According to bank's website, the proposed project aims to finance a concessional credit line through a revolving fund that will be managed by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) through its Credit Line Management Unit (CLMU) and operated by the Guarantee Fund as the credit line management company/agent. The revolving fund will provide zero-interest loans to new and existing agrobusinesses and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including members of the government's One Village One Product (OVOP) program, including agroforestry and other agrobusinesses from rural communities of selected nine districts (raions) of Osh, Jalal-Abad, Issyk-kul, and Naryn oblasts that are affected by land degradation. It will also finance the refurbishment of production/ training/visitor centers within these communities to further support the agrobusinesses and MSMEs and provide them with technical and advisory support to ensure their long-term economic viability. The project will be implemented by the MoF through its CLMU, which has extensive experience in project implementation, including ESS9, with excellent track record. It will provide access to concessional finance, diversify livelihood activities, and create new sustainable livelihoods for communities in the target areas. By diversifying communities' economic activities, including agroforestry, the project will help reduce the overgrazing pressure on degraded landscapes and help restore them, thus enhancing the resilience of the landscapes to mudflows and floods. The project will complement and scale up ongoing land restoration activities carried out under the RESILAND CA+ Program: Kyrgyz Republic Resilient Landscape Restoration Project (P177407, approved on February 27, 2024) (KG RESILAND project) in these four oblasts. The KG RESILAND project is enhancing the resilience of degraded transboundary landscapes through a combination of upstream (mountain slope) green (nature-based solutions, NBS) and soil and water engineering solutions and downstream climate-resilient gray and hybrid solutions in areas most affected by mudflows and land degradation, in addition to improvement in hazard monitoring, forecasting, and planning. It includes a small livelihoods activity (US$500,000), where OVOP Kyrgyzstan mobilizes mudflow-affected communities from the four regions, and helps them with the identification of unique products from local materials, branding, value addition, and marketing. The proposed project will be considered parallel financing to the KG RESILAND project and scale up its livelihood beneficiary reach within the Osh, Jalal-Abad, Issyk-Kul and Naryn oblasts. It will emphasize the importance of engaging communities in green jobs by participating in land restoration - green and NBS solutions, and in further institutionalizing the management and maintenance of restored landscapes.

Environmental and Social Risk: M

Total Project Cost: US$ 3.02 million

Commitment Amount: US$ 2.80 million 

Task Team Leader: Aidai Bayalieva 

Title: Senior Environmental Specialist 

Email: abayalieva@worldbank.org 

TTL Contact: Ms. Anisi 

Title: Senior Operations Officer

Email: awan@worldbank.org 

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