreach per grant cycle

Public meetings, leaflets, ads, info boards of jamoats and khukumat


Enablers, business incubators, jamoat heads, mahalla leaders

Tourism-related MSMEs

Information Planning Face to face, in writing, media

Associations offices, business incubators, public spaces

Intensive two-week outreach per grant cycle

List serves, public meetings, leaflets, ads, social media postings, website, TV& radio ads



Grant applicants

Consultation Planning Face to face potential grant proposed site

before submitting grant proposal

E&S screening forms


Enablers together with grantees

Grant Committee


Implementation Face to face, in writing

MoF PCU or TDC PIG or GM’s office

once per cycle

Grant selection matrix and evaluation sheet based on the Grant Manual

Evaluation and selection of grantees

GM

Subproject/grant recipients

Consultation Planning Workshop Khukumat, public spaces

before contract signing

ESF training workshops


MOF PCU E&E specialist





SME offices, enablers offices

Before, during and after grant implementation

Grant contracting negotiations, action planning discussions, monitoring plans and reports, sustainability plans

To arrange for smooth implementation and sustainability of the grant activities

Enablers, GM

Local subcontractors


Implementation Workshops Subcontractors or enablers offices

As needed Subcontractor’s ESMP, LMP developed


MOF PCU supported by enablers

35


Subgroup Levels of

Engagement

Project Phases Engagement

Channels

Venue Frequency Instruments Purpose Responsible

Party(-ies)

Enablers/BDS providers/business incubation service providers





On regular basis


To administer capacity building activities at the local level

Grant Manager

BDS providers/business incubation service providers




Grant manager or BDSP offices, online

On regular basis

Workshops, e-mails, phones calls, written requests & reports

To consult and technical support on business start-ups grant administration

Grant Manager

Employees of public and private institutions in agribusiness & tourism promotion and development

Information, Interactive collaboration

Planning Implementation

Face to face, in writing, media

associations offices, enablers offices, public spaces

Intensive outreach before training start, once per course; Intensive capacity building training courses and TA

List serves, public meetings, leaflets, ads, social media postings, website news Interactive learning methodology, on-job consultations

To arrange for outreach of potential participants for capacity building activities; To build the capacity of local stakeholders s in market intelligence data analysis, policy development & implementation of trade fairs & tours

Tourism enablers, business incubation service providers, resident advisors

Low-, mid-semi-skilled professionals and workers required in tourism sector

Information Interactive collaboration

Implementation Face to face Enablers offices, business incubators, public spaces

Intensive capacity building training courses and TA

Interactive learning methodology, on-job consultations

To build the capacity of local workers and professionals to improve tourism services

Tourism enablers, Business incubators, resident advisors

Local

subcontractors

Interactive

collaboration

Implementation Workshops/face

to face

contractors or

enablers

offices

As needed Sub contractor’s

ESMP, LMP

developed

To meet the WB ESS

requirements

MOF PCU

supported by

enablers

36

8. Implementation Arrangements for Stakeholder Engagement

8.1 Implementation Arrangements

The SEP implementation will rely heavily on the implementation arrangements of the REDP Project (see below

Figure 3).

Figure 3. Proposed Implementation Arrangements under the REDP

The material resources that MOF PCU will mobilize are as follows (i) the project website administered by the

MOF PCU; (ii) an electronic grievance database; (iii) media coverage expenditures; (iv) printed outreach

materials and project documents (leaflets, ads, manuals, brochures, posters, etc.) that will be used, based on the

needs of the SEP.

8.2 Roles and Responsibilities

An Outreach Team leaded by the MOF PCU M&E Specialist will take responsibility for and lead all aspects of

the stakeholder engagement. The Outreach Team will consist of 3 members from MoF PCU (Agribusiness,

M&E, and Social and Environmental Specialists), 1 TDC/PIG Tourism Specialist, supported by 2 Field

coordinators and 1 representative of Grant Manager, total of 7 people with sufficient communication and public

relations skills to coordinate and implement various activities envisaged in the SEP. The Outreach Team will

need to closely coordinate with other key stakeholders – other national and local government

departments/agencies, MOF PCU/GM units and governors’ offices, the ESIA/ESMP/RAP consultants,

enablers/BDSPs, grantees along with sub-contractors, affected municipalities and PAPs. The roles and

responsibilities of these actors/stakeholders are summarized in the Table below.

37

Table 10. Responsibilities of key actors/stakeholders in SEP Implementation

Actor/Stakeholder Responsibilities

MOF PCU Plan and implement the SEP;

Lead stakeholder engagement activities;

Manage and resolve grievances, lead GMC at the national level;

Coordinate/supervise contractors on SEP activities;

Build capacity of implementing partners, enablers and GM on ESF standards

and their implications;

Supervise/monitor ESMP/RAP and Implementation Consultants;

Manage national GRM database and submit quarterly reports on the

substance and quantity of grievances; and

Monitor and report on environmental and social performance to the GOT and

the World Bank.

Grant Manager Supervise/monitor grant programs and engage with grant receipts;

Manage the grievance mechanism at the grantee level, communicate

grievances to MOF PCU regularly through monitoring reports;

Monitor site activities on a regular basis (weekly, monthly etc.);

Oversee and report on engagement activities during the construction phases.

Field Coordinators Logistical support with SEP implementation at the regional level;

Coordinate with province and local governments, support enablers to run the

grant recruitment procedures and outreach;

Serve as Secretary and GRM Focal Points for GMC at the regional level; Manage regional GRM database and submit quarterly reports to MoF PCU.

Enablers/BDSP/business

incubators Support with SEP implementation at the local level;

Function as members of the GMC at the district level;

Submit regular reports and updates on project progress and activities.

Grantees/sub-contractors Inform Enablers of any challenges/problems faced during their engagement

with beneficiaries/PAPs;

Prepare, disclose and implement various plans (e.g. G-ESMP, Labor

Management Plan, etc.);

Inform local communities of any environmental and social impacts e.g. noise,

vibration, water quality monitoring;

Announce important construction activities (such as road closures and

available alternatives).

Line Departments at the district

and regional levels Monitor sub-projects compliance with Tajik legislation;

Participate in the implementation of some activities in the ESMP/RPF and

SEP;

Participate in the implementation of the Land Acquisition process;

Make available and engage with the public on the scoping and ESIA Reports.

