Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Feb. 10 / Trend D.Azizov /
The Board of Directors of the World Bank (WB) approved allocation of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) grants to Uzbekistan in the amount of $12.699 million for the development of sustainable agriculture and reduction of the effects of climate change, Tashkent office of the World Bank told Trend.
Grant funds are complementary to the current project for support to agricultural enterprises (Phase-2), funded by the International Development Association (IDA) for a total of $120.66 million.
GEF project on the development of sustainable agriculture and climate change mitigation will contribute to introduction of selected technologies for renewable energy and energy efficient technologies relevant to the agribusiness and farmers, as well as capacity building at the local level in the reclamation of degraded lands and the rational use of water in Andijan , Bukhara, Jizzakh, Kashkadarya, Samarkand, Syrdarya, Tashkent and Ferghana regions.
According to Uzbekistan, intense warming is observed in the country. Given the shortage of water and forecasted extremely warm and dry years, the water level in the basins of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya may reduce. The measures provided for under the new GEF grant will help mitigate risks such as water scarcity, land degradation, increased greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to them.
Project components include investments for sustainable technologies in the amount of $9 million, investment to mitigate the degradation of irrigated land - $1.09 million, as well as advisory services and project management - $ 2.6 million.
GEF is a financial mechanism for provision of grants and concessional loans to recipient countries for implementation of projects and activities designed to address global environmental issues.
Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992. Since 1995, the bank has provided loans worth $1.46 billion to Uzbekistan for projects in the area of privatization, financial sector development, the modernization of agriculture, energy, improvement to social infrastructure, health and education.
According to the strategy of partnership with Uzbekistan for 2012-2015 approved by the bank, the World Bank intends to provide financial assistance to the country in the implementation of 15 investment projects in the energy, transport, irrigation, petrochemical, textile and agro-processing sectors and the in the improvement of the quality of medical services for a total of $1.3 billion.
