ANNUAL REPORT #4: APRIL 20, 2020 – APRIL 19, 2021 SERBIA COMPETITIVENESS SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING (CSS) ACTIVITY May 20, 2021 This report is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for Interna- tional Development (USAID). The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of Cardno Emerging Markets USA, Ltd. and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. ANNUAL REPORT #4: APRIL 20, 2020–APRIL 19, 2021 SERBIA COMPETITIVENESS SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING (CSS) ACTIVITY Submitted by: Cardno Emerging Markets USA, Ltd. Submitted to: USAID Serbia Contract No.: AID-169-C-17-00003 Competitiveness Systems Strengthening Activity DISCLAIMER The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. Table of Contents ACRONYMS ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 3 ABOUT THE ACTIVITY ...................................................................................................................................... 4 SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS ....................................................................................................................... 4 CONTEXT ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................ 4 FRUIT AND VEGETABLES .................................................................................................................................... 5 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................ 8 OVERALL PERFORMANCE INDICATOR – GROWTH OF SALES ............................................................................ 8 OBJECTIVE-SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ......................................................................................... 11 SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................ 15 COMPLIANCE WITH THE THEORY OF CHANGE ................................................................................................. 15 SCALABILITY AND REPLICABILITY OF ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................. 16 COLLABORATION, LEARNING AND ADAPTATION (CLA) ................................................................................... 17 TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES Y4 .......................................................................................................................... 18 STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ........................................................................................................................ 51 ANNEX A: PMP TABLE ................................................................................................................................... 59 ANNEX B: PROGRESS AGAINST YEAR 4 WORKPLAN ........................................................................ 62 ANNEX C: SUCCESS STORIES .................................................................................................................... 67 SUCCESS STORY #1 (Y4Q1) .......................................................................................................................... 67 SUCCESS STORY #2 (Y4Q2) .......................................................................................................................... 70 SUCCESS STORY #3 (Y4Q2) .......................................................................................................................... 72 SUCCESS STORY #4 (Y4Q2) .......................................................................................................................... 75 SUCCESS STORY #5 (Y4Q3) .......................................................................................................................... 78 SUCCESS STORY #6 (Y4Q4) .......................................................................................................................... 81 MUNICIPALITY-LEVEL REVOLVING FUND MODEL CREATES NEW FINANCING OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMALL FARMERS AND GROWERS IN SERBIA........................................... 81 ANNEX D: SELF ASSESSMENT ON PROGRESS .................................................................................... 84 ANNEX E – ANNUAL ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 85 EVALUATION PURPOSE ..................................................................................................................................... 85 EVALUATION QUESTIONS ................................................................................................................................. 85 EVALUATION METHODS AND LIMITATIONS ...................................................................................................... 86 ANNEX F – ADDITIONAL COMMUNICATION HIGHLIGHTS .................................................................. 89 ATTACHMENT A: CSS ORG. CHART .......................................................................................................... 93 ATTACHMENT B: CSS GRANTS AND SUBCONTRACTS UPDATE .................................................... 94 ATTACHMENT C: PRESS CLIPPING ......................................................................................................... 106 Annual Report Y4 1 ACRONYMS AgBg AgroBelgrade Food Show AMELP Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan APSF Association for the Promotion of Serbian Food B2B Business-to-Business BFS Belgrade Food Show BSO Business Support Organization CLA Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation COVID Coronavirus disease 2019 CSS Competitiveness Systems Strengthening DFC (DCA) U.S. International Development Finance Corporation / Credit Authority DFS Development Fund of Serbia FDI Foreign Direct Investment FoA Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade FON Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade FP Facilitation Partner F&V Fruits and Vegetables FY Fiscal Year GHP/GMP Good Hygiene Practices / Good Manufacturing Practices GOS Government of Serbia HoReCa Hotel/Restaurant/Café ILC Industry Leader Company IQF Individually Quick Frozen IPARD EU’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance in Rural Development MENA Middle East and Northern Africa MoA Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management MoE Ministry of Economy NBS National Bank of Serbia NAPP National Association of Serbian Prune Producers PFDH Premium Food Design Hub PKS Chamber of Commerce and Industry (“Privredna komora Srbije”) PMP Performance Monitoring Table RAS Serbian Development Agency RF Results Framework SDA/SDF Serbia Does Apples / Serbia Does Fruit SAFT Serbian Association of Food Technologists SFTC Serbian Food Technology Council SME Small and Medium Enterprise VC Value Chain VCRA Value Chain Readiness Assessment YFI Association Youth for Impact Annual Report Y4 2 Executive Summary This is the fourth Annual Report for the Competitiveness Systems Strengthening Activity (CSS/Project) market systems development initiative funded by USAID in Serbia. During this reporting year, the Project achieved full sustainability of several initiatives, replicated success- ful models to a new industry segment, and supported scale-up of several other efforts, all the while confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic, which certainly impacted the markets in un- predictable ways. It has become clear in Y4 that Serbia is now a recognized supplier of high-value, grade A fresh produce to the EU. Serbian blueberries, apples, plums, and peppers can now be found in the biggest retail shops across the entire EU and UK, as well as other, more distant markets. Pro- motional articles are a regular occurrence in the most important EU sector printed and digital media, and the biggest EU buyers are now sourcing from Serbia. More and more Serbian SMEs are investing in modern packaging equipment and adopting new standards of production such as certification, as well as digitalization and new technologies. This shift towards high-value EU markets is now in full swing and will prove to be transformational for Serbian market systems. The Serbia Does Fruit platform, which facilitated this process of change, requires additional support to become fully sustainable and continue building on work so far completed. And these topics are actively discussed and debated at AgroBelgrade, which is quickly becom- ing the most important regional trade show for fruits and vegetables, with strong international partners and attendance from the entire region. Similarly, the frozen industry is now fully pursuing the shift to organic production, with more and more smallholder farmers from rural areas benefiting from the shift by leading Serbian exporters to exploit this market niche This trend is also now in full, market-driven scale-up mode. Finally, Serbian retail has made important strides to provide openings for micro and small firms operating in the specialty food sector. DM incubator was an important sign for others to step up and develop their support programs. E-commerce platforms, domestic and international, have been