Districts Assist with community engagement and outreach activities at the district and

jamoat level;

Facilitate the local Grievance Management Committee;

Transfer all complaints to the Field coordinators/MOF PCU GRM Focal

Point;

Make available the disclosed ESIA documents.

38

Project affected people Invited to engage and ask questions about the Project at public meetings and

through discussions with Outreach Officers where it is of interest or of

relevance to them;

Lodge their grievances using the Grievance Redress Mechanism defined in

the SEP; and

Help the Project to define mitigation measures.

8.3. Stakeholder Engagement Methods to be Used

8.3.1 Grant Outreach Methods

The full “grant implementation cycle”consists of the following activities: Step 1: Outreach and orientation; Step

2: Technical assistance in grant proposal designing; Step 3: Participatory implementation, procurement, and

grant management; Step 4: Monitoring and evaluation; and Step 5: Sustainability or commercialization plans

development and implementation.

Under Project component 1, Investments in Public Infrastructure for Agribusiness and Tourism, the Enablers’

recruited by the Grant Manager will conduct outreach and orientation meetings to ensure potential grant

applicants can engage meaningfully in the project. Local governments at the district and jamoat level will assist

with community outreach to dessiminate the grant program guidelines and enabler’s contact information.

During project implementation, Enablers will provide technical assistance to the potential applicants to prepare

grant proposals that meet the grant criteria and relevant to the community needs. Under component 2, Support

for MSMEs and Entrepreneurs in Tourism, Agribusiness, and Related services, a series of calls for proposals

will be issued to reach potential beneficiaries in the target sectors. Enablers and business incubation service

providers will make sure the grant guidelines are widely dessiminated through farmer associations, khukumats,

jamoats, NGOs and media channels. Under component 3, Capacity Building and Entrepreneurship

Development, the project will convene dialogue with public and private institutions and other stakeholders

throughout its duration, put in place a feedback mechanism for trainees and others to submit complaints,

suggestions, or requests for information, and develop approaches to reflect on capacity building activities with

beneficiary groups.

8.3.2 Mass/social media communication

The MOF PCU’s Outreach Team or an external consultant will be engaged on the Project for 6 months/year in

order to post information on the dedicated project website and to communicate with the local population via

national & regional media, as well as social media campaigns throughout the project’s lifecycle. Social media

channels will be used as much as possible to disseminate information.

8.3.3 Communication materials

Written information will be disclosed to the public via a variety of communication materials including

brochures, flyers, posters, etc. A public relations kit will be designed specifically and distributed both in print

and online form. MOF PCU will also update its website regularly (at least on a quarterly basis) with key project

updates and reports on the project’s environmental and social performance both in English and Tajik. The

website will also provide information about the grievance mechanism for the project (see next sub-section).

8.3.4 Grievance redress mechanism

In compliance with the World Bank’s ESS10 requirement, a specific grievance mechanism will be set-up for the

project. Dedicated communication materials (GRM pamphlets, posters) will be created to help local residents

39

familiarize themselves with the grievance redress channels and procedures. A GRM guidebook/manual will also

be developed and suggestion boxes installed in each affected municipality. In order to capture and track

grievances received under the project, a dedicated GRM Management Information System/database is planned.

GRM committees at the municipal level will benefit from training on how to receive, respond to, address and

close grievances in line with best international practices. Internal GRM training will also take place for MOF

PCU and enabler and GM staff. The MOF PCU’s website will include clear information on how feedback,

questions, comments, concerns and grievances can be submitted by any stakeholder and will include the

possibility to submit grievances electronically. It will also provide information on the way the GRM committee

works, both in terms of process and deadlines.

8.3.5 Information Boards at Khukumats

Information boards in each district will provide local residents with information on stakeholder engagement

activities, construction updates, contact details of the Enablers etc. The Enablers and business incubation

service providers in turn will set up information desks, either in their offices, near khukumats or other easily

accessible places where they can meet and share information about the project with PAPs and other

stakeholders. Brochures and fliers on various project related social and environmental issues will be made

available at these information desks.

8.3.6 Trainings, workshops

Finally, trainings on a variety of social and environmental issues will be provided to MOF PCU and contractor

staff and possibly relevant government or non-government service providers. Issues covered will include a

sensitization to gender-based violence risks.

8.4 Proposed strategy to incorporate the view of vulnerable groups

The project will take special measures to ensure that disadvantaged and vulnerable groups have equal

opportunity to access information, provide feedback, or submit grievances. The deployment of focal points will

help to ensure proactive outreach to all population groups. Awareness raising sessions will be conducted in

municipal centers to ensure higher participation of targeted population. Enablers’ facilitators will conduct

outreach, orientation and facilitation throughout Project implementation. The MOF PCU will ensure that all

community outreach staff of Enablers are skilled at reaching the Project’s target group of vulnerable

populations.

Given the low capacity among the grant applicants and beneficiaries envisioned under the project—in

particular, among vulnerable groups—business development support interventions are envisioned to provide

them with technical assistance in preparing applications and follow up support during implementation. The

majority of MSMEs in the tourism sector (including homestays, restaurant, cafes, and crafters) are managed by

women (and youth) and will be targeted by the matching grants programs.

The grant programs under the project will provide preferential access to vulnerable groups. The project will

give preference to applications coming from vulnerable groups and will track the composition by age and

gender of the beneficiaries. Additionally, the size of grants will be kept intentionally small to match the

absorption capacity of these beneficiaries and the evaluation criteria will provide preferential access to those

groups. Moreover, skills-building components will directly target the vulnerable groups by giving preference to

these groups during the selection process.

8.5 Information disclosure

The current website (www.greenfinance.tj ) is being used to disclose project documents, including those on

environmental and social performance in both Tajik and English. MOF PCU will create a webpage on the

Project on its existing website. All future project related environmental and social monitoring reports, listed in

http://www.greenfinance.tj/

40

the above sections will be disclosed on this webpage. Project updates (including news on construction activities

and relevant environmental and social data) will also be posted on the homepage of MOF PCU’s website. An

easy-to-understand guide to the terminology used in the environmental and social reports or documents will also

be provided on the website. All information brochures/fliers will be posted on the website. Details about the

Project Grievance Resolution Mechanism will be posted on the website. An electronic grievance submission

form will also be made available on MOF PCU’s website. Contact details of the Outreach Team will also be

made available on the website. MOF PCU will update and maintain the website regularly (at least on quarterly

basis).

