| Project Detail |
Project Development Objective
PDO Statement
Improve competitiveness in targeted agricultural sub-sectors and strengthen agricultural public sector readiness for EU
accession.
PDO Level Indicators
22. The achievement of the project outcomes will be measured through the following PDO-level indicators:
(a) Farmers adopting improved agricultural technology. (Definition: This is a corporate results indicator. In the
context of the project, this indicator measures the number of project beneficiaries who have adopted an
improved agriculture technology promoted by the project. This refers to beneficiaries’ acquired knowledge in
modern production techniques, including better pest and disease control, improved production practices, and
climate-smart practices, which will allow them to be more competitive in the market.)
(b) Percentage of agricultural produce marketed in compliance with quality standards. (Definition: This indicator
measures the changes in quantity and quality of marketed agricultural produce by using information from the
records of the Collection and Conditioning Centers (CCCs) on (a) volume purchased from beneficiary farmers and
(b) produce class sorting for the main project-supported crops. Improvements are expected in terms of volume
bought by the CCCs and the quality of the produce, reflecting enhancements related to food safety, food hygiene
and product quality classifications.)
(c) Share of EU CAP 2021-2027 Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Framework Indicators recorded in North
Macedonia. (Definition: This indicator measures the change of the Monitoring and Evaluation system for
agricultural and rural development policy design and implementation supported by the project in terms of its
coherence with the European Unions Common Agricultural Policy post-2020 requirements, as envisaged in the
CAP post-2020 Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.)
(d) Tons of animal by-products safely disposed annually at the animal by-product facility. (Definition: This indicator
measures the change of safely disposed ABP at the project-supported facility, in compliance with EU
requirements.)
B. Project Components
23. The project aims to improve the competitiveness of North Macedonia’s agriculture sector and strengthen public
institutions in the framework of the country’s accession process to the EU. The project is structured along three
complementary components:
Component 1: Agriculture Sector Competitiveness (EUR32.0 million)
24. Component 1 aims at enhancing farm-level competitiveness and fostering agricultural produce aggregation and
integration of farmers to domestic and/or export markets. The component activities focus on technical assistance
(through training and advisory services) and off-farm infrastructure investments to complement existing IPARD measures
in on-farm productivity-enhancing investments. It includes the following two sub-components:
25. Sub-component 1.1 - Access to Training and Advisory Services (EUR1.30 million). The sub-component aims at
providing high-quality training and advisory services for agricultural producers and agribusinesses in two formats: First,
it will support targeted trainings on specific topics relevant for the beneficiaries of the CCCs and the Agri-food Platform
(AFP) to be established under sub-component 1.2 in the project areas (Resen, Strumica, Skopje). Such topics are
envisioned to include but not limited to: improvement of crop varieties specifically for exports; Global Good Agricultural
Practices (GAP); organic agriculture, and climate smart techniques. These trainings will be extended also to the NEA
advisors, to increase their capacity. Second, it will provide financial support to producers and agribusinesses throughout
North Macedonia in form of matching grants for on-demand advisory services by qualified advisors. Given the existing
advisory services by NEA or local government agricultural service staff that primarily support producers’ applications for
IPARD funds, the project-supported services are expected to enhance access to quality advise on improved production
and post-harvest practices, business management skills8
, marketing, etc. This will be done through the establishment of
an Advisory One-stop Shop that is expected to strengthen the attractiveness of the CCCs to be established under subcomponent 1.2.
26. Specifically, sub-component 1.1 will provide financing for technical assistance and consultants’ services to:
(a) carry out a skills needs and training analysis of agricultural producers and processors in the project areas; (b) develop
a database of vetted local consultants with extensive knowledge and expertise in various fields, including agricultural
production/processing, distribution, business planning and management, product innovation, marketing and sales and
others; (c) develop a manual of the principles and application procedures for project technical advisory services, including
eligibility criteria, contribution ceilings etc.; (d) develop and carry out a public awareness and information dissemination
program about the project’s technical advisory support program; and (e) the provision of approved eligible advisory
services to farmers. The information dissemination activities and the management of application process for technical
advisory assistance will be managed under the responsibility of the MAFWE and the NEA branch offices.
