REPUBLIC OF SERBIA SERBIA COMPETITIVE AGRICULTURE PROJECT (SCAP) Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) October 2019 1 CONTENT Contents Glossary ........................................................................................................................................... 4 List of Abbreviations & Acronyms................................................................................................... 5 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Purpose of the SEP ................................................................................................................ 6 1.2 The Project and its Components ........................................................................................... 6 1.3 Scope and Structure of the SEP ....................................................................................... 7 2. Policy and Regulatory Framework for Citizen Engagement in Serbia .................................... 8 3. World Bank Environmental and Social Standard on Stakeholder Engagement ......................... 8 4. Summary of previous stakeholder engagement activities ......................................................... 9 4.1 Key meetings/consultations with take holders during Project preparation ...................... 10 4.2 Lessons Learned on Stakeholder Engagement from Previous Agricultural Projects.......... 12 5. Stakeholder Identification Mapping and Analyses ................................................................... 13 5.1 Stakeholder Identification and Mapping ............................................................................ 13 5.3 Stakeholder Analysis ...................................................................................................... 17 5.4 Stakeholder expansion........................................................................................................ 21 6. Institutional Analysis ................................................................................................................. 22 7. Stakeholder engagement activities .......................................................................................... 22 8. Implementation Arrangements for Stakeholder Engagement ................................................. 24 8.1 Project enabling efforts from lessons learned.................................................................... 24 8.2 Roles and Responsibilities ................................................................................................... 25 8.3. Stakeholder Engagement Methods ................................................................................... 25 9.1 Raising grievances ........................................................................................................... 27 9.2 Grievances administration .............................................................................................. 28 9.3 Grievance and beneficiary feedback reporting .............................................................. 29 9.4 Constitution of GM ......................................................................................................... 29 9.5 Grievance Log ............................................................................................................. 30 9.6 Grievance admission channels ................................................................................... 31 9.7 Monitoring and Reporting on Grievances .................................................................. 31 9.8 World Bank Grievance Redress System...................................................................... 32 10. Monitoring and Reporting of the SEP ..................................................................................... 32 2 11. Disclosure and Consultation requirements ............................................................................ 32 12. Estimated Budget .................................................................................................................... 32 ANNEX 1 – GRIEVANCE REGISTRATION FORM ............................................................................. 34 3 Glossary Consultation: The process of sharing information and getting feedback and/or advice from stakeholders and taking these views into account when making project decisions and/or setting targets and defining strategies. Extension Services: In 2010, the Law on Advisory and Expert Activities in the field of Agriculture was adopted. The Agricultural Advisory and Expert Service of Serbia is organized into 34 centers, and the control and coordination of their work is carried out by the Institute for the Application of Science in Agriculture for 22 centers and the Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture for 12 centers. Technical Assistance (TA) Providers: Individuals and/or firms or Non-Governmental Organizations that may be engaged to provide Technical Assistance in the form of capacity building and training to the potential Project beneficiaries. Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs): The 10 Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs) set out the requirements that apply to all new World Bank investment project financing enabling the World Bank and the Borrower to manage environmental and social risks of projects. Grantees: Potential beneficiaries of the Project’s matching grants program, i.e. small and medium agricultural producers, agribusiness and agro-processors. Project: Refers to the Serbia Competitive Agriculture Project. Stakeholders: Refers to individuals or groups who: (a) are affected or likely to be affected by the project (project-affected parties); and (b) may have an interest in the project (other interested parties). Stakeholder engagement: A continuous process in which the Project builds and maintains constructive and sustainable relationships with stakeholders impacted over the life of a project. It includes a range of activities and interactions over the life of the project such as stakeholder identification and analysis, information disclosure, stakeholder consultation, negotiations and partnerships, grievance management, and reporting to stakeholders and management functions. Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP): A plan which assists the Borrower to effectively engage with stakeholders throughout the life of the project and specifying activities that will be implemented to manage or enhance engagement. 4 List of Abbreviations & Acronyms CMU Country Management Unit of the WB CPF Country Partnership Framework DAP Directorate of Agrarian Payments EHS Environmental, Health and Safety ESF Environmental and Social Framework ESMF Environmental and Social Management Framework ESS Environmental and Social Standards EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FY Fiscal Year GM Grievance Mechanism GoS Government of Serbia GRS Grievance Redress System IACS Integrated Administration and Control System ICT Information and communication technologies IFC International Finance Corporation IDA International Development Association/ World Bank IPA Instrument for Pre-Accession IPF Investment Project Financing IPARD Instrument for Pre-Accession in Rural Development IFIs International Financial Institutions LMP Labor Management Procedures M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MAFWM Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia MoF Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia MIDAS Montenegro Institutional Development and Agriculture Strengthening Project NGO Non-Governmental Organization PDO Project Development Objective PMT Project Management Team 5 1. Introduction The World Bank aims to provide financing to the Government of Serbia (GoS) for the implementation of the Serbia Competitive Agriculture Project (Hereinafter referred to as: The Project). The Project aims to increase the support to agriculture and rural development by: (i) sustainably increasing on-farm productivity; (ii) strengthening producer competitiveness; and (iii) improving government support systems for agri-food chain cooperation in a manner consistent with EU pre-accession requirements. The Project is aligned with Serbia CPF 2016-2020 as it focuses to support to Serbia in creating better conditions for private sector growth and job creation and increased opportunities to women’s access to economic opportunities, with poverty and shared prosperity angles. The Project will target its financial and technical support to small and medium agricultural producers, agribusiness and agro-processors for increased productivity and access to markets across Serbia and beyond. The project is designed as an Investment Project Financing (IPF) and as such needs to comply with the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Standards (ESS). In response to the commitment of the GOS to comply with the ESF, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management (MAFWM) has developed this Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) to guide the project’s stakeholder engagement in line with ESS 10 - Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure, from the early stages and throughout the Project cycle focusing on gender gaps and tailored approaches. 1.1 Purpose of the SEP The purpose of the present Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) is to outline the target groups and methods of stakeholder engagement and the responsibilities in the implementation of stakeholder engagement activities. The intention of the SEP is to activate the engagement of stakeholders in a timely manner during project preparation and implementation. Specifically, SEP serves the following purposes: i) stakeholder identification and analysis; (ii) planning engagement modalities and effective communication tools for consultations and disclosure; (iii) defining role and responsibilities of different actors in implementing the Plan; (iv) defining the Project’s Grievance Mechanism (GM) and (v) providing feedback to stakeholders. Additionally, the SEP will provide insight into the Project’s communication and consultation plan, to help differentiate the Project from other national and international support programs available in the agricultural sector. 