8.6 Estimated Budget

At the project design stage, under Components 1-3, the MOF PCU will be responsible for planning and

implementation of stakeholder engagement activities, as well as other relevant outreach and disclosure activities

depending on the nature of the subgrants, their complexity, scale, and so on. Funds for these activities are

allocated under Component 4 of the Project.

In order to ensure successful SEP implementation, a series of capacity building activities are necessary for

which the project has to provide adequate funding. It is difficult to prepare budget for capacity building

activities and trainings on this stage of SEP preparation. Estimated budget for proposed institutional

arrangements, capacity building activities and trainings will be updated in the procurement plan after the project

be commenced.

41

9. Grievance Redress Mechanism

Grievance procedures will be required to ensure that PAPs are able to lodge complaints or concerns, without

cost, and with the assurance of a timely and satisfactory resolution of the issue. The procedures also ensure that

the entitlements are effectively transferred to the intended beneficiaries. Stakeholders will be informed of the

intention to implement the grievance mechanism, and the procedure will be communicated at the time that the

RAPs are finalized.

Grievances may arise from members of communities who are dissatisfied with eligibility criteria use,

community planning and resettlement measures, actual implementation or compensation.

9.1 Overall Process

a) During the initial stages of the valuation process, the affected persons will be given copies of grievance procedures as a guide on how to handle the grievances.

b) The process of grievance redress will start with registration of the grievances to be addressed for reference,

and to enable progress updates of the cases. Having an effective GRM in place will also serve the objectives of:

reducing conflicts and risks such as external interference, corruption, social exclusion or mismanagement;

improving the quality of project activities and results; and serving as an important feedback and learning

mechanism for project management regarding the strengths and weaknesses of project procedures and

implementation processes.

The project will use a local mechanism, which includes resettlement committees, peers and local leaders of the

affected people. These will ensure equity across cases, eliminate nuisance claims and satisfy legitimate

claimants at low cost.

d) The response time will depend on the issue to be addressed but it should be addressed with efficiency.

e) Compensation will be paid to individual PAPs only after a written consent of the PAPs, including both

husband and wife.

9.2 Procedures:

Local level: Local Grievance Management Committee (LGMC) will be established in each district

administration (khukumat) to address and resolve complaints in collaboration with Enablers at the local level

within 30 days of receiving complaints. The committee will be chaired by Deputy Head of Khukumat and

comprising representatives of the department of agriculture and culture& tourism; environmental protection;

land administration committee; women/ men of Mahalla committees; and other civil society organizations. One

of the members from either of the departments will function as the Secretary of the committee and serve as local

Grievance Focal Point (GFP) to be responsible for maintaining feedback logs. If the issue cannot be resolved at

the local level, then it will be escalated to the regional level. Mahalla committee members, community leaders

and other civil society organizations will be fully coopted in reaching out to the local communities and

individuals and provide intermediation support, in general, and airing grievances, in particular.

Regional level: Regional Grievance Management Committee (RGMC) will be established in each region. The

RGMC will be chaired by Deputy Governor, and will consist of representatives of the department of agriculture

and culture& tourism; environmental protection; land administration committee; regional farmer associations

and other civil society organizations. Field Coordinator at the province level will function as the Secretary of

the committee and serve as regional Grievance Focal Point (GFP) to file the grievances and appeals. If the issue

cannot be resolved at the regional level within 15 days, then it will be escalated to the national level.

National level: If there is a situation in which there is no response from the local level GMCs, or the REDP

regional coordinators, or if the response is not satisfactory then complainants and feedback providers have the

42

option to contact the REDP PCU directly to follow up on the issue. National Grievance Management

Committee (NGMC) will be chaired by the REDP PCU Director, comprising representatives of TDC, MoA,

MoC, CEP, Land Administration Committee, and national NGOs. REDP PCU Environmental and Social

Development Specialist will function as the Secretary of the committee and serve as national Grievance Focal

Point (GFP) to file the grievances and appeals. S/he will be responsible for summarizing the number and types

of all the complaints and issues received by the districts and two regions.

The timeline for complaint resolution at the national level will be 15 days upon receipt of the complaint that

does not require additional study and research, and 30 days for the appeals that need additional study. The

complainant will be informed of the outcome immediately and at the latest within 5 days of the decision.

Appeal Mechanism. If the complaint is still not resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant, then s/he can

submit his/her complaint to the appropriate court of law.

9.3 Grievance Log

The Grievance Focal Points will maintain local grievance logs to ensure that each complaint has an individual

reference number and is appropriately tracked and recorded actions are completed. When receiving feedback,

including grievances, the following is defined:

- Type of appeal

- Category of appeal

- People responsible for the study and execution of the appeal

- Deadline of resolving the appeal.

- Agreed action plan

The MoF PCU E&S Specialist and Field Coordinators will ensure that each complaint has an individual reference number and is appropriately tracked and recorded actions are completed. The log should contain the following information:

Name of the PAP, his/her location and details of his / her complaint.

Date of reporting by the complaint.

Date when the Grievance Log was uploaded onto the project database.

Details of corrective action proposed, name of the approval authority.

Date when the proposed corrective action was sent to the complainant (if appropriate).

Details of the Grievance Committee meeting (if appropriate).

Date when the complaint was closed out.

Date when the response was sent to the complainant.

9.4 Monitoring and Reporting on Grievances

Field Coordinators will be responsible for:

o Collecting data from district level GFPs on the number, substance and status of complaints and

uploading them into the single regional database;

o Maintaining the grievance logs on the complaints received at the regional level

o Monitoring outstanding issues and proposing measures to resolve them;

o Submitting quarterly reports on GRM mechanisms to the MOF PCU M&E Specialist.

The MOF PCU E&S Specialist will be responsible for:

o Summarizing and analyzing the qualitative data received from the Field Coordinators on the number,

substance and status of complaints and uploading them into the single project database;

43

o Monitoring outstanding issues and proposing measures to resolve them;

o Submitting quarterly reports on GRM mechanisms to the MOF PCU M&E Specialist.

MOF PCU will submit quarterly reports to the WB, which shall include Section related to GRM which provides

updated information on the following:

Status of GRM implementation (procedures, training, public awareness campaigns, budgeting etc.);

Qualitative data on number of received grievances \ (applications, suggestions, complaints, requests,

positive feedback), highlighting those grievances related to the WB ESS 2 and 5 and number of

resolved grievances;

Quantitative data on the type of grievances and responses, issues provided and grievances that remain

unresolved;

Level of satisfaction by the measures (response) taken;

Any correction measures taken.

