Republic of Congo - Poultry and Aquaculture Development Project

Overview & Synopsis

Poultry And Aquaculture Development Project for the Republic of Congo, with development objectives to improve competitiveness and resilience of target poultry and aquaculture value chains. Components are as follows: Component 1: Strengthening Sector Foundations, with Sub-components that include Sub-component 1.1 Support to increased feed availability, which will raise the production and supply of maize and soybean for affordable feed, facilitate structured linkages between producer organizations (POs) and feed manufacturers through productive alliances and out-grower models, and provide technical assistance (TA) and competitive matching grants to POs and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including support for black soldier fly protein to reduce fishmeal use; Sub-component 1.2 Support to fingerlings and day-old chick (DOC) production, which will rehabilitate and expand public hatchery and nursery capacity, improve broodstock and biosecurity, certify and license private nurseries, and enable private DOC and fingerling supply through TA and competitive grants; Sub-component 1.3 Support to skills and technical capacity strengthening, which will establish reference centers for technology, diagnostics, and innovation, upgrade extension, advisory, and animal health services including biosecurity systems, and accelerate adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies through competitive Technology Adoption Grants for POs, women, and youth; and Sub-component 1.4 Support to productive climate-resilient infrastructure, which will develop priority infrastructure in Protected Agricultural Zones (ZAP) such as reliable and renewable power, climate-resilient market and cold chain facilities, and last-mile digital connectivity, with facilitation of public-private partnerships (PPP) where feasible. Component 2: Strengthening the Policy and Regulatory Framework, which will enforce the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) cooperative law to formalize POs, streamline import procedures for breeding and broodstock, strengthen licensing and oversight of nurseries and hatcheries for quality and biosecurity, establish and enforce sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures to ensure food safety and fair competition, and operationalize a sectoral public-private dialogue platform. Component 3: Expanding Access to Finance, which will build upstream market readiness by strengthening financial institutions (FIs) through agridesks, tailored credit appraisal tools, and loan officer training; introduce and scale technology-enabled agricultural insurance with awareness campaigns and Agri-Insurance Premium Grants for eligible beneficiaries; support partnerships with AgTechs to digitize value chain transactions and farmer onboarding; and, subject to satisfactory progress at midterm review, consider downstream instruments such as a targeted line of credit and risk mitigation mechanisms. Component 4: Project Management, which will provide coordination, procurement, financial management, monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge management through a central Project Management Unit and Department Support Units. Component 5: Contingent Emergency Response, which will enable rapid reallocation of uncommitted funds to respond to eligible emergencies under an approved manual and action plan.