The Swiss-funded IntegratedWater Resources Management Kosovo Program (MIRU-K) (hereinafter referred to as the Program or MIRU-K) aims to build long-term water resource management capacities at the national level in river basins in line with Kosovo's socio-economic and political priorities, as well as future sustainable development needs. The program seeks to help replace the current fragmented approach with a more inclusive approach, with high participation in river basin resource management, aligning with the principles of MIRU and theEU Water Framework Directive (EU WFD).
An important part of the Program consists of activities aimed at different approaches (prototypes) as well as practicesto reduce the impacts (pressures) of pollution coming from agriculturein selected areas of Kosovo.
As part of the Competitive Grants Scheme (SGK), the program now invites interested individual farmers tosubmit applicationsto participate in a training program and a subsequent grant program.
The trainings will take place at theIADK facility in Vushtrri or in selected municipalitieswithin the three river basins. Transportation to the training site, regardless of which municipality they come from, is the responsibility of the selected farmers themselves.
Through thisFirst Call, the Program aims to select up to60 raspberry and apple producers and cultivators. The selection of candidates will be made according topredetermined criteria. The selected farmers will become project partners in implementing modern agricultural practices designed to reduce negative environmental impacts and improve production quality.
The implementation of the training will be followed bya test to assess the acquired knowledgerequired for the needs of implementing recommended agricultural practices. Based on the test results, and according to other criteria,a total of 30 agricultural producers with raspberry and apple cropsfrom all targeted municipalities will be selected and will become beneficiariesof the Program grant. A prerequisite to be a grant beneficiary is the result obtained from the test, which must be no less than 30%.
The value of each grant will beup to 5,000 EURand will be divided into two parts, namely:
- Mandatory equipment to be used to promote agricultural practices presented during training sessions, soil analyses, and programs to meet plants' water and nutrient needs.
- Equipment and negotiated materials will be providedto each grant beneficiary depending on the specific needs for implementing recommended practices.
Each of the selected grant beneficiaries will be monitored overthe next two agricultural seasonsand will be required to implement the suggested production techniques in the fields of irrigation, protection, and plant feed/fertilization. During these periods, external experts will be available to farmers forpractical trainingandspecific support upon request.
The proposal for the type of equipment and materials to be financed by the Program will be made by a team of experts. The procurement of necessary equipment and materials will be carried out by the Program (no cash transfers are foreseen for the selected farmers).
The trainings will be organized during the periodNovember - December 2021, while the testing will take place duringJanuary 2022. The necessary materials to prepare for the test will be available to all training participants.
Criteria for selecting candidates:
- The completed application along with all supporting documents provided in the application;
- The candidate must be over 18 years old, but also not older than 65 years;
- The location of the agricultural plantations/plots must be in one of the targeted river basins: Ibar, Morava e Binçës, or Lepenc. - A list of municipalities from which farmers are eligible to apply is attached.
- The candidate must be an individual farmer with their farm registration number, or business registration – any form of legal registration as a farmer;
- The family's income from agricultural activity must be at least 30% of the family's total income in the previous year.
- Candidates who include other family members in agricultural activities (an exception to this rule is when the family has a student and/or pensioners), as well as seasonal workers and full-time employees. Families where more than half of the adult members earn income from another source (p.sh., employment) cannot apply to this Call.
- The candidate must be a landowner, have property documentation belonging to a close family, or have signed a lease agreement for a period of at least 5 years starting from the date of signing the agreement with the Program;
- Apple orchards (plantations) must have a minimum area of 0.5 ha (formed from one or more plots if they border each other and are owned or leased by the same person).
- Orchards (plantations) withraspberriesmust have a minimum area of 0.25 ha (formed from one or more plots if they border each other and are owned or leased by the same person);
- The density ofapple orchardsmust be above 1,500 seedlings per hectare;
- The age of the plantation should be between 2 and 15 years;
- There must be accessto a water source (river, well, surface water flow, etc.) on the plot/plantation;
- The distance of the chosen parcel from a surface water source (reservoir, river, or other surface water body) must not be more than 5 km;
- Willingness to co-finance (only in case of selection for grant award). Eligible co-financing includes equipment and/or investments in materials (p.sh. fertilizers, plant protection) for the implementation of agro-environmental measures in accordance with the recommendations of the expert team;
- The candidate's willingness to comply with the recommendations for implementing agroecological measures on the selected plot, provided by the team of experts, as well as to keep records of processes in pre-prepared formats and regularly share them with the Program and its experts.
In the case of submitting a large number of applications, in addition to the above criteria, additional criteria related to the environmental impact assessment will be applied for ranking candidates (p.sh. erosion, location in relation to the existing protected area, etc.).
To strengthen the role of women in resource management in agriculture, the ranking of applications plans to award additional points to female applicants, as well as farming families with a higher percentage of women's inclusion. In cases of equal ranking points, priority will be given to families with female applicants, a greater number of women, and a larger share of agricultural income.
The application for participation in the program can be obtained electronically by clickinghere. Printed copies can be obtained from the offices of IADK, Lower Sfaraçak no.11, 42000 Vushtrri, Republic of Kosovo, or at the offices of Skat Consulting Kosovo, 136 Pashko Vasa Street, 1st floor, no. 5, Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo. If the application is made in printed format, the completed application must be submitted in two copies (in one of the official languages): one (1) original copy and one (1) copy in a sealed envelope, no later thanOctober 20, 2021, at the address:
136 Pashko Vasa Street, 1st floor, no. 5, Pristina, Republic of Kosovo
e-mail:kosovo@skat.ch
Titled "Application for training and grant for agro-environmental measures"
Applications can be submitted electronically (kosovo@skat.ch), by mail, or directly (by hand) at the offices of Skat Consulting Kosovo. For more detailed information regarding the terms and criteria of the notification, please contact:
Contact person: Edita Mahmuti, number of contact +38344777036 (edita.mahmuti@iadk.org)
Note:
Attached to this announcement you will find:
- Application form
- The list of municipalities for the river basin whose farmers are eligible to apply
- Map of river basins and municipalities according to river basins
[1] The MIRU-K program is being implemented by SKAT Consulting Kosovo. The implementation of this special activity (the Competitive Grants Scheme) is supported by the EPICENTAR Consortium-IADK
Available in: SHQ, ENG, SRB