9.5 World Bank Grievance Redress System

Communities and individuals who believe that they are adversely affected by a World Bank (WB) supported

project may submit complaints to existing project-level grievance redress mechanisms or the WB’s Grievance

Redress Service (GRS). The GRS ensures that complaints received are promptly reviewed in order to address

project-related concerns. Project affected communities and individuals may submit their complaint to the WB’s

independent Inspection Panel which determines whether harm occurred, or could occur, as a result of WB non-

compliance with its policies and procedures. Complaints may be submitted at any time after concerns have been

brought directly to the World Bank’s attention, and Bank Management has been given an opportunity to

respond. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank’s corporate Grievance Redress

Service (GRS), please visit http://www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/products-and-services/grievance-

redress-service. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank Inspection Panel, please visit

www.inspectionpanel.org.

10. Monitoring and Reporting of the SEP

Component 4 of the Project will support monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities to track, document, and

communicate the progress and results of the project, including monitoring of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan.

An M&E team within MOF PCU will be responsible for overall compilation of progress and results. This

component will also finance an MIS, which MOF PCU will establish and utilize for project monitoring,

automatic generation of project reports, project transparency (subproject information will be publicized on

maps), and citizen feedback.

The MOF PCU M&E Specialist supported by the Grant Manager’s M&E Specialist will monitor the grant

outreach and transparency of the recruitment of potential grant applicants and other inclusion issues, voice and

agency activities with communities as measured through focus group discussions and grant beneficiary

meetings, which will be discussed and verified along with financial records and project implementation records.

Feedback and grievances received through the beneficiary feedback mechanism will also be included in the

semiannual reporting. MOF PCU’s M&E Specialist will collate and analyze these outcome assessments and

perception-based results, enter them into the MIS, and include them in semiannual reports.

http://www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/products-and-services/grievance-redress-service

http://www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/products-and-services/grievance-redress-service

http://www.inspectionpanel.org/

44

Annex 1. Description of Project Components

Component 1—Investments in public infrastructure for agribusiness and tourism

This component aims to provide the enabling public infrastructure to support agribusiness and community-

based tourism development. Improvement of local markets and storages is expected to provide better

opportunities for farmers to sell their products. Similarly, upgrades to tourism attractions are a stepping stone to

enabling Khatlon and GBAO to increase tourism volumes and spending. The component includes the four sub-

components:

Subcomponent 1.1: Competitive grants for community-based infrastructure for agribusiness (such as

markets and (cold) storage facilities): Grants under this subcomponent will finance market improvements,

(cold) storage facilities, and food safety control labs in selected market locations and other investment of

public nature that would facilitate the agribusiness development to enhance opportunities for smallholder

farmers to sell their products at harvest or to store them for longer periods of time, and to benefit consumers

through enhanced product safety. These grants will be offered in the 32 districts of Khatlon and GBAO. Small

communities, municipalities, market associations, and similar entities could apply to compete for these grants.

Subcomponent 1.2: Investments in selected tourism sites, including an “anchor site.” This subcomponent

will finance the rehabilitation, beautification, landscaping, and general improvement of four selected sites to

create a recognizable anchor site of historical/cultural significance for the country as a whole, and a

religious/cultural tourism circuit easily accessible from Dushanbe.2 These rehabilitation works will leverage

partnerships with global experts to create capacity and maximize the use of the available funds. The extent of

needed rehabilitation works differs significantly among the four sites supported under the project.

Subcomponent 1.3: Competitive grants to rehabilitate local-level tourism attractions and natural trails:

Small grants will be offered to communities3 across the two regions to support community-level tourism

attractions, trails, and tourism assets, including intangible ones. This could involve the restoration of small

museums or cultural centers, funding to hold music and art fairs and events, and improvements to hiking

trails, including their adequate signage.

Subcomponent 1.4: Investments in touristic signage: While the tourist sites are fairly accessible, most are

difficult to find due to the absence of signage. This subcomponent will support the preparation, purchase, and

installation of tourist signs4 across the major travel routes and for the key tourism sites in Khatlon and

GBAO.5

Component 2—Support for MSMEs and entrepreneurs in tourism, agribusiness, and related services

This component will provide matching grants to a range of MSMEs and entrepreneurs in agribusiness, tourism,

and related services. A series of calls for proposals will be issued to reach potential beneficiaries in the target

sectors. Matching grants will be customized for the type of beneficiary, so that number of beneficiaries,

selection criteria, size, percentage of matching contribution, number of calls, and the process of reporting

results, will be customized for each scheme:

Subcomponent 2.1: Matching grants to support small- and medium-scale processing and storage of

agricultural products. Matching grants will be provided to individual farmers, groups, or associations for

post-harvesting activities. This includes purchasing small- or medium-scale processing, drying, or packaging

equipment, or (cold) storage facilities in both Khatlon and GBAO. Support under this window could also help

2 TA will be provided for the preparation of the technical design and commercialization plans, the associated social and environmental assessments and the

supervision of the works. 3 Applicants could include groups of local residents, nongovernment organizations, local and district-level governments. 4 To ensure the sustainability of the signs, a government body should be designated that would be responsible and accountable for the maintenance of these signs. 5 TA will be provided the preparation of design, content and the identification of the locations of the signs.

45

farmers make their products available to tourists (e.g. if presented and packaged nicely, honey, dried fruits, or

medicinal herbs could become souvenirs for purchase by tourists).

Subcomponent 2.2: Matching grants to strengthen selected agribusiness value chains by connecting

small producers to large processors, and supporting improvements in processes, management or food

safety and quality certification for processors. Two value chains will be supported with the aim of

facilitating industrial processing of agricultural products. The first of these value chains will be in the dairy

sector, while the second will be selected during project implementation. In the dairy value chain, thanks to

investments from the IFC, a number of large processors (located mostly around Dushanbe) are planning to

expand their processing activities, but this would require a larger supply of milk. Currently, two issues

prevent them from sourcing their milk from small farmers in Khatlon: (a) the quality of the milk produced by

small farmers is poor; and (b) it is costly to source milk from small and fragmented producers.

A second value chain will be selected during project implementation. The selection will be based

on lessons learned from the first experience. An initial hypothesis is fruit and horticulture products

for large supermarkets. Small and medium processors in various value chains will also be provided

matching grants to acquire technical assistance for improving processes, strengthening management,

or upgrading facilities for the purposes of food safety and quality certification.6 These steps are

expected to increase the productivity of processors. Quality improvements and certification are also

expected to increase export opportunities.

