The European Union on April 25 granted EUR 6 million to the Government of Uzbekistan to help incentivize the adoption of National Food Security and Healthy Nutrition Strategy. In addition to the grant, technical assistance funded by the European Union will support the Ministry of Agriculture in planning reforms, the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan reported.
More grants are expected this and next year, as an agreement between the EU and the Government of Uzbekistan foresees the disbursement of a total of EUR 20 million to support the implementation of the National Agriculture Development Strategy for 2020-2030. The overall objective is to support the transition towards market-orientated and sustainable agri-food sector that provides more jobs and incomes to the people of Uzbekistan and increases access to safe and nutritious food.
“The agri-food sector is critical for Uzbekistan’s economy and is a major source of employment. Moreover, family farms produce the majority meat and vegetables consumed by Uzbek citizens. Therefore, we focus on those reforms that enable these dehkan farms to prosper, to adapt to a changing climate, to protect the environment, to produce healthy food, and to become part of local and global value chains. The grant funding together with other European Union initiatives such as GSP+ will also help to boost the exports to the EU,” said the EU Ambassador to Uzbekistan Charlotte Adriaen.
The European Union is the main provider of grant funding to the agri-food sector in Uzbekistan. In addition to EUR 20 million of grants to be disbursed, the EU has already supported the reform with a budget of EUR 32.5 million to the sector between 2020 and 2023.
