The project that will support the agriculture sector in the context of climate change, approved in March 2023, is expected to become effective in February of this year.

The World Bank announced that this came as a result of the Government’s request, which sought the new start date to be February 15 of this year.

“The project was approved on March 16, 2023, and the loan agreement was signed on August 4, 2023. The loan has not yet been ratified by Parliament, and the project has not yet been declared effective.

At the Government’s request, a new effectiveness deadline has been set, which is February 15, 2024. The ratification of the loan and then the effective declaration of the project, meeting additional effectiveness conditions before the new deadline, which is February 15, 2024, is crucial for the timely start of project activities,” the Bank stated in a preliminary project assessment document.

This financial institution is supporting the Climate Resilience and Agriculture Development project with a fund of 70 million US dollars, divided into three components.

The first component promotes climate-smart agriculture and market access with a cost of 44 million US dollars. The second component focuses on increasing compliance with food safety and quality standards with a value of 22 million US dollars. The third component strengthens the evidence-based analysis capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and municipalities, costing 4 million US dollars.

The development objective of the project is to increase the competitiveness and climate sustainability of critical agri-food value chains.

Some indicators that will be measured during this project include the sale of agricultural products by farmers through Micro Centers and food collection. Farmers connected to pressure and, as per request, public water service in project areas.

Total energy consumption for irrigation and covered cultivation schemes powered by renewable energy produced according to the project. Agricultural activities in dedicated clusters or women’s participation in activities related to food hubs.

Climate change has become a real concern for various sectors in the global economy, and agriculture is one of them. Among the risks facing the sector is a decline in productivity or an increase in pests in different regions due to rising temperatures, rainfall intensity, and other indicators. The year 2023 is considered the hottest ever globally since the beginning of recording data in 1850.