Subcomponent 2.3: Matching grants to tourism-related MSMEs at, around, and en route to sites to

improve their services and offerings. MSMEs in tourism and related sectors will be supported through

matching grants for upgrading the quality of their products and services to tourists as a way to attract more

tourism spending and higher prices, and thereby increase the income of local populations. (i) Homestays and

restaurants could apply for these grants to (a) gain access to basic sanitation services, such as clean and proper

toilets, showers, and bathrooms; (b) upgrade their kitchens to meet basic health standards; or (c) upgrade and

rehabilitate places for tourists to stay or eat; (ii) Destination Management Organizations and tour operators

will be offered matching grants to develop better packages, improve pricing and promotion, and to develop

and engage local communities in tourism activities; (iii) Artists, crafters and activity providers will be able to

access matching grants to gain access to better raw material, equipment, machinery, as well as appropriate

training to allow them to offer tourists better-quality, more useful and more varied products. These activities

would complement investments in tourism sites by offering more things to do and spend money on for tourists

around and on route to these sites; (iv) Businesses situated in strategic locations that could serve as rest areas

could be incentivized by these matching grants to offer public services such as basic sanitary services (public

bathrooms), benches, first aid services, maps, and tourism information to tourists; and v) These grants could

also be made available to other service providers, such as health service providers and pharmacies, car and

bike repair shops, hair and beauty salons, and so on.

6 The certifications include the implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), ISO 22000 (Food Safety Management System),

Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) or Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

46

Subcomponent 2.4: Matching grants for agritourism. Farmers willing to diversify their income-earning

capacity through tourism will be supported through matching grants to develop and promote agritourism by

providing agriculture-based activities to tourists. These would involve engaging tourists in activities such as

picking fruits and vegetables, participating in processing and packaging related activities, making and eating

local dishes at the farms, purchasing food-based souvenirs, etc. For farms to be able to offer these kinds of

experiences, investments in basic infrastructure (bathroom facilities, kitchens and eating areas, parking space,

walking paths on the farm), furniture and equipment and soft technical assistance to know how to develop and

promote these kinds of offerings would be required, which can be offered through matching grants.

Given the size and the significance of the component, the matching grant schemes will be managed by a

dedicated company hired under the project. A specialized consulting company will be recruited to

structure and manage the operational and administrative activities related to the grant programs (including

preparing calls for proposals, advertising the programs, gathering submissions, preparing them for evaluation

by the grant committee to be set up under the project, communicating results to beneficiaries, and monitoring

the process of implementation). Given that potential beneficiaries will be located in remote areas of the

country and will have limited literacy and business skills, the matching grant scheme will be complemented

by business development services (provided under Component 3) to maximize the reach of the program, to

support beneficiaries in the application process and provide follow-up and implementation support to the

recipients.

Component 3—Capacity Building and Entrepreneurship Development

This component provides capacity building to the public and private sectors, as well as business development

services to potential beneficiaries of the grant programs encompassed by the previous components. This

component includes three sub-components:

Subcomponent 3.1: Capacity for public and private institutions to strengthen and promote tourism and

agribusiness sectors. Development and promotion of the tourism and agribusiness sectors will require

technical assistance for the public and private actors. Development and promotion support for tourism

includes: (i) capacity building for market intelligence data collection and analysis, and policy development

and implementation through TA; (ii) participation in trade fairs by the private and public sectors; (iii) inviting

tour operators, bloggers, and the media to Tajikistan for familiarization tours to expose them to the country

and promote it as a safe and friendly tourism destination; (iv) a (part-time) resident advisor in the Tourism

Committee; (v) participation in training programs by government officials; and (vi) the

establishment/upskilling of the organizations/authorities in charge of managing the refurbished sites to ensure

their sustainability through TA. For agribusiness, promotion and capacity building will include: (i)

familiarization tours for farmers to learn about new technologies;7 (ii) organization of in-country fairs to

invite and help identify international buyers for agribusiness products; and (iii) specific training for

stakeholders to promote the dairy value chain (and the second value chain to be selected under the project).

Subcomponent 3.2: Support for strengthening private sector skills in tourism. Some of the skilled

professionals and semi-skilled workers required by the tourism sector currently exist in Tajikistan, but there is

a need to further professionalize them and to provide structured programs to create these skills at scale. The

project will:

o For high-skilled workers, offer grants to incentivize local universities (e.g. the University of Central Asia)

to develop curricula for higher education. Grants (scholarships) will also be offered to a limited number

of students. These grants will be channeled directly to the learning institutions on behalf of the students.

These will target workers, including tour guides, hospitality managers, supervisors and managers of

tourism sites, etc. and preference for admission and scholarships will be given to vulnerable groups.

7 These include learning about smart farming, public-private partnerships, formation of farmers’ organizations, agriculture sector commercialization, state

of the art thinking and technologies for agro-processing and so on.

47

o For mid-skilled workers, offer grants to vocational and continuing education schools (such as the Central

Asia School of Continuing Education) to support the development of curricula (including English

language skills) and certification programs to ensure “recognition of prior learning”, possibly in

collaboration with an internationally recognized body. Grants (scholarships) will also be offered to a

limited number of students. These will target workers, including cooks, driver, etc. and preference for

admission and scholarships will be given to vulnerable groups.

o For low-skilled workers, offer on-the-job training for low-skilled workers. The on-the-job training will

be offered through grants that would allow individuals from vulnerable groups who meet the qualification

criteria to participate in training programs offered by large, established hotels in Dushanbe and other big

cities. The grants will be paid directly to these establishments on behalf of the students. These will target

workers, including waiters, cleaning staff, and landscaping crews, with preference given to individuals

from vulnerable groups8. English language skills will also be included. These programs will also be

offered in a mobile way by trainers visiting villages. This kind of training will be implemented in

collaboration with the schools of continuing education and other vocational schools.

Subcomponent 3.3: Business development services associated with the implementation of the grant

programs, skill building, and incubation services. o Business Development Services (BDS) will overcome the challenges associated with the need to

ensure that all potential beneficiaries, both in the public and private sector, can gain access to the various

grants under the project: this is crucial since the main target of the interventions are vulnerable groups in

rural areas that may face significant challenges of limited capacity and low level of access to information.

