International Donors: Agrarian Sector in Azerbaijan Needs Formation of Value Chains

Azerbaijan continues to hold meetings with representatives of international donor organizations to promote the development of agriculture. The main thesis of these meetings is to develop value chains in many areas of agricultural production. This is stated in the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture.

"In 2014, the value chain from production to implementation of four agricultural products (tea, berries, silk and wine) was analyzed. The need to take effective measures was identified to establish a system of education, consulting, subsidies and taxes to ensure real development of production in these areas," said the head of the project of the European Union Olaf Heidelbach at the Azerbaijan representation.

According to the international expert Martin Mautner Markhof, in Azerbaijan manufacturers have difficulties to enter the markets and refiners are faced with problems of supply of raw materials, so it is necessary to find a mechanism of association of farmers with processors. Martin Markhof, a consultant to the project "Strengthening the competitiveness of agriculture," believes that achieving this goal will replace imports to the food sector at the expense of local production and apply the latest technology for the development of value chains.

Donors attach particular importance to finding more effective mechanisms for the agricultural sector lending and insurance. To address these issues, there is cooperation with the Frankfurt School of Business and Finance, said the head of the State Service for agricultural credit and credit management MoA Rufat Rustamzadeh.

The donors' meeting in the Ministry of Agriculture was attended by representatives of the World Bank, the EU, the IDB, GIZ, USAID and FAO. -08D-