Value Chains research report Tajikistan final - Microfinance Centre

transportation and other costs, it is necessary to buy the goods in large batches,
which implies large one-time payments;
• Stimulating production of early onions. This will allow to export the product and
stimulate sales in the domestic market at the same time, as import substitution;
• Lending to farmers for growing and harvesting the product, as well as purchasing
inputs;
• Providing access to water by building wells and purchasing water pumps,
supplying water are important for production of onions;
• Purchasing tractors and machinery for precision planting of onions.
• loan guarantees / direct financial support to farmers/ farm enterprises
Increasing the efficiency of post-harvest product management
Growing large amounts of onions does not always result in higher revenue for the
farmers, since not the entire product reaches the customer:
• A lot of attention needs to be paid to the issue of losing part of the crop because
of ineffective handling during the harvesting, sorting, calibration, storage and
transportation;
• Financing the construction and renovation of onions storage. Increasing the
volume of production several-fold on a macroeconomic scale will not make the
farmers richer, as there are no adequate storage facilities. Infrastructure building
(including repairs and rehabilitation) is required for storing excess amounts of
onions. Mass construction of storage for onions will level out sharp price
fluctuations by offsetting lack of supply which currently results in sharp price
increases off-season;
• Financing working capital for storage operators and procurement organizations;
• While price is an incentive to store (earn higher return), farms need the cash
immediately and concerned about risk of holding onto production.;
• Finance for investment in a self-managed storage facility
Transferring Knowledge and know-how
• Knowledge on the leading experiences and technologies of onion growing;
• Transferring knowledge on disease and pest control
• Develop training on packaging, grading and sorting requirements in conjunction
with partner exporters
• Introduction new variety onion seeds
• Financial Literacy – Understanding costs and benefits of BP inputs and
equipment, and when/how to finance
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