1.2 The Project and its Components The Project area geographically includes the whole of Serbia but given that the intended target groups are small and medium size agri-food producers, most of the direct beneficiaries are expected to be located in the South and Southeastern parts of the country where small and medium scale agricultural production, processing, agribusinesses and agro-processors are predominant and where volumes per producer are relatively small and private investment is limited by a number of factors. The Project design is envisaged through three components: 6 (i) Component 1 will provide technical and financial assistance to producers, producer groups and agri-business. Technical assistance (sub-component 1.1) will include support for preparation and implementation of business plans, which may include: business / financial management skills and organizational training for small-scale producers, market assessments, technical documentation; (public and private) advisory services that would contribute to the implementation of the proposed activities. The business plans will also include public good/ compliance elements (good agricultural practices, environmental and social aspects, food safety compliance, etc.). Financial assistance (sub-component 1.2) will include matching grants for capital investments (e.g. on-farm inputs and equipment, machinery, processing units, packaging, storage,etc), working capital investments, technical assitance and training costs, as well as costs related to marketing. The minimum and maximum total values of the investments included in the individual business plans would be EUR 25,000 (i.e. minimum grant size of EUR 12,500) and EUR 500,000 (i.e. maximum grant size of EUR 250,000) respectively. . This sub-component will also provide technical support to producers for using private loans for financing part of the business plans and to commercial banks for the use of existing public guarantee funds to de-risk investments in small and medium agricultural producers. (ii) Component 2 will support the MAFWM to effectively manage the grant-related activities through the upgrade and coordination of the Ministry’s information systems (sub-component 2.1) and establishment of an open data platform (sub-component 2.2) for production and market information. This component will finance improvements in hardware, software and human capacity. The component will also support the digitalization of on-farm investments and their links to the open data platform. (iii) Component 3 will support the establishment of a project management team (PMT), to be housed in the Directorate of Agrarian Payments (DAP), and capacity needs related to project implementation, as well as project monitoring, including a comprehensive baseline, mid-term review and a final impact assessment of project investments. 1.3 Scope and Structure of the SEP The SEP shall be applicable to all activities planned under the Project. The engagement will be an integral part of the project’s environmental and social performance and project design and implementation. The document comprises 12 chapters. The first chapter serves as an Introduction. Chapter 2 lists the regulatory framework for citizen engagement in Serbia, which provides the framework for SEP in addition to the World Bank ESS10 presented in Chapter 3. A summary of stakeholder engagement held so far is presented in Chapter 4. Stakeholder Identification, Mapping and Analysis is described in Chapter 5. Institutional analysis is provided in Chapter 6. The Stakeholder Engagement Plan is presented in Chapter 7. Implementation Arrangements for implementing the SEP are presented in Chapter 8. Description of the Project’s Grievance Mechanism (GM) follows in Chapter 9. Monitoring, documentation and reporting are presented in Chapter 10, disclosure and consultation requirements in Chapter 11, while the budget needed for implementation of the SEP is discussed in Chapter 12. 7 2. Policy and Regulatory Framework for Citizen Engagement in Serbia The Republic of Serbia citizen engagement commitments do not reside under a single self-standing law or regulation. However, the recognition of importance of citizen engagement is embedded in the legal system and clearly recognized by the mandatory procedures provided by individual laws. From the Constitution as the highest legal act down to an ample normative framework comprising the Serbian legislative ground, there is a strong commitment to stakeholder engagement. The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia (2006) proclaims the rule of law and social justice, principles of civil democracy, human and minority rights and freedoms, and commitment to European principles and values. The Article 74 proclaims the right to healthy environment and grants the right to timely and comprehensive information on the state of the environment. On May 12, 2009, the Republic of Serbia ratified the Aarhus Convention on Access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters („Official Gazette – International Contracts “, No. 38/09) and it links environmental and human rights and is based on the belief that it is a basic right of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to health and wellbeing. The convention is focused on achieving this through the implementation of three pillars: rights of access to information, access to decision-making, and access to justice. Other stakeholder engagement, disclosure and transparency requirements within certain topics and sectors are embedded in the applicable laws regulating each of the treated subject. They are broadly compliant to the requirements of ESS10 but have certain shortcomings when it comes to active outreach and continuous engagement strategies. Key citizen engagement legal provisions1 include: Law on free access to information of public interest (2004) states that governmental agencies, social associations and officials are required to provide each person with the possibility of receiving and becoming acquainted with documents of public interest, except in cases anticipated by law. Law on Public Information and Media (2014) stipulates that public information is free and is not subject to censorship, that the public has the right and the interest to be informed on issues of public interest, that monopoly in the media is not allowed, that information on the media is public. 3. World Bank Environmental and Social Standard on Stakeholder Engagement The World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF)2 came into effect on October 1, 2018. The Environmental and Social Standard (ESS) 10 is on “Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosureâ€?. The provisions of the Standards are to be read in conjunction with other applicable ESSs. The specific requirements set out by ESS10 are highlighted below: • Borrowers will commence with stakeholder engagement as early as possible in the project development process and in a timeframe that enables meaningful consultations with stakeholders on project design and shall maintain such engagement throughout the Project cycle. 1 The presented Laws do not represent a comprehensive list of the sector regulations. A number of other laws, rulebooks and regulations in addition to the presented constitute the legal framework of the agricultural sector. 2 www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-framework/brief/environmental-and-social-standards2 8 The nature, scope and frequency of stakeholder engagement will be proportionate to the nature and scale of the project and its potential risks and impacts. • Borrowers will engage in meaningful consultations with all stakeholders. Borrowers will provide stakeholders with timely, relevant, understandable and accessible information, and consult with them in a culturally appropriate manner, which is free of manipulation, interference, coercion, discrimination and intimidation. • The process of stakeholder engagement will involve the following: (i) stakeholder identification and analysis; (ii) planning on ways to engage; (iii) disclosure of information; (iv) consultation with stakeholders; (v) addressing and responding to grievances; and (vi) reporting to stakeholders. • The Borrower will maintain and disclose a stakeholder engagement log as documented record of stakeholder engagement, including a description of the stakeholders consulted, a summary of the feedback received and a brief explanation of how the feedback was taken into account, or the reasons why it was not.â€? As early as possible in the Project, before appraisal, the Borrower will develop and disclose a Stakeholder Engagement Plan proportionate to the nature and scale of the project and its potential risks. The SEP is a living document, potential changes are driven by any changes in the Project during its implementation. Should the project incur significant changes, such updates will be reflected in the SEP and the document will be redisclosed. According to ESS10, the Borrower should also propose and implement a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate the resolution of concerns and grievances of project-affected parties related to the environmental and social performance of the project in a timely manner. 4. Summary of previous stakeholder engagement activities The Project’s financial and technical services are targeted towards small and medium agri-food producers, including agri-businesses, supporting their market access (including finance and business planning capacity, improving government systems to strengthen the enabling environment for all agricultural producers). The specific nature of the Project required a broad engagement with various project stakeholders and is ongoing since September 2018. The specific stakeholder engagement activities that have taken place during Project preparation include: • Numerous dialogues with government agencies at the national, regional and local level; • Consultations with potential beneficiary groups, including agri-businesses, and their representatives; • Consultations with the national agricultural extension and advisory services; • Meetings with commercial banks and other financial institutions that may offer services to potential Project beneficiaries; • Consultations with agricultural producers and producer organizations from an area outside of Novi Sad in the North, Dimitrovgrad in the Southeast and Surdulica in the South; • Consultation with the Cooperative Union of Serbia; • Consultations with civil society organizations as well as academia i.e. Universities in Belgrade and Novi Sad (Faculty for Agriculture - Department for Soil and Water, Institute for Crop and Vegetable Science); and, • Communication and meetings with other national and international donors working in the agricultural sector (UN FAO, UNDP, IFC, EBRD, USAID projects in Serbia etc), as well as with the European Commission Representation in Belgrade. 