REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN

RURAL ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP)

March, 2019

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CONTENTGlossary...............................................................................................................................................4List of Abbreviations & Acronyms...................................................................................................61. Introduction.....................................................................................................................................8

1.1 Purpose of the SEP....................................................................................................................81.2 About the Project.......................................................................................................................81.3 Scope and Structure of the SEP................................................................................................9

2. Description of the Administrative, Policy and Regulatory Framework..............................102.1 Key National Sector Specific Legal Provisions......................................................................102.2 Key National Social Legal Provisions and Citizen Engagement............................................112.3 World Bank Environmental and Social Standard on Stakeholder Engagement.....................12

3. Summary of Previous Stakeholder Engagement Activities......................................................143.1. Key Stakeholder Meetings and Consultations.......................................................................143.2 Community Meetings and Potential Beneficiary Needs Assessments in Agribusiness..........153.3 Community Meetings and Potential Beneficiary Needs Assessment Surveys in Tourism.....163.4 Lessons Learned in Engaging Communities / Stakeholders from Previous Projects.............17

4. Staheholder Mapping, Segmentation and Analysis...................................................................194.1 Stakeholder Mapping..............................................................................................................194.2Stakeholder Segmentation/ Prioritization................................................................................214.3Stakeholder Analysis................................................................................................................23

5. Institutional Analysis....................................................................................................................286. Impact Assessment and Risk Management................................................................................297. Stakeholder Engagement Activities............................................................................................318. Implementation Arrangements for Stakeholder Engagement.................................................36

8.1 Implementation Arrangements................................................................................................368.2 Roles and Responsibilities......................................................................................................368.3. Stakeholder Engagement Methods to be Used.......................................................................378.4 Proposed strategy to incorporate the view of vulnerable groups............................................388.5 Information disclosure.............................................................................................................398.6 Estimated Budget....................................................................................................................39

9. Grievance Redress Mechanism...................................................................................................409.1 Overall Process........................................................................................................................409.2 Procedures...............................................................................................................................409.3 Grievance Log.........................................................................................................................41

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9.4 Monitoring and Reporting on Grievances...............................................................................4110. Monitoring and Reporting of the SEP......................................................................................42Annex 1. Description of Project Components....................................................................................43Annex 2. Details of Stakeholder Consultations..................................................................................48

TABLESTable 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......................................36

FIGURESFigure 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 aninterest 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

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

· “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

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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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

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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, 2018December 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, 2018January 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.

Bokhtar, Dushanbe

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

Officials of Khatlon and

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

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GBAO administrations

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

Place Date Participants Key points raised

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.

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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

Place Date Participants Key points raised

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;

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.

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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 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

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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.

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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 **

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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 ***

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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

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

Sub-grant recipients, ES instruments implementers

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

Direct beneficiaries, peer-to-peer motivators

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

Direct beneficiaries, peer-to-peer motivators

Tourism support staff- cooks, drivers, cleaners, waiters

Direct beneficiaries, peer-to-peer motivators

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

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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 Level1. 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 Level1. Subgroup 2. Current Status 3. Concerns and issues 4. Expectations 5. Risks 6. Enabling Qualifiers

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.

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District Level1.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 level1. Subgroup 2. Current Status 3. Concerns and issues 4. Expectations 5. Risks 6. Enabling Qualifiers

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.

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

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

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

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

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agri MSMEs processors processors. 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 Vulnerable1. Subgroup 2. Current Status 3. Concerns and issues 4. Expectations 5. Risks 6. Enabling Qualifiers

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 AnalysisGroup/ 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

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6. Impact Assessment and Risk ManagementThe 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.

Community

The project will improve access to improved basic rural

Temporary limited access

Majority of the community members in

Negative social impacts will be avoided by the communications

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members infrastructure, youth inclusive services and livelihood activities

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.

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.

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.

Vulnerable 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.

