ADB's Project to Support Farmer Livelihoods in Uzbekistan

Tashkent: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Anglesey Food Foreign Enterprise LLC (Korzinka) have signed $12 million in debt financing to promote food security and sustain the livelihoods of more than 5,000 employees and 1,200 farm workers in Uzbekistan.
 
The financing will help Korzinka build inventory buffers to mitigate supply disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, allow faster payments to suppliers, and fund COVID-19 safety measures by providing masks, sanitization, personal protective equipment, testing, and support for staff quarantine.
 
"The pandemic disrupted supply chains across the region, making it very difficult to import food staples such as wheat, buckwheat and sunflower oil," said ADB Private Sector Department Investment Specialist Noor Ullah in a press release on Tuesday.

"This is ADB’s first private sector agribusiness project in Uzbekistan, and it will help Korzinka continue its support for reliable supplies of quality food in the country," the ADB official stated.
 
Agriculture is the largest sector and employer in Uzbekistan. The closure of market bazaars during the pandemic posed a serious threat to smallholder farmers in rural areas, which account for 80% of Uzbekistan’s poor. During the pandemic, Korzinka has increased the number of direct farm suppliers and accelerated payments to support their operations.   
 
ADB will help Korzinka implement a gender action plan to include female-owned enterprises in its supply chain, hire women in store management positions, and promote the participation of female staff in a leadership training program. The plan also seeks to increase staff awareness on sexual harassment and company policy on the issue. ADB will also help establish a women’s peer group network to support female staff.
 
Korzinka is Uzbekistan’s leading modern grocery retailer serving more than 710,000 households nationwide. Store operations include supermarkets and convenience stores offering more than 15,000 items, more than half of which are food products.

 
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