9 4.1 Key meetings/consultations with stakeholders during Project preparation In the course of developing the architecture of the Project, several meetings and consultations were held with government agencies, private sector stakeholders, NGOs and international donor organizations. The meetings served to better understand the nature of existing agricultural support programs, identify sector needs and gaps, including the identification of underserved segments of the agricultural sector. An overview of consultations/meetings is presented in Table 1 below. Table 1. Stakeholder engagement activities conducted during Project preparation Place Date Participants Areas of discussion Belgrade, September 2018, MAFWM Project scope and implementation arrangements, Serbia December 5,2018 design, priority sectors and sub-sectors.; Project funding modalities; Project design, sub-grant allocation modalities; and ESF requirements. Belgrade, December 6, 2018 Officials MAFWM Project scope and design, priority sectors and Serbia January 29-31, subsectors; Role of the MAFWM in project 2019 implementation; Agribusiness component design; Costing of interventions; and Beneficiaries and type of support needed. Dimitrovgrad February 12 Meetings with agri- Existing challenges and opportunities for the and Pirot, food project: access to finance, marketing, access to Serbia producers/potential markets, food safety standards and requirements, (southeast) beneficiaries (women grant procedures and men). Belgrade, July 2019 Officers from Project scope and institutional arrangements; Serbia International donors Lessons learned; and Donor mapping. Belgrade, July 2019 MAFWM Project scope and design, priority sectors and Serbia subsectors; Existing economic opportunities and existing market failures Belgrade, July 11, 2019 UN Commission Discussion on ongoing and future programs, Serbia understanding the gap between multiple support programs Belgrade, July 12, 2019 Statistical Office of Data collection on agriculture and environment, Serbia the Republic of Serbia frequency, samples, etc. Belgrade, May 27, 2019 and MAFWM, Sector for Role of the Advisory Service system in Project Serbia July 11,2019 rural Development / implementation. Extension Services Belgrade, July 9, 2019 UN FAO Presentation on “Support to Smallholders and Serbia Family Farms in Serbiaâ€? financed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 10 Belgrade, July 9, 2019 Faculty for Academic view of the role of Extension Services, Serbia Agriculture, Needs assessment based on research and surveys Department for Soil conducted by the Faculty. Climate resilience and Water, Institute measures and country trends. for Crop and Vegetable Science Surdulica September 12, Meetings with agri- Existing challenges and opportunities for the Serbia (south) 2019 food producers, project: access to finance, marketing and association of entrepreneurial skills, access to markets, access to beekeepers/potential information/knowledge, certification (organic and beneficiaries (youth geographical recognition), grant procedures and older farmers). Surdulica September 12, Local Governments Municipality support programs for small agri-food Serbia (south 2019 representatives producers, matching-grant scheme mechanism design and targeting Table 2. Stakeholder Engagement with Financial Sector Institutions Place Date Participants Areas of Discussion Belgrade, July 10, 2019 AIK Bank Addressing access to finance gaps for small & medium size Serbia agribusiness individuals/units, women, youth Belgrade, July 10, 2019 NLB Bank Addressing access to finance gaps for small & medium size Serbia agribusiness individuals/units, women, youth Belgrade, July 10, 2019 MK Group Addressing access to finance gaps for the Project Serbia beneficiaries – Value chain financing Belgrade, July 11, 2019 Intesa Bank Addressing access to finance gaps for small & medium size Serbia agribusiness individuals/units, women, youth Belgrade, July 11, 2019 UniCredit Bank Addressing access to finance gaps for small & medium size Serbia agribusiness individuals/units, women, youth Belgrade, July 11, 2019 OTP Vojvodjanska Addressing access to finance gaps for small & medium size Serbia Bank agribusiness individuals/units, women, youth Belgrade, July 11, 2019 USAID / DCA De-risking agricultural finance for the Project beneficiaries Serbia project i.e DCA Guarantee scheme Belgrade, September 10, Intesa Bank POM/GOM- the transfer of funds to escrow account, i.e. Serbia 2019 transfer of funds to grant Belgrade, September 10, NLB Bank POM/GOM- the transfer of funds to escrow account, i.e. Serbia 2019 transfer of funds to grant 11 Note: The Ministry cooperates with a large number of banks operating in Serbia and upon approval of the loan, meetings will be organized with all the banks with which the Ministry cooperates, not limited to those in this table. 4.2 Lessons Learned on Stakeholder Engagement from Previous Agricultural Projects Lessons from previous investment operations in Serbia: The project’s matching grants are designed to address the gaps in targeting under the current IPARD and to pilot an approach to improve the effectiveness of the National Agriculture and Rural Development Programs. Additionally, the project invests in infrastructure and capacity building for meeting the EU Acquis approximation requirements. Project’s design includes matching grants program where grant funds are to be matched by the beneficiary farmers with their own funds and funds from commercial bank loans. Project visibility matters for uptake and adaptive design. For effective implementation, project activities need to be discussed with stakeholders at preparation and launch, lessons learned during implementation need to be shared and successes needs to be celebrated. Important lessons learned from recent World Bank experience could be leveraged to help advance the structural transformation process of the agricultural sector and its alignment with the EU acquis. The implementation of the first MIDAS project supported by the World Bank in Montenegro, which sought to improve the delivery of government assistance for sustainable agriculture and rural development in a manner consistent with EU pre-accession requirements, demonstrated that the “learning by doingâ€? generated by piloting and gradually scaling up new delivery mechanisms for rural development grants can be an effective tool to build capacity at the level of both government institutions and agricultural producers in line with EU CAP requirements. Moreover, adequate local stakeholder engagement and transparency mechanism should be integrated in rural development grants program in order to ensure broad-based participation. Importantly, local stakeholder engagement should go beyond agricultural sector stakeholders and include Local Government as (non-existent or outdated) spatial plans and/or permitting procedures could prove a significant obstacle to implementing rural development investments. In addition, both technical and financial services must be tailored further to the needs of smaller agricultural producers and agribusiness MSMEs to help them better plan and manage productive investments and meet changing market needs and requirement - thus maximizing the efficiency, equity, and effectiveness of rural development investments. In particular, improving access to finance by crowding-in more commercial lending to the agri-food sector would be fundamental to expand and scale up the number of rural development measures with pre- and co-financing requirements under the current and future IPARD programs. Lessons from use of the productive alliances model in agriculture: The Productive Alliance (PA) approach was introduced during the early 2000s in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Since then, the World Bank has provided more than US$1 billion in financing to support over 20 projects across the LAC region. Projects promoting PA have also been introduced in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia. Productive Alliance projects have performed well in including women and other disadvantaged groups. Key lessons emerging from the Productive Alliance experience in Latin America include the following: 1) Setting up a competitive subproject selection process based on clearly defined technical evaluation criteria is crucial for establishing credibility among stakeholders, avoiding political interference, and safeguarding the technical quality of selected subprojects; 2) Identifying and analyzing promising value chains based on technical criteria, aligned with project objectives and market potential, are important to ensure effectiveness and sustainability; 3) Establishing assessment criteria for the selection of potential buyers and regular monitoring of the producer-buyer relationship can reduce the risk of choosing an uncompetitive buyer or promoting elite capture in imperfect markets; 4) Requiring cash contributions or 12 bank loans as co-financing from producers can ensure a stronger buy-in; 5) Building capacity of beneficiary producers over an extended period while they grow and mature is crucial for ensuring long-term success. 5. Stakeholder Identification Mapping and Analyses ESS 10 recognizes two broad categories of stakeholders: 1) Project Affected Parties and 2) Other Interested parties. Project-affected parties includes those likely to be affected by the project because of actual impacts (positive and negative) or potential risks to their physical environment, health, security, cultural practices, well-being, or livelihoods. These stakeholders may include individuals or groups, including direct project beneficiaries and local communities. They are the individuals or households most likely to observe/feel changes from environmental and social impacts of the project. The term “Other interested partiesâ€? (OIPs) refers to: individuals, groups, or organizations with an interest in the project, which may be because of the project location, its characteristics, its impacts, or matters related to public interest. For example, these parties may include regulators, government officials, the private sector, the scientific community, academics, unions, women’s organizations, other civil society organizations, and cultural groups. 