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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 LevelMinistry 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

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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

Subgroup Levels of Engagement

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

Face to face, in writing

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,

Management of public infrastructure and tourism attraction sites

Interactive collaboration

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

Grant Consultation Planning face to face potential before E&S screening To meet the WB ESS Enablers

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applicants grant proposed site

submitting to the grant proposal

forms requirements together with grantees

Grant Committee

Interactive collaboration

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

To meet the WB ESS requirements

MOF PCU E&E specialist

Management of public infrastructure and tourism attraction sites

Interactive collaboration

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

Interactive collaboration

Implementation Workshops Subcontractors or enabler’s office

as needed Subcontractor’s ESMP, LMP developed

To meet the WB ESS requirements

MOF PCU supported by enablers

Subproject level - Level of Engagement for Component 2

Subgroup Levels of Engagement

Project Phases Channels of Engagement

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

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

Small- and medium-scale processors and

Interactive collaboration

Planning face to face, virtual

Management organizations and enablers

Two weeks prior grant submission

Grant proposal package

To provide technical assistance in proposal designing

Enablers, business incubators

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storage providers

offices deadline

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

To arrange for potential applicants outreach

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

To arrange for potential applicants outreach

Enablers, business incubators

Grant applicants

Consultation Planning Face to face potential grant proposed site

before submitting grant proposal

E&S screening forms

To meet the WB ESS requirements

Enablers together with grantees

Grant Committee

Interactive collaboration

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

To meet the WB ESS requirements

MOF PCU E&E specialist

Small- and medium-scale processors and storage providers

Interactive Collaboration

Implementation, post implementation

Face to face, in writing

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

Interactive collaboration

Implementation Workshops Subcontractors or enablers offices

As needed Subcontractor’s ESMP, LMP developed

To meet the WB ESS requirements

MOF PCU supported by enablers

Subproject level - Level of Engagement for Component 3

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Subgroup Levels of Engagement

Project Phases Engagement Channels

Venue Frequency Instruments Purpose Responsible Party(-ies)

Enablers/BDS providers/business incubation service 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 administer capacity building activities at the local level

Grant Manager

BDS providers/business incubation service providers

Interactive Collaboration

Implementation, post implementation

Face to Face, in writing, online

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

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8. Implementation Arrangements for Stakeholder Engagement

8.1 Implementation ArrangementsThe 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.

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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.

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.

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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 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,

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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 groupsThe 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 disclosureThe 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 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

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

8.6 Estimated BudgetAt 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.

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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

41

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 levelo 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;

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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.

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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 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).

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.

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· 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).

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· 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.

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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. oBusiness 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).

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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.

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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 gather the raw inputs and store them during and after season; 3) further qualify employees through training in order to operate the equipment.

10 As of 1st of January 2019 Khatlon Government Estimates 11 FAO Study, 2014: “Supporting dairy industry development and marketing in Tajikistan”

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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

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.

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A. Meeting with the Head of Khukumat of the Hamadoni District.

Date: April 5, 2019Place: 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, 2019Place: 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, 2019Place: Khamadoni district, Khatlon provinceParticipants: 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 of production and what kind of support they need, what assistance the project can provide.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%.

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D. Meeting with the leaders of the “ Khusnobod” group

Date: April 5, 2019Participants: Khasanov S. Leaders of group “Khusnobod” (25 members, 12 women), land size of 7 hectares, gardening 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 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, 2019Place: Kulyab district, Khatlon provinceParticipants: Gulova Z. Leaders of group “Farovon” (25 members, 24 women), 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 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.

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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 935029359jamila_a@mail.ru

A.Kadyrov MoA Head of Department 934780555ahmad_kadirov@mail.ru

F.Nabiev MoA Head of crop production Department

985400813Nabiev_0249@mail.ru

F.Amonov MoA Head of international Department

927100212dfa@moa.tj

O.Khamidov MoA Deputy of Head of seed production and breeding Department

928919170n.odil@mail.ru

A.Shomamadov MoA Head of mechanization and infrastructure development Department

935373537Sunrise_0249@mail.ru

S.Salimov MoA Leading Specialist of livestock, poultry farming, fish and beekeeping Department

985175170salim.salimo85@inbox.ru

F.Mahsumov Ecolog International Supply chain / quality standards Specialist

934443535farkhod.Makhsumov@ecolog-international.com

N. Zevarshoeva NIRAS Deputy of Team Leader 777070729nazira.Zevarshoeva@niras.com

N.Sattorov MoA Secretariat on Agrarian Reform

918675734sattorov_n@inbox.ru

Z.Mahmudova MoA Secretariat on Agrarian Reform

935700760zara.mahmudova@gmail.com

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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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