27. The project will finance a minimum of 50 percent of the cost of the technical advisory services per eligible
approved recipient farmer, based on comparable cost-sharing activities in other projects in the region. Criteria to be
considered in the application would also include support to “public goods” elements, such as agri-environmental
practices to reduce GHG emissions, adoption of water/ energy efficient technologies, and climate-smart technologies9,
or for specific support to woman, young and small farmers. Introduction of climate resilience and mitigation technologies
in the agricultural sector will lower the impacts of climate change to small and medium farmers and build their capacity
to better adapt to future climatic pressures. The sub-component – through technical advisory services – would also
promote the adoption of digital technologies, including online platforms, videos and other e-extension tools, in particular
to attract North Macedonia’s young agricultural labor force (40 percent of the agricultural land holders were under 45
years old in 2013).
28. Sub-component 1.2 - Agriculture and Food Distribution Systems (EUR30.7 million). This sub-component aims to
develop sustainable and competitive food storage and distribution systems to benefit producers, distributors and
consumers. The newly constructed centers will include storage capacity to help agricultural producers adapt to the risk
of extreme climatic changes by preserving their produce during harsh winters and hot summers. The newly constructed
food storage and distribution systems will be designed and built with high energy efficiency standards and the options
for use of solar energy will be explored to further reduce GHG emissions; the anticipated impacts of climate change and
climate related risks at the three locations will be considered to ensure climate resistance of new systems. The subcomponent will support the development and operation of two CCCs in Resen and Strumica municipalities, and an AFP
in Skopje suburban area, composed of a wholesale market and a logistics area. Specifically, the sub-component project
will support: (a) technical assistance for the preparation of feasibility studies, business plans, environmental and social
impact assessments, and detailed designs and construction supervision plans for all three facilities; (b) civil works for the
construction of three facilities; and (c) operational guidance for the start-up of activities. The facilities are expected to be
built on state-owned land and will be owned by the State. The CCCs will be managed through a public delegation service
contract to a private operator (cooperatives and/or agri-food sector company). For the AFP, two options have been
identified: (a) a public delegation service contract to a private experienced operator and (b) a public delegation service
contract to a semi-public company, with technical assistance for training of local personnel to operate and guide the
market operation for several years. Details on the CCCs and AFP and the operational management arrangements are
discussed in Annex 1.
Component 2: Institutional Capacity for EU Accession (EUR13.0 million)
29. Component 2 aims at enhancing public support services, including the capacity to design and deliver effective
support to the agriculture sector. It includes following three sub-components:
30. Sub-component 2.1 – Evidence-Based Policy-Making (EUR6.5 million). The sub-component will support two key
activities: (a) the establishment of a M&E system for agricultural and rural development policy design and
implementation and (b) an information system for management of state-owned agricultural land. Technical assistance,
goods, training and study tours will be supported to strengthen the MAFWE capacity for effective M&E and evidencebased policy making. Technical assistance will be provided for:
• Establishing an M&E system consistent with Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2020 requirements, as
described in the recent legislative proposals of the EC. The M&E system will allow to record all relevant indicators
-- context, output, result and impact -- as envisaged in the CAP post-2020 Performance Monitoring and Evaluation
Framework (PMEF) to guide evidence-based decision making in both agriculture and rural development policy,
including associated data collection, surveys, and evaluations.
• Strengthening MAFWE’s capacity to re-design the existing direct payment scheme in a manner that facilitates
compliance with current EU farm income support measures and integration of rural development measures into
a common policy framework.
• Mapping data currently collected (in terms of both variables and software/hardware environment) to assess (a)
the needs for and identify data variables to be stored in the platform and (b) the necessary software and
hardware infrastructure. The sub-component will provide support to establish one integrated data platform that
includes all relevant data associated with agriculture and rural development that is currently compiled by various
MAFWE Departments, AFSARD, NEA, State Statistical Office, and others for decision making at central level.
• Identifying a set of agriculture and rural development performance and impact indicators that can guide
evidence-based decision-making aligned with the CAP 2021-2027 PMEF.
• Developing data update and quality control procedures.
• Facilitating the creation and functioning of an agricultural and rural development evaluation system, including
support for ex-ante, ex-post and thematic evaluations to be carried out by independent experts.
• Creating an information system to improve climate knowledge as well as an information platform with key
climatic variables and data to be available to all agricultural stakeholders at the national level. |