5.1 Stakeholder Identification and Mapping Stakeholder mapping is done vertically (across the administrative space) and horizontally (within an individual space). The first step involves universal mapping. Each stakeholder group is rated for their relative importance and influence - starting from rating from 1 to 5, the weighting derived from cross- referencing interest and power of the stakeholders. The stakeholders of high (5*) and substantial significance (4*) are stakeholders to be included into all engagement activities and require continuous and undisrupted engagement. This helps in assigning importance for further analysis. The universal mapping, interest and the relative importance are presented below. Among targeted project beneficiaries, women, youth and agri-food producers that live in disadvantaged areas3 have been identified as requiring targeted support and assistance to access project benefits and services. Women agri-food producers are considered vulnerable because of their underrepresentation in agricultural production (20%) and age-characteristics (on average, women producers tend to be older (64) than their male counterparts (59) due to inheritance structure. The engagement of women producers is further limited by: i) lack of access to land (84% of women do not own agricultural land); (ii) limited management of agricultural holdings (16% by women); (iii) lack of access to finance; (iv) limited agricultural education (73% of women managers rely on practical experiences only compare to 58% of men); and (v) limited access to information about available support programs. Youth are considered vulnerable because of economic weaknesses (lacking assets and capital), land tenure issues, lack experience and expertise on good agricultural practices and modern technologies. Producers living in disadvantaged areas are considered vulnerable because they live in areas with harsher climate (high altitude), limited access to services (internet, veterinary, Extension Services, etc.). The project includes a number of support activities aimed at facilitating vulnerable groups engagement. Women, youth and agri-producers living in disadvantaged areas of the country are given preferential treatment in the selection of applicants (more points in the scoring criteria). The project incorporates a 3 Rulebook on designation of areas with difficult working conditions in agriculture, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No. 102/18, 21 December 2018 - http://uap.gov.rs/vesti/vesti-2019/objavljen-novi-pravilnik-o-odredjivanju-podrucja-sa-otezanim- uslovima-rada-u-poljoprivredi/ 13 gender-sensitive approach by proactively strengthening the capacity of women for the use of digital tools to ensure the balanced uptake of technology on and off-farm. Targeted training for female producers and processors focused on technical issues, such as farming techniques, processing and marketing, will also be considered. To be targeted by the project, these vulnerable groups must be commercially oriented and capable of managing a business. Separate consultations are not foreseen for these groups. Instead, satisfaction surveys will be disaggregated by age, gender and location to distinguish feedback received from these groups. The formulation of a comprehensive baseline survey will also disaggregate this information to enable the evaluation of impact at project closing. To facilitate participation in regional workshops by vulnerable groups, seasonal and daily obligations will be taken into consideration, and transportation will be provided as per demand. The project targets agricultural units that have commercial potential, which means that the majority of family-operated mixed-income farms that do not have this focus would not be eligible or have direct access to the agricultural matching-grant scheme. This creates a potential risk of perceived exclusion from project benefits which the Project will address through transparent communication about the project scope, clear eligibility and selection criteria and application procedures that would provide higher weight to clusters that comprise small producers. By the regulation “On establishing a single list of development of regions and local self-government unitsâ€? (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia 104/2014) municipalities and cities in the Republic of Serbia are classified into four (4) categories of development. This regulation establishes a unique list of development regions, classified according to the level of development into developed and underdeveloped regions and local self-government units, which are classified in the first, second, third and fourth groups and devastated areas on the basis of data of the competent authority for statistics and finance. The region is classified based on the value of gross domestic product per capita in the region in relation to the national average, for the reference period. According to the level of development of local self-government units, the third group consists of 47 underdeveloped local self-government units whose level of development is in the range of 60% to 80% of the national average. According to the level of development of local self- government units, the fourth group consists of 44 extremely underdeveloped local self-government units whose development rate is below 60% of the national average. Municipal Extension Services: The Agricultural Advisory and Expert Service of Serbia is organized into 34 centers, and the control and coordination of their work is carried out by the Institute for the Application of Science in Agriculture for 23 centers and the Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture for 12 centers. In Serbia a total of 230 Advisors are engaged in the Public Extension Services Sector, whereas 180 in Central Serbia and the remaining 50 in Vojvodina. The Sector has a well-established network to be used as a Project Platform upon which Project targeted activities will be added. The Extension Services will cooperate and work alongside the TA providers to provide training and hands-on capacity building to potential beneficiaries/grantees of the Project. This process will offer advice and information to help them understand the Project, how to access the benefits, make use of TA services, assess the needs of the agribusiness. The Extension Services will work through the main elements identified within the process of extension: (i) conducting outreach by sharing project information and guidelines(ii) providing technical advice and information (iii) linking to TA providers, (iv) helping in orientation and motivation. 14 Table 3. Stakeholder Segmentation by their Areas of Influence National / Country Level***** Stakeholders Area of Influence Significance ***** Ministry of Finance Loan Agreement oversight ***** World Bank Loan Approval, Loan implementation support and monitoring **** of compliance to covenants Ministry of Agriculture Main counterpart of the WB for Project implementation, ***** Forestry and Water Member of the Steering Committee, technical assistance in Management agricultural production and processing quality improvement PMT housed by the Project management and implementation, oversight, ***** Directorate for Agrarian reporting, implementation of matching grant program, Payments in the Ministry of environmental and social risk management, grievance Agriculture Forestry and management, SEP implementation and coordination Water Management CFU housed by the Ministry Procurement and financial management activities ***** of Finance Extension Services Advisories, knowledge and skill transfer role, implementation ***** coordinated and financed by of outreach and engagement activities as per this SEP the MAFWM Inspections (Phyto sanitary Performs tasks related to inspectorial supervision in the area **** and veterinarian) of plant health, seeds and planting material and inspectorial supervision in the area in the areas of animal health and welfare, veterinary public health and food safety. Technical Assistance In addition to the advisory services provided by Extension ***** providers (private sector and Services, Individuals, Consulting Companies and/or NGOs) organizations that may be engaged to provide Technical Assistance to the potential Project beneficiaries. Farmers associations, Provide sector-relevant information and support to their ***** processors associations, members women business associations, and NGOs supporting empowerment of women and youth Financial Sector Institutions/ Provide loans as contributions to the matching grants ***** Commercial Banks ensuring the availability of financing for business plan implementation. National media (Radio, TV, Enables wide and regular dissemination of information **** Newspaper) related to the Project, ensures its visibility and facilitates stakeholder engagement Social media (Twitter, Enables wide and regular dissemination of information **** Facebook etc) related to the Project, ensures its visibility and facilitates stakeholder engagement Local and Community Level 15 Agri-food producers, owners Potential technical assistance and matching-grant ***** of agricultural holdings, beneficiaries, peer-to -peer motivators, targeted by project cooperatives, agribusiness outreach and business plan development capacity building SMEs, agri- entrepreneurs, processors Agri-producers that belong Potential matching-grant beneficiaries, peer-to peer ***** to vulnerable groups in the motivators, beneficiaries of needs specific orientation, agricultural sector (women, training, advisory services/TA youth, producers living in disadvantaged areas) Handicrafts producers Potential matching grant beneficiaries, peer-to peer ***** motivators, beneficiaries of needs specific orientation, training, advisory services/TA Local Governments Serve as first point of contact, conduct field outreach, ***** (including line departments: disseminate grant related materials, arrange public meetings land management, and consultations, liaison between targeted groups and economic development, MAFWM /PMT, liaison between targeted groups and environment) Extension Services, facilitate two-way communication Municipal branches of Facilitate awareness raising and outreach, provide demand- ***** extension services driven training & advisory services to farmers, including those from vulnerable groups (based on needs assessment) Farmers associations, Potential technical assistance and matching-grant ***** processors associations, beneficiaries, peer-to -peer motivators, targeted by project agri-food MSMEs outreach and business plan development capacity building Local media (radio, TV, Enable wide and regular dissemination of information related ***** Newspaper) to the Project to ensure its visibility, facilitate stakeholder engagement on the local level, regional and national level Smallholder farmers May benefit from improved linkages with agri-food value *** chains Education and research Provide knowledge and research on the latest developments *** institutions, community in the agricultural sector organizations Low-skilled, semi-skilled and Positive externalities beneficiaries through potential *** high-skilled workers employment Non-agriculture specific May provide valuable information to targeted groups *** NGOs (especially women and young farmers) and benefit from positive externalities of the Project 16 5.3 Stakeholder Analysis The stakeholders of high and substantial significance (ranked 5* and 4* during universal mapping) are analyzed in the Table below. The analysis includes the current status of the stakeholder, concerns and issues raised during consultations, their expectations from the project, significance of the risk of unmet expectations and enabling conditions required to mitigate those risks. Table 4: Stakeholder Analysis by the Level of Engagement National Level 1. Subgroup 2. Current Status 3. Concerns and issues 4. Expectations 5. Risks 6. Enabling Qualifiers Ministry of State budget financial Potential disbursement cap Maintain the state guarantees, Moderate Disclosure of draft Finance (MoF) management, inclusion and execute the Loan budgetary documents and of state guarantees, Agreement