The BDS will be provided for all grant programs under components 1 and 2, as well as skills building

under subcomponent 3.2 with the objective not only to reach out to beneficiaries, but also to support them

in pre-application and implementation. In order to provide BDS for each set of grants, a set of providers

(“enablers”) will be competitively selected under the project. The “enablers” will be local NGOs,

consulting companies, Destination Management Organizations (DMO) and other service providers who –

once selected - will be provided a lump sum grant to defray the costs to reach out to beneficiaries and

support the application process, and will be rewarded with a “success fee” for each successful applicant

they convene and to whom they will provide follow-up and after care support.

Additionally, under this sub-component entrepreneurship incubation services9 (and supporting tools such as

including business plan competitions) will be rolled out in the two regions with the objective to further attract

private sector enterprises in agribusiness, tourism and related services. The incubation provider will be in

charge of outreach to communities to ensure good applications and ideas and will provide support for the

preparation of the initial proposals. The business plan competitions will be managed by the enablers. The

enablers will pre-screen the proposals and select those that would qualify for participation in the business

competition program. Participation in the program is not a guarantee to win and receive funding for the

implementation of the ideas. Rather, those who are shortlisted will go through a series of workshops facilitated

and led by the enablers that will guide the participants in finalizing their ideas and business plans, before

winning ideas are selected by the Grant Committee. A set of criteria will be prepared in the implementation

manual for the screening and selection of the participants and winners.

8 In addition, in collaboration with entities such as the University of Central Asia and the School of Continuing Education, complementary courses in basic English language

and soft and life skills will also be offered to workers in the tourism sector. These would be offered through mobile courses, where the trainers would visit groups of

communities to deliver these programs to the accepted applicants. 9 A private incubator already exists in Khorog (GBAO) and the WB team and the Government discussed the establishment of one (or, possibly, two) incubators in Khatlon, to

be supported under the project. The refurbishment of the facilities to house the incubators (including appropriate office furniture and goods) will be covered under Component

1 to provide public services for entrepreneurs (such as support with business registration, etc.) and could serve as temporary office space for the different stakeholders in the

project (especially beneficiaries and organizations mentioned under component 3.3).

48

Figure 4. The Implementation Structure for the REDP Grant Program

Component 4 - Project Coordination, Management and Implementation

This component will support overall project implementation. The existing PIU at the Ministry of Finance (MoF

PIU) will coordinate the whole project as a Project Coordination Unit (PCU) and implement agricultural

activities under the project as a PIU. The Tourism Development Committee will become a Project

Implementation Group for tourism activities under the project. The activities under this component include: (i)

Capacity building of the PCU and implementing agencies on project management, procurement, financial

management, safeguards, and monitoring and evaluation; (ii) Consulting services for project audit, if needed;

(iii) Recruitment of the Grant Manager under the project.

49

Annex 2. Details of Stakeholder Consultations

REDP consultations for the agribusiness interventions

The REDP team has organized a series of quick surveys and consultations with a number of potential

beneficiaries and stakeholders. The results of these consultations are summarized below.

1. Survey on the markets:

The project team implemented a survey for the markets in Khatlon. There are 117 agricultural

markets10 of which 45% are permanent 28% are day markets and 26 are livestock markets. 28% of the

all the markets are considered public. The Government of Khatlon distributed in March 2019 the short

survey questionnaire to all the markets and received expressions of interest for investment from five

public permanent market in Khatlon. The data received from the five markets is summarized in the

table 1 below. The markets have expressed interest in benefiting from support in either expanding the

place for sale of fruits and vegetables, rehabilitating the existing market infrastructures and building

warehouses or cold storages.

The average cost of investment for any given market is 95,339 USD, with a minimum of 85,000 USD

needed per market a maximum of 127,119 USD. (Table 2 below).

In addition to doing the agile survey, the project team consulted with several actors including the

Ministry of Agriculture, the Khatlon Governor, Tajimatlubot (Tajikistan’s Consumer Association),

donors (USAID, ADB, etc) and the Project Implementation Unit of the Agriculture Commercialization

Project. The stakeholders indicated the need for quality control labs (food safety labs) next to the

markets. The State Veterinary Supervision Service of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of

Tajikistan manage such laboratories. There is at least one laboratory in each district (There are 32

districts in Tajikistan of which 25 in Khatlon, and 7 in GBAO). Most of the laboratories do not meet

the requirements to operate properly. These state quality control labs would need basic and express

tests equipment, the average costs of which ranging from 10,000-15,00011 USD.

2. Survey on maximizing operational capacity with current and future processors

The project team surveyed potential beneficiaries of matching grants through a questionnaire

distributed in January 2019 to agro-processors. 14 processing enterprises responded to the

questionnaire. The purpose of the survey was to see what is preventing the companies from operating

at higher capacities and what type of investment needs would they have in order to operate at higher

capacities.

14 processing companies responded to the survey questionnaire. These are fairly new companies (the

oldest ones of them being established maximum eight years ago). Of these 5 processing enterprises are

processing livestock products (milk predominantly but also eggs and wool yarn) and the rest are into

the processing or wanting to enter the processing of fruits and vegetables and nuts (canned food, jams,

dried fruit, peanuts). The processors use local suppliers of raw materials for gathering the necessary

quantities for processing such as own and neighboring household farms. In order to operate at higher

capacities, the processing facilities would need to 1) to modernize equipment such as washing and

packaging, dry fruit processing; 2) build or rehabilitate storage close to the processing line in order to

10 As of 1st of January 2019 Khatlon Government Estimates 11 FAO Study, 2014: “Supporting dairy industry development and marketing in Tajikistan”

50

gather the raw inputs and store them during and after season; 3) further qualify employees through

training in order to operate the equipment.

3. Consultations with stakeholders at the Ministry of Agriculture premises

Date: 29-31 of January 2019

Location: Ministry of Agriculture, Dushanbe

Objective of the meetings: Consult with the Ministry of Agriculture on the design of the agribusiness

components and brainstorm on the main areas that need support in agribusiness, the costing of

interventions, the beneficiaries and the type of support needed.

Summary of the meetings:

The REDP team has held three days of consultations at the Ministry of Agriculture. The meetings were

chaired by the Deputy Minister Dj.Saidova in the first day and by the representatives of the Secretariat

of Agrarian Reform in the following days. The Ministry team invited to the consultations both internal

and external stakeholders. For a full list of attendance please see Annex 1.

The staff of the Ministry of Agriculture acknowledged the important role that the WB played in the

sector and welcomed the proposed project for the support of processing and storage facilities as well

as supporting the public infrastructure of the markets. The Ministry staff confirmed some of the

challenges that the country is facing in the two regions: the high waste of products because of lack of

storage and processing equipment (lack of calibration, washing, drying, canning, packaging, labelling)

both next to the farm and next to the market.

