World Bank Document

17. 
Adherence to Scale-Up Facility (SUF) criteria. The project meets the criteria for eligibility for SUF funding. It has 
been mobilized for the project primarily in view of its strong transformative development impact in terms of supporting 
the market-oriented and inclusive transition of Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector. Project interventions are expected to 
lead to substantial increases in production and productivity and to enable a strong response of private sector operators 
all along the targeted value chains. Hence, the project’s return on investment is anticipated to be high. In addition, the 
project will: (i) take account of the cross-cutting priorities regarding climate change and the resilience of production 
systems in accordance with the country’s National Determined Contribution (NDC) priorities; (ii) address gender issues 
with a focus on facilitating women’s access to agricultural inputs and services, financial support, and agro-logistics 
centers; and (iii) foster regional integration as project interventions are expected to boost trade with neighboring 
countries. Uzbekistan is an IDA-eligible country at low risk of debt distress
26
. Its favorable long-term debt sustainability 
status is a positive factor regarding its use of financing under the SUF
. 
18. 
The project follows the Maximizing Finance for Development (MFD) approach and donor collaboration’s 
objectives. The MFD engagement in agriculture and more specifically in the horticulture sub-sector uses a sequenced 
approach to unleash the private sector potential (Annex 4). The first phase of the MFD engagement started in 2017 with 
policy dialogue through Development Policy Operations (DPOs) and the Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) on 
removing policy constraints for investment and export at scale. The second phase has focused on implementation support 
of the initial reforms to develop horticulture value chains through the WB-financed HDP. The AMP will initiate the third 
phase of MFD engagement by: (i) addressing key bottlenecks to private sector solutions in line with the Agricultural 
Strategy; (ii) using nuclear farms and lead agribusiness firms established with HDP’s support to foster productive 
partnerships with smaller farms; (iii) working with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on agri-finance and good 
agricultural practices; and (iv) proactively collaborating with other donors in supporting agriculture (Annex 5).