as per condition of analysis of final docs on authorized persons for the finance contract financial performance disbursement World Bank Loan Approval, Loan Implementation readiness, Meeting the timelines for Low Approval of Loan, client implementation support disbursement delays Project Approval and ensures implementation and monitoring of implementation in line with readiness through compliance to covenants goals as set forth in the Project engagement of key PMT and achievement of documents. staff, timely preparation of Project Development Project Operations Manual Objectives and grant Operational Manual MAFWM/PMT Has experience in WB Insufficient number of Improve institutional capacity in Moderate Project will establish a PMT projects, but has limited competent staff to manage implementing World Bank with relevant expertise in resources and large-scale projects and funded project in the staff in project experience in managing subprojects with ESF. agricultural sector, hiring management, procurement, diverse range of competent staff to manage the financial management, matching-grant programs project at all levels safeguards, M&E, capacity in agribusiness and no building for MAFWM/PMT experience in throughout Project implementing the WB implementation ESF CFU in the Procurement and Potentially insufficient number Establish and maintain excellent Moderate Project will strengthen CFU Ministry of financial management of staff to manage multiple WB communication and capacity by hiring additional Finance activities housed in CFU, Projects with geographical coordination with fiduciary staff experience in in spread MAFWM/PMT and other implementing WB relevant stakeholders financed Projects 17 Extension Advisories, knowledge Potentially insufficient technical Strengthen capacity by Moderate The Project will strengthen Services and skill transfer role, capacity and resources (i.e. enhancing their mobility and in- the capacity of Serbia’s coordinated and implementation of vehicles, technology, etc.) field response (focus on remote public Extension Services to financed by the outreach and beneficiaries) deliver demand-driven MAFWM- engagement activities as technical assistance through per national programs capacity building. Technical Provide specialized Project concern is about the Opportunity to complement Moderate To improve accessibility, Assistance services to producers inclusiveness of the public advisory services, grant money can be used providers private/NGO TA services. support beneficiaries to in retroactively to pay for TA (private and Selection of private/non-profit developing matching grants support. NGOs) Technical Assistance providers program business plans. done by beneficiaries based on Adequate qualification business plans needs. criteria during selection of TA providers Inspections Housed under MAFWM Insufficient capacity to cover To be timely informed of the Moderate Strengthen links between (Phyto performs inspections and the geographical scope of the activities under the Project and the Inspections and the sanitarian and supervision to ensure Project the location of beneficiaries. PMT, including Extension veterinarian) animal health and Services welfare, veterinary and public health and food safety, National media Broad coverage of Agri Adequacy of information The expectations for these Low Build and maintain Project (Radio, TV, related news placement and their priority in Stakeholders come from the specific relationship with the Newspaper), the news room Project side. Continuous liaison media. Ensure quality of social media with the media to maintain information flow and Twitter and their interest in the news, contemporary and intriguing Facebook) adequate feeding of news to keep the media information not only to interested throughput the upcoming actions and events Project but outcome and achievements as well. Municipal Advisories, knowledge Potentially insufficient technical Strengthen capacity by Substantial The Project is considering branches of and skill transfer role, capacity (i.e. vehicles, enhancing their mobility and in- strengthen the capacity of Extension implementation of technology etc.) field response Serbia’s public Extension Services outreach and Services to deliver engagement activities as nt5demand-driven technical per national programs assistance. Farmers Limited number and Volume, access to markets, Expect project support to Substantial Project communication associations, capacity of v quality of support services for resolve exiting sector challenges strategy will clarify purpose, business associations. agribusiness/agriculture target and scope of the associations producers Project. 18 Community level 1. Subgroup4 2. Current Status 3. Concerns and issues 4. Expectations 5. Risks 6. Enabling Qualifiers Agri-food Limited opportunities to Lack of funds and knowhow to These groups expect supported High due to Transparent communication producers, sell products beyond the access technology to process, to to develop business proposals competition about the matching grants owners of local market; limited innovate and to reach markers to apply for matching-grants and program (eligibility, agricultural access to small scale and TA to grow and develop potential selection criteria and holdings, processing and storages; Weaknesses in value chain that their business further exclusion application procedures) and cooperatives, limited access to large would allow local farmers to capacity building agribusiness scale buyers and aggregate products and to opportunities for business SMEs, agri- processors, and limited improve quality to sell to large- plan development entrepreneurs, access to private sector scale processors processors financing Women(-led) Poor integration in Lack access to finance, access to Access to matching grants and Substantial, Needs-based support from agri-food benefit sharing due knowledge and technology capacity building activities, due to Extension Services/TA producers, underrepresentation in related to modern agri-food active help in preparation of competition providers. Targeted training owners of the sector, inability to processes, land tenure issues, business plans, training on and for female producers and agricultural access commercial loans lack access to financial services relevant processes and potential processors focused on holdings, due to lack of and lack access to markets, lack technologies, follow-up support exclusion technical issues, such as cooperatives, assets/collateral, unable of entrepreneurial capacity and farming techniques, agribusiness to take risks and financial literacy processing and marketing, SMEs, agri- innovate, and digital tools. Gender- entrepreneurs, overrepresented in low sensitive awareness raising processors value agriculture and less about Project eligibility (e.g. growth potential emphasize ability to access grants with leased land), application procedures and benefits Youth(-led) Poor integration in Lack access to finance, limited, Access to matching grants and Substantial, Needs-based support from agri-food benefit sharing due experience and knowledge capacity building activities, due to Extension Services/TA producers, underrepresentation in about farm practices, limited active help in preparation of competition providers. Targeted training owners of the sector (lack land and access to technology related to business plans, training on and for young producers and agricultural do not see profitability of modern agri-food processes, relevant processes and potential processors on niche market holdings, agriculture), inability to land tenure issues, lack access technologies, follow-up support exclusion areas, modern farming cooperatives, access commercial loans to financial services and lack techniques, innovation, agribusiness due to lack of access to markets, lack of processing and marketing, SMEs, agri- assets/collateral, creative entrepreneurial capacity and and digital tools. Youth- entrepreneurs, and IT-savvy, but unable financial literacy sensitive awareness raising processors to take risks and about Project eligibility (e.g. innovate, lack experience emphasize ability to access 4Sub-groups at community level are not exclusive and may have multiple overlaps (e.g. young women agri-food producers who lives in a disadvantaged area would receive extra points in the selection criteria for all three characteristics (gender, age and location). 19 and decision-making grants with leased land), authority in the farm application procedures and household, potential to benefits. thrive in niche markets unfamiliar to older farmers (barley, hops, organic produce, etc) Agri-food Limited access to Less “idleâ€? time to spare in Access to matching grants and Substantial, Community-level outreach. producers, information (lower investing in future business capacity building activities, due to Needs-based support from owners of internet penetration), growth, high transaction costs active help in preparation of competition Extension Services/TA agricultural higher transaction costs for accessing training, education business plans, training on and providers to producers in holdings, in accessing services and advisory services, lack of relevant processes and potential areas with difficult cooperatives, (veterinary, etc) and access to finance (poor land technologies, lowered exclusion conditions, including field- agribusiness markets, difficulties in markets affect transaction costs and reduced based training and advisory SMEs, agri- product placement due collateral),inadequate access to barriers to participation services, provision of entrepreneurs, to remoteness, poor information about government transportation to regional processors in infrastructure (transport, support programs, risks of not workshops/trainings and disadvantaged preservation from being able unlock the full season-sensitive capacity areas in perishing etc) and nearby potential of Project benefits due building. disadvantaged buyers with purchasing to the above constraints areas power (poor surroundings) Handicraft Unsustainable business Insufficient support for Financial support from Moderate Needs-based support from producers models (high maintenance of traditional government to maintain due to Extension Services/TA dependency on handicrafts/cultural heritage, traditional crafts, support in separate providers to enhance government support), lack of systematic transfer of knowledge transfer and training calls for profitability and high technical abilities knowledge/skills in traditional provision proposal for sustainability of handicraft and specialization, handicraft practices, lack of handicrafts businesses. Targeted limited transfer of skills interest among young people training on market to younger generations, assessment, niche market opportunities for linkages, modern marketing diversification of farm tools, and business income and formal sustainability. employment (for women especially) Non-targeted Mixed-income farmers Insufficient access to Financial support from Substantial, Communication strategy smallholder for whom agricultural information/knowledge about government to enhance quality due to defines targeted famers good farming practices, of produce, on-demand perceived (commercial) beneficiaries, sales represents an expensive machinery and impartial advisory support and risk of eligibility criteria and important safety net, but quality products (seeds), lack of product recommendation exclusion selection procedures. little commercial access to information about Outreach reinforces the opportunity due to adequate use of pesticides, etc. message limitation in scale and/or quality. 