The Ministry staff advised on the necessity of having feasibility studies for the applicants to matching

grants for the support of markets and storage facilities. It would also be important for any of the

producer organizations applicant to matching grants to establish contracts with potential buyers and

potential suppliers to prove the demand and capacity to deliver. Once operational, the cold storage

should be certified. SITABR AGRO is an example of well operating private storage facilities. This

feedback will be taken into account in the support to the government for the writing of the Operational

Manual for grants.

At the recommendation of the Ministry staff a sub-component was added for the provision of matching

grants to processors for certification with food safety and improvements in quality.

The participants to the meeting confirmed the estimated costs of processing technologies, certification

services and markets.

The ministry emphasized that support of public permanent markets is important as well as temporary

markets that are organized by communities at the village level. The needs of the markets include

support with basic infrastructure (toilets, storage) as well as support for food safety infrastructure (for

the laboratories that are close to the markets and might require express testing equipment).

The participants advised that on the training subcomponents, partnerships with existing local

processors could be envisaged for the training of future technologists and students studying in the

field. This was taken into consideration in the design of the project.

The Ministry of Agriculture expressed their continued support in the organization of future

consultations with potential beneficiaries as well as providing contacts of potential enables

organizations which could be helpful in the implementation of technical assistance for the project.

4. Follow-up consultations with potential project beneficiaries in Khatlon

51

During April 2019 five meetings have been organized to consult with district officials (in the first

meeting) and with groups of agricultural producers (the last four meetings) on the agribusiness

components. The results of the five meetings are summarized below. A. Meeting with the Head of Khukumat of the Hamadoni District.

Date: April 5, 2019

Place: Khamadoni district, Khatlon province

On April 5, a meeting was held with the Head of Khukumat of the Hamadoni District and his first

deputy. The Khamadoni district leadership was informed about the preparation of the REDP project,

goals, its main components, project implementation dates, etc. The Khamadoni district leadership

expressed hope for the support and development of vegetable growing and processing. The

management once again emphasized the willingness to cooperate and assist in implementing of the

project.

B. Meeting with leaders of group “Khuramzamin” (32 members, 8 women) in the Dhangara district of

Khatlon

Date: April 5, 2019

Place: Dangara district, Khatlon province

Participants: Asoev A. Leaders of group “Khuramzamin” (32 members, 8 women), land size of 40-45

hectares

Subject of discussions: Acquaintance with farmers and their activities, what plans for the development

of production and what kind of support they need, what assistance the project can provide.

The group leader is Asoev Anwar. The group consists of 32 members, 8 of whom are women. In total,

group members work on the 40-45 hectares of gardens and fields. Mainly they are engaged in

gardening, they are growing apricot, sweet cherry, apples, pears, etc. The crop is sold “from the field”,

part of the crop is handed over to a processing plant, which is in located another district (in Vakhsh).

Due to the lack of equipped warehouses, losses amount to 25-30% of the harvest.

They have plan (1) to build a warehouse of 5 tons, (2) to create processing of agricultural products.

Also required for the production of mini tractor and tillers for tillage and gardens.

Ready to co-finance the cost of building a warehouse and the purchase of equipment up to 30%.

C. Meeting with Leaders of group “Mekhnatobod in the Khamadoni district of Khatlon

Date: April 5, 2019

Place: Khamadoni district, Khatlon province

Participants: Shamsiddinov A. Leaders of group “Mekhnatobod” (27 members, 12 women), land size

of 3 hectares

Subject of discussions: acquaintance with farmers and their activities, what plans for the development


The leader of the group is A. Shamsiddinov, the group consists of 27 members, 12 of whom are

women. In total, the group members cultivate 3 hectares of orchards. Mainly engaged in gardening,

grown apples, pears and other fruits. Part of the crop is sold “directly from the field”, part of the crop

is dried and sold in a dried form. Due to the lack of equipped warehouses, losses sometimes amount to

40% of the harvest.

They have plan (1) to build a warehouse with an area of 100 sq.m., (2) purchase equipment for the

production of dried fruits, jams, etc. Ready to co-finance the cost of building a warehouse and the

purchase of equipment up to 50%.

52

D. Meeting with the leaders of the “Khusnobod” group

Date: April 5, 2019

Participants: Khasanov S. Leaders of group “Khusnobod” (25 members, 12 women), land size of 7

hectares, gardening



The group leader is Khasanov Sayumin, the group consists of 25 members, 12 of whom are women.

Group members cultivate 7 hectares of land and gardens. Mainly engaged in gardening, growing

apples, pears, etc. Crop sold "from the field", part of the crop is dried and sold in dried form. Due to

the lack of equipped warehouses, losses sometimes amount to 20% of the harvest.

They have plan (1) to purchase sorting equipment that they can use in cooperation with the

“Mekhnatobod” group. (2) They also need a warehouse, they are ready to use the warehouse of the

“Mekhnatobod” group. Ready to co-finance the cost of purchasing equipment and building a

warehouse up to 40%.

E. Meeting with “Farovon” group, Kulyab district, Khatlon province

Date: April 5, 2019

Place: Kulyab district, Khatlon province

Participants: Gulova Z. Leaders of group “Farovon” (25 members, 24 women),



The group leader is Gulova Z., the group consists of 25 members, 24 of whom are women. Group

members have ~ 70 cows of local breed. Milk yield per cow is on average 5 liters per day. Milk is

processed and sold to the Kulyab Dairy Plant. About 300 liters from group members are handed over

daily, and another 200 liters are extra from other houseland of jamoat. Losses are 10-20%.

They have plan (1) to purchase refrigerators for the members of the group and (2) organize a milk

collection point.

