1- What ADDP stand for?

ADDP stands for 'Agribusiness Development and Diversification Project'. ADDP is a project working with the collaboration of the Government of Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank.

2- What is the (ADDP) Agribusiness Development and Diversification Project?

This project, that is, ADDP basically aims at helping the country use the yet undiscovered and dormant potential of this agricultural foundation of the economy; hence, strengthening not only the role of the agricultural sector in the economy but to reinforcing the economy itself.

The importance of such an initiative can not be over emphasized - in an agri-based such as ours. We need all the support and highlighting of this field. As despite advancement in many other areas, the importance of the agricultural sector is still dominant in contributing to the economy. It also provides the foundation of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), generates a great share of employment, and supplies raw material to the majority of industries.

3- What are the Major Areas ADDP focusing on:

ADDP plans to work on all areas of the agriculture but at the moment it is mainly focusing on the following two areas:

(i) Horticulture:

ADDP aims to help improve competitiveness of this important sector as well as to enhance the capability of the horti-businesses thereby exploiting its due potential.

ADDP will take advantage of the diverse horticultural products Pakistan produces. It will explore both the local and international markets. Then help the producers plan and promote sale and export of the products. At the moment our country's horticulture export capability is constrained because of a number of factors which have resulted in stagnation of exports and low returns to producers of horticulture products.

(ii) Livestock and Dairy:

ADDP wants to strengthen the capacity of this sector. In spite of Pakistan's being the 5th top milk producer in the world, this sector lacks the projection or revenue generation it can. One of the main reasons for this is the low yield per animal. ADDP aims to bridge the gap found in this sector through its interventions and technical assistance in important sectors of livestock and dairy.

4- What are the Aims and Objectives of the Project:

The main objective of this project is to use the agribusiness sector o support economic growth and employment generation in Pakistan. This will be achieved by making the developing sector more competitive and dynamic. To make this sector more active the project aims to help solve the constraints that obstruct the development of this sector, and also help discover and make use of domestic and export opportunities.

All these objectives will be realized by:

1. To ensure the production of uniform good quality products by improving the managing, producing, and processing skill levels of entrepreneurs and farmers.

2. To exploit all market opportunities by supporting the participating financial institutions (PFIs) and making them increase lending resources to agribusiness stakeholders.

3. To reorient government institutions in becoming facilitators of agribusiness development by encouraging public-private partnerships.

4. To encourage private sector and agribusiness lending institutes to invest in this sector by improving the policy, regulatory, and financial environment and making it more receptive to private sector needs.

5. To help our agribusiness sector comply with increasingly stringent international standards by establishing the right framework and implementation procedures to meet the standards.

5- What are the Components of the Project:

The Project comprises of the following components:

I. Agribusiness Support Service Provision:

The Project will facilitate increased access to Business Development Services (BDS). This will be done by financing suitable services for capacity building, including technical, managerial, financial, and marketing skills.

The Project has established an Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) to provide funds to qualified agribusiness enterprises, farmers, researchers and extension service providers, and BDS providers.

Eligible services for being financed by ASF include:

a) capacity-building and related assistance to existing agribusiness enterprises and for enterprise start-ups;

b) support to individual farmers and farmers' groups for the formation of legally registered agribusiness enterprises;

c) demand-driven research;

d) development of private sector extension services; and

e) support to private sector BDS providers.

II. Agribusiness Finance Development:

The Project is supporting the development of financial services, particularly credit, to agribusiness enterprises. Especially to those who do not have access to such services. The Project will support Participating Financial Instutions to develop their understanding of the potential agribusiness finance market, and subsequently, to enhance their capacity to undertake agribusiness lending.

The Project is acting as a catalyst to further improve the sector's environment & capacity financing to augment investment in agribusiness sector.

III. Agribusiness Capacity Building:

This component of the Project is helping develop capacity building in agribusiness with special focus on horticulture and horti-business sub-sector as well as livestock and dairy sub-sector.