20 5.4 Stakeholder expansion This Project will have prevalent number of groups of people and economically differentiated groups who are interested in the project on different levels. The Project may need to revisit the list of stakeholders and verify if there is a need to expand the list and engage with other stakeholders in course of the Project. This will be facilitated by filling out the stakeholder expansion questionnaire below at critical points during Project implementation (e.g. after first call for proposal, mid-term, substantial project design changes, etc). A potential update will be part of the Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) segment of the Project. Table 4: Expansion and update questionnaire STAKEHOLDER EXPANSION AND UPDATE NEED QUESTIONNAIRE â–¡ YES Is our current list focused on relevant stakeholders who are important to â–¡ NO our current and future efforts? If No the Project needs to expand (Answers should be based on knowledge of the Project, feedback received the Stakeholder list and grievances registered tackling inadequate outreach, and feedback from Extension Services and TA during their Engagement) â–¡ Yes Do we have a good understanding of where stakeholders are coming from, â–¡ No what they may want, whether they would be interested in engaging with the Project, and why? If No the Needs assessment should be revisited or a (The answers should be based on the frequency of stakeholders supplementary conducted and approaching through communication channels other than the Projects, Stakeholder list revisited with suggestion for inclusion of groups or eligible activities etc.) â–¡ Yes Does the current engagement strategy focus adequately on potential â–¡ No beneficiaries of the Project from vulnerable groups? If No the Stakeholder list should (Answers should be based on the Stakeholder engagement log relative to be revisited as well as admission the gender aspects and grievances received by women focusing on and evaluation criteria should be insufficient inclusion and/or Grant access and election and evaluation revisited criteria from the first call for proposal or other adequate screening tools) 21 6. Institutional Analysis The engaged existing institutions have been analyzed in the below Table 5. The institutions to be recruited or to be established are not covered by the below analysis. Table 1. Institutional Analysis Group/ Agency Current Role Change/Adjustments suggested Rationale National MoF Serve as the financial Keep the existing CFU at the Ministry CFU is well staffed with guarantor for all IFI- of Finance (MoF CFU) as responsible experienced procurement and funded projects, hosts a for procurement and financial financial specialists successfully CFU responsible for management under the Project. It implementing other WB funded fiduciary arrangements will be responsible for all project projects. Expansion is needed WB-funded projects procurement, financial should the work load balance be management. Potential need to disrupted thus compromising expand the capacity of the CFU. efficiency and set deadlines MAFWM Responsible for overall A separate PMT is to be established Efficient management of the Project implementation and will be responsible for overall Project apart from fiduciary project management, GM, M&E, E&S risk management, grant management. Local Local Oversee development Conduct outreach activities, update To serve as an efficient governments and activities, liaison spatial plans and issue permits (as instrument for outreach and line departments between national required), respond to E&S risk effective stakeholder engagement government and management requests communities 7. Stakeholder engagement activities Various stakeholder engagement activities are proposed to ensure awareness and meaningful consultations about Project activities. Based on the organization of work related to agriculture, the awareness campaign, outreach and stakeholder engagement will be season and gender appropriate, taking into consideration the after-hour chores of women. Targeted messaging will encourage the participation of women, young producers and those living in disadvantaged areas and highlight Project characteristics that are designed to respond to their needs and increase their access to Project benefits. The Project will develop a communication strategy for inclusive awareness raising about project scope, eligibility and selection criteria and critical milestones. The PMT, in close collaboration with the Extension Services and Municipalities, will agree on an action list to identify appropriate communication channels and tools across the different regions of the country. The table below presents roles and responsibilities of key actors in the proposed stakeholder engagement activities to be conducted under the project. 22 Table 2. Overview of planned communication and stakeholder engagement activities Target stakeholders Topic(s) of Method(s) used Location/frequ Responsibiliti engagement ency es Project wide Potential project Project progress, Regional workshops, Annual MAFWM/PMT beneficiaries as well as grant in -person feedback facilitated by non-targeted groups, wide disbursement Local range of regional and local figures and Governments/ stakeholders in the beneficiary/applica Extension agricultural sector nt survey results Services Sub-component 1.1: Strengthening agricultural advisory and business development services Agricultural producers and Identification of Needs assessment to At Project start, MAFWM/PMT agri-businesses SMEs with information, define key areas of annual as part of Independent special emphasis on the technical, and advisory support Extension consultant needs identified by managerial needed by different Services training vulnerable groups (youth, capacity needs target groups and the plan women, potential among small and capacity building & beneficiaries in medium scale information that will disadvantaged areas), producers. be required to ensure Extension Services Identification of that Extension support Services/TA providers (equipment, and banks can knowledge, human support Project resources) that beneficiaries Extension Services need to deliver project support. Agricultural producers Support outreach Meetings, field visits Ahead of Local and agri-businesses, SMEs and and information matching grant Governments implementation of sessions calls, during matching grants business plan program by implementation streamlining, as appropriate, local spatial planning and permitting processes. Sub-component 1.2.: Facilitating access to finance for productive investments Matching grants program Collect feedback Sample-based 6 months after MAFWM/PMT applicants and successful on business beneficiary survey grant grantees, Extension development (gender, age and disbursement Services support/advisory municipality TA Providers services and grant disaggregated) implementation support (provided by Extension Services and TA providers) to 23 ensure adaptive design Commercial banks Bank’s needs to Needs assessment, During project MAFWM/PMT approve meetings preparation, approve financial before first support for round of farmers & matching grants expectations for the types of investments that beneficiaries will need to cover matching grants program requirements Sub-component 2.2: Open data platform Potential project Important Open data platform Continuous MAFWM/ PMT beneficiaries as well as production and for two-way maintenance of non-targeted groups, market communication on relevant content institutional and information, plant and animal after the open commercial stakeholders including weather health, and other data platform in the agricultural sector and climate risks that can becomes public variables, prices of constrain agricultural key products, competitiveness. disease prevention Data platform techniques, etc. integrates feedback space to ensure continuous information and service adaptability 8. Implementation Arrangements for Stakeholder Engagement 8.1 Project enabling efforts from lessons learned The Project recognizes that the stakeholder profile is quite diverse and heterogeneous and that their expectations and orientation as well as capacity to interface with the project might be different. The project design and institutional arrangements have been drawn such as to enable mitigation of social exclusion risks and come up with types of activities and approaches to address the likely impediments arising therefrom. TA to beneficiaries. Technical assistance for preparation of sound business plans will be available. Extension Services/TA provider will support the creation a pipeline of applicants, including women and youth excluded from support grants due to lack of land tenure, collateral, low capacity in responding to grant requirements, and producers in disadvantaged areas that have reduced access to services and information. As per business plan design (financial, technical and managerial), there will be continuous provision of TA to support successful grantees through grant implementation, as this is the design modality which seems to be most often correlated to positive outcomes. The market needs assessment conducted at project start will facilitate the identification of new target groups for TA while the applicant/beneficiary surveys after grant calls will be used solicit feedback on the TA available to potential beneficiaries. 