Rural Economy Development Project

The development objective of the Rural Economy Development Project for Tajikistan is to improve the sources of livelihood for local populations in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) and Khatlon through tourism and agribusiness. The project comprises of four components. The first component aims to improve public infrastructure for the development of tourism, agribusiness, and related sectors. It consists of following sub-components: (i) public investments in historical and cultural tourism sites; (ii) grants to communities, municipalities, and not-for-profit organizations to improve tourism and agribusiness infrastructure and develop local tourism attractions; and (iii) public investments in touristic signage. The second component, support to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and entrepreneurs in the tourism, agribusiness, and related sectors aims to facilitate entrepreneurial activities and increase MSMEs’ growth and employment in the tourism, agribusiness, and related sectors. It consists of following sub-components: (i) matching grants to farmers and agribusiness MSMEs to support post-harvest storage and processing; (ii) matching grants to farmers and processors in two agribusiness value chains; and (iii) matching grants to tourism-related MSMEs to improve services and offerings. The third component aims to: (i) improve the capacity of tourism and agribusiness public agencies, operators, and service providers and (ii) help beneficiaries apply for and implement the grants and matching grants funded by the project. It consists of following sub-components: (i) technical assistance and capacity building for tourism and agribusiness public agencies and skill development for tourism providers; and (ii) technical assistance to help beneficiaries of grants and matching grants to design, submit, and implement grant proposals. The fourth component, project coordination, implementation and grant program management and administration will support overall...