First Stakeholders Dialogue
The first stakeholder dialogue brought together key actors from agri-food sector where challenges, opportunities were identified and key recommendations suggested.
The first Stakeholder Dialogue was held on 27th July 2021 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in a hybrid format. The event was on “Implementation of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) measures in MSMEs” and was held as a side event at the ‘Central Asia Climate Change Conference 2021’. The event brought together key actors from Tajikistan’s and Uzbekistan’s agri-food production and processing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector, including industry associations, industry cluster representatives, large food producing companies, relevant public and private institutions, and MSMEs themselves.
The first part of the event discussed how the REAP project can help agri-food production and processing MSMEs in implementation of resource saving measures through Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) methodology, and also, how the project will work with wider stakeholder in strengthening the ecosystem for MSMEs to adapt SCP technologies. In second part of the event, a results-oriented roundtable discussion was held to understand the current challenges and opportunities in driving SCP implementations at MSME. The main challenges were identified as frequent power outages, quality of raw materials, staff drain, etc. The opportunities identified were financial savings, increased market coverage, and profitable waste.
Some of the recommendations that came up includeIntroduction of educational programs on SCP in universities or training institutions (agricultural, technological, etc.); development of SCP legislation and regulations at the state level; creation of information portals on SCP; development of state programmes or initiatives on SCP practices; establishment of an interagency and intersectoral coordination mechanism; assistance to SMEs in access to finance in cooperation with the financial institutions.