In this component, the project will seek:

" To increase the private sector participation in the provision of services

" To facilitate agribusiness development and its compliance of international standards

" To support the rationalization, restructuring, and coordination of relevant agencies including Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Livestock (MINFAL), and concerned departments

- Curriculum Development:

This subsidiary of Capacity building component of the project will help to make the training and capacity building of project stakeholders effective. To carry out this successfully the curricula and course content are designed to train the employees and entrepreneurs to make them become competitive in the international market. To meet these criteria, the training the Project provides is focused on the following important areas of agribusiness:

(i) Creating awareness of Crop management,

(ii) Helping Concerned people learn the Post harvest processes with special reference to fresh fruit handling, fruit and vegetable processing, and cut flower trading,

(iii) Enhancing Small business management and entrepreneurial skills

(iv) Inculcating consciousness of following WTO regulations and standards with international compliance procedures

- Capacity Building and Entrepreneurial Interventions:

The Project's aims at developing capacity and entrepreneurial skills in the stakeholders at all levels

- Farmer Field Schools:

The FFS extension methodology is relatively new approach for farmer training but has been successfully piloted in Pakistan. The FFS focus is on farmers as decision makers in crop and pest management techniques and the use of non-formal adult education methods using farmers fields as the primary class-room for the training/learning process.It is estimated that during the Project life 625 TOTs and 1000 FFS (25000) farmers engaged with the production of 25 crops will benefit from TOT/FFS activities.

- Capacity Building for Skills Development:

It is proposed that during the project life a total of 40 GCCs and VTIs will be supported for introduction of relevant courses.

The estimated outreach of management courses in five years will be 2,016 beneficiaries through 252 courses, and in skills training 3,022 beneficiaries through 252 courses.

IV. Agribusiness Policy & Enabling Environment Development:

This component of the Project will assist the Government to develop an appropriate policy and environment, enabling for the private-sector-led agribusiness development. This includes national and provincial interventions to re-define roles and responsibilities in the sector in addition to strengthening the regulatory framework.

The Project will support the development of the regulatory framework, and establish quality and certification requirements for locally produced products to align these products with international standard requirements.

In particular, the Project will assist to formulate amendments in the legal framework in line with commitments made in regard to sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures in Pakistan's agreements with WTO.

The Project will also help MINFAL develop programs to collect and spread information relating to international standards to relevant stakeholders in both the private and public sectors.

- Market Information:

The Project will improve the availability of market information. This unavailability is as a significant constraint to agro-enterprise expansion. To streamline this process an appropriate private sector provider will be supported to develop a system that will collect and keep track of the market initially focusing on the 11 major domestic wholesale markets and major export markets for fruits and vegetables.

- Export Quality Certification:

Support will be provided to strengthen export quality certification in the country as well as make it widespread

- Seed and Planting Material Certification:

The Project will help strengthen the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSCRD) for seed and fruit tree nursery certification.

-Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board (PHDEB):

To develop effective linkages between the public and private agribusinesses, the Project will establish a horticulture unit within the private-sector-led PHDEB. The unit will help implement project activities in the horticulture sub-sector, and facilitate interaction with agribusiness enterprises.

- Livestock and Dairy Development Board:

The Project is supporting the establishment of a livestock and dairy development board (LDDB) as a corporate body, which will be playing a creative role in the livestock sector.

6- What is Good Agricultural Practice (GAP)

GLOBALGAP is a private sector body that sets voluntary standards for the certification of agricultural products around the globe.

The GLOBALGAP standard is primarily designed to reassure consumers about how food is produced on the farm by minimising detrimental environmental impacts of farming operations, reducing the use of chemical inputs and ensuring a responsible approach to worker health and safety as well as animal welfare.

GLOBALGAP serves as a practical manual for Good Agricultural Practice (G.A.P.) anywhere in the world. The basis is an equal partnership of agricultural producers and retailers who wish to establish efficient certification standards and procedures.

The GLOBALGAP website is a comprehensive knowledge base for all interested parties: producers, suppliers, retailers, journalists and consumers. With its clear and easy navigation www.globalgap.org incorporates exhaustive information on the GLOBALGAP standard and its modules and applications.

7- What is Certified Nursery/Plant Inspection and Certification Programme?

The inspection and certification program provides a vital service to the nursery industry and protects consumers from purchasing problems. Annual inspections serve to reduce losses to harmful pests as problems are detected and treated before they can cause more serious damage. The certified stock can move freely within Pakistan and abroad and this special certification is very important for the export purposes. A standard of quality is maintained to assure the industry as well as consumers that the product they are purchasing is viable and in a healthy condition.