24 8.2 Roles and Responsibilities Stakeholder engagement will be coordinated and led by the MAFWM/ PMT. The PMT will closely coordinate with other key stakeholders –Local Governments (line departments included), Extension Services, and local NGOs. The roles and responsibilities of these actors/stakeholders are summarized in the Table below. Figure 3. Responsibilities of key actors/stakeholders in SEP Implementation Actor/Stakeholder Responsibilities MAFWM/PMT • Plan, implement and monitor SEP activities; Lead and coordinate stakeholder engagement activities; • Collect stakeholder feedback through regional workshops, satisfaction surveys and bilateral meetings, • Manage the grievance mechanism at Project level, communicate grievances regularly through monitoring reports, • Build capacity of implementing partners – Local Governments Extension Services and TA providers and GM on ESF stakeholder engagement standard and its implications; • Manage national GM database and submit quarterly reports on the substance and quantity of grievances; and • Supervise/monitor grant programs and engage with grant receipts. Local Governments • Lead stakeholder engagement activities at the municipal and community level; • Coordinate with Ministry, province, Municipal Extension Services and NGOs to implement outreach activities; • Local focal point for questions on grant eligibility and application procedure requirements • Discloses all documents, distributes outreach material as needed • Facilitate the organization of regional stakeholder workshops to present project progress and collect feedback about project services • Facilitate information requests and grievances by transfer to the PMT Line departments in • Update spatial plans and issue permits (as required) Municipalities • Respond to E&S risk management requests • Facilitate information requests and grievances by transfer to the PMT • Discloses all documents, distributes outreach material as needed 8.3. Stakeholder Engagement Methods 8.3.1 Matching grant program outreach methods Prior to the launch of matching grant calls, PMT staff with support by Local Governments will conduct outreach and orientation meetings to ensure potential grant applicants can engage meaningfully in the project. Local Governments will assist with community outreach to disseminate the grant program guidelines. The Project will include targeted outreach to women, youth and producers in disadvantaged areas. Women and youth require more motivation and, in some cases, additional support in understanding that the most common market failures and gender gaps will not prevent access to the 25 benefits of the Project. During orientation meetings, communicated provided will focus on Project’ design elements that facilitate participation of vulnerable groups (provision of TA in development of business plans and throughout implementation, preferential treatment in grantee selection, etc). In disadvantaged areas, additional support may be considered from Extension Services, NGOs, TA providers and peer-to- peer networks to ensure that potential beneficiaries receive timely information and support in the application process. Awareness raising sessions will be conducted in municipal centers to ensure higher participation of targeted population. Mass and social media, electronic communication through Ministry website, press releases/conferences and regional road shows will be some of the communication channels used to disseminate information about the project. 8.3.2 Market needs assessment at three levels To better target advisory support to small and medium size agri-food producers, the Project will assess their needs in the area of technical, entrepreneurial and digital capacities. The assessment will analyze the particular needs of women and young agri-food producers, those living in disadvantaged areas and have particular land/climate constraints, and handicraft producers. The assessment will subsequently identify the capacity constraints of Extension Services that need to be addressed to ensure that they can meet the needs of potential Project beneficiaries. The assessment will also take into account now private/NGO resources can complement public services. Extension Services will be able to plan their trainings and support services around the results of the assessment. Lastly, the assessment will identify the type of assurance/information that banks need to provide the financial support (matching grants) foreseen by the Project. 8.3.3 Sample-based applicant/beneficiary survey Six months after each grant call the PMT will conduct sample-based applicant/grantee satisfaction surveys to collect feedback on: i) grant application process and the quality and effectiveness of support received by Extension Services/TA providers, ii) business plan and grant reporting requirements, iii) level of inclusiveness in the selection process, iv) quality and effectiveness of the business plan implementation support. The survey results will be soliciting feedback on the effectiveness of the project activities (both financial and technical) that will be used for service improvements. This will allow the PMT to identify potential design issues related to access and implementation of the matching grant program and the effectiveness of advisory services. The survey data will be disaggregated by age, gender and location). Survey results with proposed corrective measures will be published on Ministry website and discussed at regional workshops. 8.3.4 Regional stakeholder workshops MAFWM/PMT together with Local Governments and Extension Services will organize annual stakeholder regional workshops in which the Ministry will present the Project progress, grant disbursements figures for the region, and other progress data checked against plans to ensure transparency. At the regional workshop, the Ministry also present applicant/beneficiary survey results and aggregated grievances and how these have informed the grant mechanism design and supporting services (market demanded trainings and advisory services). 26 9. Grievance Mechanism A Project level grievance mechanism (GM) will be established with two main entry points for grievances: i) DAP’s existing Information Centre for the national support program and ii) feedback space made available through the Open Data Platform developed by the project. To ensure GM access, potential beneficiaries, communities and other stakeholders may submit grievances through Local Governments and numerous Ministry channels as outlined below. The GM will provide the opportunity for continued feedback on the grant scheme and resolution of individual grievances during implementation. Procedures related to complaints handling will be included in the Grants Operational Manual and posted on the MAFWM’s website to ensure full transparency. The GM shall serve as both Project level information center and grievance mechanism, available to those affected by implementation of all Project sub-components and be applicable to all Project activities and relevant to all local communities affected by project activities. The GM shall be responsible for receiving and responding to grievances and comments of the following two groups: i. A person/legal entity directly affected by the project, potential beneficiaries of the Project, ii. Stakeholders - people with interest in the project, and ii. Residents/communities interested in and/or affected by project activities. The GM shall be effective prior to commencement of the Grant Program, in order to manage and appropriately answer complaints during its different phases. It will be authorized to receive questions/complaints in respect to the marching grant scheme, including the eligibility criteria, adequacy of support to women, adequacy of TA services, adequacy of stakeholder engagement and the Environmental and Social performance of sub-grants. In addition to the GM, legal remedies available under the national legislation are also available (courts, inspections, administrative authorities etc.). MAFWM is responsible for establishing a functioning GM and informing stakeholders about the GM role and function, the contact persons and the procedures to submit a complaint in the affected areas. Information on the GM will be available: • on the website of the MAFWM (http://www.minpolj.gov.rs/.) • on the SCAP project website • on the notice boards and websites of Local Governments • through the Ministry’s social media account https://twitter.com/poljoprivredars and https://es- la.facebook.com 9.1 Raising grievances Effective grievance administration strongly relies on a set fundamental principle designed to promote the fairness of the process and its outcomes. The grievance procedure shall be designed to be accessible, effective, easy, understandable and without costs to the complainant. Any grievance can be brought to the attention of the GM personally or by telephone or in writing by filling in the grievance form by phone, 27 e-mail, post, fax or personal delivery to the addresses/numbers to be determined. The access points and details on local entry points shall be publicized and shall be part of the awareness building once the micro locations of the Project are known. 9.2 Grievances administration Any grievance shall follow the path of the following mandatory steps: receive, assess and assign, acknowledge, investigate, respond, follow up and close out. Once logged, the GM shall conduct a rapid assessment to verify the nature of grievances and determine on the severity. Within 3 days from logging it will acknowledge that the case is registered and provide the grievant with the basic next step information. It will then investigate by trying to understand the issue from the perspective of the complainant and understand what action he/she requires. The GM will investigate the facts and circumstances and articulate an answer. The final agreement should be issued and grievant be informed about the final decision not later than 30 days after the logging of the grievance. Closing out the grievance occurs after the implementation of the resolution has been verified. Even when an agreement is not reached, or the grievance was rejected, is the results will be documented, actions and effort put into the resolution. If the grievance could not be resolved in amicable endeavor, the grievant can resort to the formal judicial procedures, as made available under the Serbian national legal framework. Logging a grievance with the GM does not preclude or prevent seeking resolution from an official authority, judicial or other at any time (including during the grievance process) provided by the Serbian legal framework. In case of anonymous grievance, after acknowledgment of the grievance within three days from logging, the GM will investigate the grievance and within 30 days from logging the grievance, issue the final decision that will be disclosed on the PMT’s website. Flowchart below shows the grievance/feedback value chain. The GM shall keep a grievance register log, which will include grievances received through all admission channels, containing all necessary elements to disaggregate the grievance by gender of the person logging it as well as by type of grievance. However, the personal data of each Grievant shall be protected under 28 the Data Protection Law. Each grievance will be recorded in the register with the following information at minimum: • description of grievance, • date of receipt acknowledgement returned to the complainant, • description of actions taken (investigation, corrective measures), • date of resolution / provision of feedback to the complainant, • verification of implementation, and • closure. 