Private Sector Development
Agribusiness Development

Pragma has considerable experience with facilitating trade and investment for agriculture-based businesses worldwide and is a leader in developing best practices and strategies to foster growth and sustainability. It offers the following agribusiness environment and management support:

• Agribusiness regulatory and policy analysis and development, along with agriculture-related reform in areas such as structural adjustment, agricultural policy, and financial sector reform

• Agribusiness enterprise development that promotes small agribusiness development, rural financial services, business and trade association development, and business information services

• Agribusiness financial advisory services, including financial analysis, investment services and joint venture formation, access assistance to capital markets, valuation services, privatization, feasibility analysis, and preparation of “investable” business and financial plans for new and restructured agribusiness ventures

• Strategic agricultural production and agribusiness marketing through agribusiness market identification and entry strategies, export promotion and market development, agricultural extension and training, and packaging and transportation of fresh and fragile products to minimize post-harvest losses

• Food safety and food quality management consistent with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)

• Trade and investment promotion of domestic products

• Technical training to agribusiness producers and associations

This assistance increases quality, production, and consumer acceptance of domestic products. Furthermore, the identification of export markets for local products adds new opportunities and growth potential.

Pragma places special importance on analyzing the impact of public policies and multilateral agreements on agribusiness, agricultural development, and environmental management. Our broad agribusiness perspective allows for quick recognition and assessment of the potential for government programs and policies to assist or distort markets. Of particular importance, and of potential benefit, is the identification of competitive and sustainable export products and investments in rural infrastructure facilities needed for the production, processing, and transportation of these export products.

In the Ferghana Valley Region of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, as part of our Enterprise Development Project, Pragma implemented the Ferghana Valley Agroprocessing Initiative (FVAI)—a high-impact pilot project that strengthens agroprocessing in the region so that the sector can contribute more significantly to economic growth and employment in the Ferghana Valley. The FVAI also increased cross-border trade and stimulated greater investment in the region by helping firms produce more high-quality agricultural goods that improve market access. FVAI has identified key areas that limit transactions and stifle growth of the industry, and used that information as a platform from which donors could begin delivering targeted technical assistance, training, and financing to local firms. The FVAI pilot project ended in May 2004. Some of its key accomplishments were:

• Launched Farmer Training Program. A total number of 48 groups comprised of 405 farmers finished the training program

• Introduced 7 US tomato and cucumber varieties

• Registered 3 Fruit and Vegetable Associations

• Negotiated $1.68 Million Kidney Bean export trade deal from Kyrgyzstan to Eastern Europe

• Established pilot drip irrigation for greenhouse export farmers

• Introduced improved agriculture technology in Tajikistan

In Azerbaijan, Pragma implements a highly successful Rural Enterprise Competitiveness Program (RECP). The primary focus of the program is identifying and developing market opportunities and improving competitiveness of agribusinesses throughout the market chain. The program has facilitated improvements in the marketing, internal capacity, and product quality of local processors and producers, increasing their sales and market visibility. In the first three years of its existence, RECP has compiled a success record that includes an increase of over $30 million in sales, $5 million in investment, and over 1,000 new jobs, 40 percent of which are held by women.

The RECP has established a local entity, the Azerbaijan Agribusiness Center (AAC), through which it has been implementing development of the agribusiness sector of Azerbaijan. This was done to ensure the future provision of support activities to the agricultural sector – the AAC will continue to provide services to the Azerbaijan agribusiness community on a sustainable basis after the RECP project has ended. AAC provides a wide range of expertise to its agribusiness clients in the areas of:

• Production – machinery service supply; product development; improving links to processors; market linkages; and modernization of production techniques and inputs

• Marketing – research on domestic and export markets; market surveys, plans, and strategies; market identification

• Processing – linkages to supply, improvement of process efficiency and equipment; food safety and quality; HACCP; packaging

• Logistics – collection and distribution centers, wholesale markets; transport; and machinery custom service

• Finance and credit – bankable deals; agribusiness development foundations; alliances or partnerships for development; facilitation of leasing; trade and contract finance mechanisms; asset registration; and machinery and facility targeted credit and investment

To stimulate awareness of Azeri products in Azerbaijan, AAC has designed and launched a “BUY AZERI” Marketing Campaign. The campaign focuses on promoting the local food industry, increasing consumer awareness, and influencing purchasing behavior. The AAC will continue to build on this campaign through work with producers. Additionally, the AAC promotes its activities and highlights timely topics of interest to agribusinesses in Azerbaijan through a newsletter now published quarterly. Furthermore, the AAC website, www.aac.az, is updated regularly.

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