53

List of participants to the three-day discussions held at the premises of Ministry of Agriculture

on the interventions related to agribusiness for the REDP project

List of participants (discussions with WB project (January 29-31, 2019)

Name Organization Position Contacts

Dj.Saidova MoA Deputy of Minister 935029359

[email protected]

A.Kadyrov MoA Head of Department 934780555

[email protected]

F.Nabiev MoA Head of crop production

Department

985400813

[email protected]

F.Amonov MoA Head of international

Department

927100212

[email protected]

O.Khamidov MoA Deputy of Head of seed

production and breeding

Department

928919170

[email protected]

A.Shomamadov MoA Head of mechanization and

infrastructure development

Department

935373537

[email protected]

S.Salimov MoA Leading Specialist of

livestock, poultry farming,

fish and beekeeping

Department

985175170

[email protected]

F.Mahsumov Ecolog International Supply chain / quality

standards Specialist

934443535

farkhod.Makhsumov@ecol

og-international.com

N. Zevarshoeva NIRAS Deputy of Team Leader 777070729

nazira.Zevarshoeva@niras.

com

N.Sattorov MoA Secretariat on Agrarian

Reform

918675734

[email protected]

Z.Mahmudova MoA Secretariat on Agrarian

Reform

935700760

[email protected]

om

mailto:[email protected]









54

REDP consultations on the tourism interventions

The REDP team had consultations with tour operators in Dushanbe and Bokhtar to validate the

components of the project and the results of the online tourism survey that the World Bank team

conducted. The details of the two consultations are presented below.

The World Bank Team has conducted a survey of international and local tour operators in

preparation of the REDP project. An online survey was conducted for data collection and published

in two languages (English and Russian) to capture both domestic and international operators. A

questionnaire compromising of 58 questions was posted on Survey Gizmo. The survey was open from

August 10th until September 10th, 2018. Approximately 165 emails were sent to international and

domestic tour operators offering tours in Tajikistan and Central Asia. In particular, the team targeted

30 international, 15 Russian operators, and 120 domestic operators.

The survey was made of 47 questions for operators which have organized tours in the past 5 years

and 11 questions for operators which have never visited Tajikistan but are interested in the future. The selection of the targeted operators was done in the following ways: (1) 120 contacts were obtained

from the Committee of Tourism Development for the Republic of Tajikistan (CDT); (2) a desk

research was conducted to find the right emails for adventure travel operators; (3) and an expert

adventure travel consultant, a member of Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), posted the

survey on an online ATTA forum. In addition, the survey used Face to Face interviews to gather more

responses from domestic operators in Tajikistan – while filling in the online questionnaire. 44

individual respondents answered the survey: 30 tour operators who covered tours in Tajikistan (of

which 20 were domestic and 10 were international operators) and 12 Tour Operators and 2 association

do not cover tours in Tajikistan. The sample size covered 8% of the foreign tourists that visited

Tajikistan for leisure purposes in 2017. Although the sample is quite representative of the international

tourists, it merely captured the operators who bring CIS tourists who represented 75% of the total

tourist arrivals in 2017.

1. Consultation with tourism representatives in Dushanbe

Date: 25 January 2019

Location: World Bank Office, Sozidanie Business Center, 48 Aini street, 3rd Floor

Number and profile of participants: 10 representatives from the Committee on Tourism

Development, Tourism associations (TATO – the Tajik Association of Tourism Associations; PECTA

– The Pamirs Eco-Cultural Tourism Association; TCBTA – the Tajik Community Based Tourism

Association), tour operators (Pamir Silk Travel co, Orient Adventure, etc) and Tourism Civil Society

Organizations (CSOs, e.g. Tiabadust). A full list of attendance is attached to this document (picture).

Objective of the meeting: To present and validate with tourism representatives the REDP project

components and the results of the tourism survey implemented by the WB team

Summary of the meeting:

The participants validated the tourism interventions of the REDP project. Firstly, the participants

acknowledged the need to boost the promotion of the country either through silk road packages or

single country itineraries. For example, social media and tourism influencers could be invited to

Tajikistan for familiarization tours. Secondly, there is a shortage of accommodation facilities: in June,

during the season, most of the hotels and guesthouses in GBAO are fully booked; the existing

homestays could provide better quality or conditions for the accommodation of international tourists.

There are not enough rest stops on the way from Dushanbe to Khorog. The international tourists

visiting Tajikistan are mostly interested in adventure and cultural tourism. Domestic tourists are more

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interested in religious and spa treatments. Thirdly, the participants acknowledged the need to enhance

the training of tour guides and providing options for employment outside the season, to prevent the

labor migration of trained guides to other regions.

The survey results were validated by the participants to the consultations workshop organized in

January 2019 and feedback was given based on individual experiences. The participants

acknowledged that GBAO is a stronger pole of attraction than Khatlon and there are more tours

organized in GBAO than in Khatlon. The international tour operators use local operators to organize

tours in Tajikistan. The highest share of the touristic package price is the transportation cost due to the

high cost of road transport. The air connectivity of Tajikistan to other countries is limited and tour

operators often choose to start their silk road tours in neighboring countries. The participants

confirmed the gender and age demographics of the international tourists which book tours through the

tour operators who responded to the survey. Homestays were acknowledged as the type of

accommodation preferred by international tourists in GBAO. The local restaurants were validated to

be the main source of food while on tours, and their sanitation and food safety conditions could be

improved. The operators gave feedback on how to better cluster the categories of origin countries

where international tourists are coming from, the type of activities that tourists are interested in.

2. Consultation with tourism representatives in Bokhtar

Date: 28 January 2019

Location: Fidokor NGO, Bokhtar

Number and profile of participants: 6 representatives from tour operators and CSOs which are in

charge of the promotion of tourism in their region (Saidro Khusor or Fidokor, CSOs).

Objective of the meeting: To present and validate with tourism representatives the REDP project

components and the results of the tourism survey implemented by the WB team

Summary of the meeting:

The participants validated the tourism interventions of the REDP project and the results of the

survey. The participants agreed with the proposal for project interventions. They explained that there

are a small number of tour operators and Civil Society Organizations with destination management

services in Khatlon and that they are new and lack knowledge on how to operate a tourism business.

These would need training on how to create a business, how to connect with foreign demand, how to

better serve international tourists and how to operate their businesses and be legally compliant. The

organizations confirmed he much smaller number of tourists who are visiting Khatlon in comparison

to GBAo but acknowledged that there are opportunities for tourists to stop in Khatlon on the way to

GBAO. To better promote their touristic assets, the tourism firms and CSOs would also need money to

develop maps with regional or local itineraries and sites. Some of the existing promotional materials

exist in local languages but they have not yet been translated into English. The participants

emphasized the need to rehabilitate the historical sites, the sanitation infrastructure around them and

the Spas. There are a number of local organizations which have been formed and involved in donor

projects in the past on tourism promotions and such lists should be made available by donors (for

example UNDP supported the Sadoi Khosor CSO for the development of eco-tourism through their

small Grants Programe of the Global environmental Facility).

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