9.3 Grievance and beneficiary feedback reporting The role of the GM, in addition to addressing grievances, shall be to keep and store comments/grievances received and keep the Central grievance log administered by the MAFWM. In order to allow full knowledge of this tool and its results, quarterly updates from the GM shall be available on the MAFWM website. The updates shall be disaggregated by gender, type of grievances /complaints and presented at annual workshops which will be used as a feedback generator platform. 9.4 Constitution of GM MAFWM will add the role of GM for this Project to DAP`s Info Centre for Grants by the time public consultations on this SEP have been completed. This will allow any potential grievance to be addressed even at the planning stage. The info Centre will be responsible for GM administration, take any action necessary to address the grievance and inform the complainant about the outcome of the process, and maintain an exhaustive data base of stakeholders, their responsible persons and representatives. 29 Figure 4: Grievance Value Chain Grievance Mechanism (GM) Level At the level of MAFWM/PMT (DAP`s Info Centre & Open Data Platform) Project information center and grievance mechanism for matching grant Role mechanism, Environmental and Social Performance of the Project, information sharing or inequitable access to TA and Extension Services Focus All components of the Project Addressing concerns and grievances from potential beneficiaries of the Project Responsibility and other interested parties Methods for Grievances can be logged in writing, by e-mail or phone at the GM or at the Local raising designated Grievance admission points at local Municipalities grievances GM Registration Log Registry of Grievances Grievance Log administered by PMT Local Grievance Logs at local entry points (Local Governments) The GM shall, within three days after the day of receipt, acknowledge such Administration receipt and take overall 30 days to decide on the grievance or to inform the of Grievances complainant why the grievance cannot be resolved within the given time. Within 25 days the implementation of remedy shall be verified GM shall keep and store all grievances in a Central Grievance Log, and publish Reporting quarterly reports on the PMT website Grievances may arise from members of communities who are dissatisfied with eligibility criteria use and actual implementation. The existence of a GM should not prevent citizens or communities from pursuing their rights and interests by seeking redress through the courts, administrative law procedures, or other formal dispute resolution mechanisms available. 9.5 Grievance Log The PMT will maintain grievance log to ensure that each complaint has an individual reference number and is appropriately tracked and recorded actions are completed. When receiving feedback, including grievances, the following is defined: - Type, - Category, - Deadline for resolving the appeal, and 30 - Agreed action plan. Each complaint should be assigned with an individual reference number and is appropriately tracked and recorded actions are completed. The log should contain the following information: • Name of the grievant, location and details of the grievance. • Date of submission. • Date when the Grievance Log was uploaded onto the project database. • Details of corrective action proposed, • Date when the proposed corrective action was sent to the complainant (if appropriate). • Date when the grievance was closed out. • Date when the response was sent to the grievant. 9.6 Grievance admission channels Any grievance can be brought to the attention of the GM by filling the grievance form in hard copy or on-line, or in any other format as chosen by the grievant. The Grievance form is provided in Annex 1. Any type of grievance can be submitted by mail, fax, phone, e-mail or in person using the below access details: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Directorate for Agrarian Payment, Info Centre To the attention of the GM Nemanjina 22-26 11000 Beograd 9.7 Monitoring and Reporting on Grievances The Info Centre will be responsible for: o Collecting data from local Extension Services serving as local admission points on the number, substance and status of complaints and uploading them into the single regional database; o Maintaining the grievance logs on the complaints received at the regional level o Monitoring outstanding issues and proposing measures to resolve them; o Disclosing quarterly reports on GM mechanisms. o Summarizing and analyzing the qualitative data received from the local Grievance Admission points on the number, substance and status of complaints and uploading them into the single project database; o Monitoring outstanding issues and proposing measures to resolve them; The quarterly reports to the WB shall be submitted through the PMT, which shall include a section related to GM which provides updated information on the following: • Status of GM implementation (procedures, training, public awareness campaigns, budgeting etc.); • Qualitative data on number of received grievances \ (applications, suggestions, complaints, requests, positive feedback) and number of resolved grievances; • Quantitative data on the type of grievances and responses, issues provided and grievances that remain unresolved; • Level of satisfaction by the measures (response) taken; • Any corrective measures taken. 31 9.8 World Bank Grievance Redress System Communities and individuals who believe that they are adversely affected by a World Bank (WB) supported project may submit complaints to existing project-level grievance redress mechanisms or the WB’s Grievance Redress Service (GRS). The GRS ensures that complaints received are promptly reviewed in order to address project-related concerns. Project affected communities and individuals may submit their complaint to the WB’s independent Inspection Panel which determines whether harm occurred, or could occur, as a result of WB non-compliance with its policies and procedures. Complaints may be submitted at any time after concerns have been brought directly to the World Bank’s attention, and Bank Management has been given an opportunity to respond. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank’s corporate Grievance Redress Service (GRS), please visit http://www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/products-and-services/grievance-redress-service. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank Inspection Panel, please visit www.inspectionpanel.org. 10. Monitoring and Reporting of the SEP Component 3 of the Project will support monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities to track, document, and communicate the progress and results of the project, including monitoring of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan. The PMT will be responsible for overall compilation of progress and results. Feedback and grievances received through the project GM will be aggregated and included in annual reports. 11. Disclosure and Consultation requirements Following a 14 days two-week disclosure window once endorsed by MAFWM and the WB, the draft SEP, shall be subject to Public consultations. The SEP will be disclosed in Serbian and English at the website of the MAFWM together with invitations to the Public Consultations. Given the importance of Project, its scale and geographical spread the Public invitation shall be announced in a reputable printed media with national coverage to allow a wide range of Stakeholders to be included in the Consultation process. This will provide the Stakeholders with opportunities to express their views on project risks, impacts, and mitigation measures and allow MAFWM to consider and respond to them. The Invitation shall indicate how the document to be consulted on may be accessed, the Project details, date, time and venue of the consultations, and contact information details for feedback and /or questions. Once the Consultations have been completed, Minutes of the Meeting shall be prepared and annexed to the SEP. The Minutes shall reflect on the feedback received, questions raised and how these were incorporated into the final document. The attendance of Stakeholders shall be verified through a signed attendance log, preferable with contact details of the attendees and photographs with permission to disclose. 12. Estimated Budget MAFWM/PMT will be responsible for planning and implementation of stakeholder engagement activities, as well as other relevant outreach, disclosure and consultation activities. Based on the needs of the SEP, the stakeholder engagement/communication budget will cover the following activities: (i) development 32 of communication strategy, (ii) development of Project web-site administered by the MAFWM/PMT, (iii) sample-based applicant/beneficiary survey (after each matching grant round), (iv) media coverage expenditures; (v) printed outreach materials and project documents (leaflets, ads, manuals, brochures, posters, etc.); (vi) regional workshops/consultation activities. The tentative budget for these activities is US$ 130,000. To ensure successful SEP implementation, the Project will hire a part-time Communication/Outreach Specialist supported by the Component 3: Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation budget. 33 ANNEX 1 – GRIEVANCE REGISTRATION FORM Reference No: Full Name Note: you can remain anonymous if you prefer, or request not to disclose your identity to the third parties without your consent. In case of anonymous grievances, the decision will be disclosed at the Projects website www.minpolj.rs First name _____________________________________ Last name _____________________________________ â?? I wish to raise my grievance anonymously â?? I request not to disclose my identity without my consent Contact Information Please mark how you wish to be contacted (mail, telephone, e-mail). â?? By Post: Please provide mailing address: _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________ â?? By Telephone: _______________________________________________ â?? By E-mail _______________________________________________ â?? I will follow up o the resolution at the website as I want to remain anonymous Preferred Language for communication â?? Serbian â?? Other (indicate) Description of Incident or Grievance (What happened? Where did it happen? Who did it happen to? What is the result of the problem? Date of Incident/ Grievance) â?? One-time incident/grievance (date _______________) â?? Happened more than once (how many times? _____) â?? On-going (currently experiencing problem) What would you like to see happen to resolve the problem? Signature: _______________________________ Date: _______________________________ Please return this form to: The Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Water Management, PMT, Competitiveness Agriculture Project. 34 35