Towards Rural Inclusive Growth and Economic Resilience (TRIGGER)

Project description and sector (up to three relevant areas can be specified for the reference projects of the expression of interest). Subject of the tender are activities within the GIZ programme “Towards Rural Inclusive Growth and Economic Resilience (TRIGGER)” in Tajikistan. The overall goal of the programme is to improve the competitiveness and to increase the income and economic performance of MSMEs and small producers in selected value chains in order to contribute to sustainable economic development in the country. To achieve the goal, the programme has three main intervention areas:

• Output A “business enabling environment”: promotes an enabling business environment and regulatory framework
• Output B “value chain development”: addresses the capacity of market actors within selected value chains (agriculture, construction/energy-efficient housing) and their market linkages. Through facilitating advice, training and financial support, the programme will also support value chain actors to adapt their business models in ways that benefit them and are inclusive
• Output C “business development services”: supports commercial service providers that increase the performance of value chains and that are relevant for several value chains (cross-sectoral services).

Together, these intervention areas lead to changes that enable inclusive business models to be more competitive, which in return contribute to inclusive economic growth and consequently to increased employment and income for poverty reduction. The economic empowerment of women and girls is an integral element of the programme approach.

Focus of this tender is related to the promotion of agrarian value chains within the intervention areas B and C:

As part of intervention area B, financial services that are adjusted to the needs of the value chain actors (“embedded” financial services) are an important means to facilitate market linkages and ensure improved performance of individual value chain actors as well as better competitiveness of the value chains overall. The programme promotes existing and new financial products and services within the selected value chains as well as new delivery channel. It further improves the effectiveness and efficiency of these services. The contractors tasks comprises:

• Identification and development as well as strengthening of embedded financial products and services (credit, pre-financing, purchasing guarantees, insurance)
• Support to strengthen effectiveness and cost structure of embedded financial services
• Linkages to financial services providers for refinancing if required and feasible.

Within intervention area C, commercial service providers are supported to develop business models that offer (transacted) fee based services to MSME and smallholder clients in areas such as agricultural inputs, machinery and marketing. The contractors’ tasks comprise:

• Development of commercially viable agricultural advisory services: identification and strengthening of service providers, development of business models of service providers for services related to primary production and improved performance of the entire value chain
• Development of commercially viable services for enterprise development: identification and strengthening of service providers, development of business models of service providers to build the capacity of individual value chain actors on issues related to business performance (e.g. business and financial management, compliance with national and international quality and safety standards, upgrading of processing, packaging, marketing technology and capacity).

Key indicators for intervention area C are:

• Number of clients that use the commercial services
• The extent to which adapted service packages are financially sustainable
• Number of adapted commercial services offered by the commercial businesses

It is anticipated that the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) together with substantial co-financing from UK aid through DFID will commission us to implement the above project.