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Usaid Serbia Competitiveness Systems Strengthening Activity Quarterly Report #11, Y3 Q3 October– December 2019

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Usaid Serbia Competitiveness Systems Strengthening Activity Quarterly Report #11, Y3 Q3 October– December 2019 USAID SERBIA COMPETITIVENESS SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT #11, Y3 Q3 OCTOBER– DECEMBER 2019 January 30, 2020 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. 1 USAID SERBIA COMPETITIVENESS SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT #11, YEAR 3, QUARTER 3 OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2019 Submitted by: Cardno Emerging Markets USA, Ltd. Submitted to: USAID Contract No.: AID-169-C-17-00003 Serbia Competitiveness Systems Strengthening (CSS) 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. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS ...................................................................................................................................................................... II INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................. 2 REVIEW OF PROJECT PROGRESS ............................................................................................................................ 3 TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES..................................................................................................................................................... 3 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ......................................................................................................................................... 15 ACCESS TO FINANCE...................................................................................................................................................... 18 STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 23 ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR NEXT QUARTER ........................................................................................................ 26 ACCESS TO MARKETS .................................................................................................................................................... 26 ACCESS TO FINANCE...................................................................................................................................................... 27 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT......................................................................................................................................... 27 STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 28 ANNEX A: PMP TABLE ................................................................................................................................................. 29 ANNEX B: PROGRESS AGAINST YEAR 3 WORKPLAN ...................................................................................... 31 ANNEX C: CSS GRANTS AND SUBCONTRACTS .................................................................................................. 38 ANNEX D: QUARTERLY SELF-ASSESSMENT ON PROGRESS ......................................................................... 42 ATTACHMENT 1: CSS ORG. CHART ........................................................................................................................ 46 ATTACHMENT 2: STATUS OF GRANTS AND SUBCONTRACTS ...................................................................... 47 ATTACHMENT 3: PRESS CLIPPING LIST ................................................................................................................ 53 Quarterly Report #11: Year 3, Quarter 3 Page i Acronyms APSF Association for the Promotion of Serbian Food AMELP Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan B2B Business-to-Business BFS Belgrade Food Show BSO Business Support Organization CEFTA Central European Free Trade Agreement CLA Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation CSS Competitiveness Systems Strengthening DCA USAID’s Development Credit Authority EU PRO European Support to Municipal Development Programme EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development FDI Foreign Direct Investment FoA Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade FON Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade FSA Framework Service Agreements F&V Fruits and Vegetables HoReCa Hotel/Restaurant/Café ILC Industry Leader Company IPARD Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance in Rural Development 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”) RAS Serbian Development Agency RF Results Framework SDA Serbia Does Apples Association SFTC Serbian Food Technology Council SME Small and Medium Enterprise STA Superior Taste Award TOS National Tourism Organization of Serbia VC Value Chain VCAP Value Chain Action Plan VCRA Value Chain Readiness Assessment YFI Association Youth for Impact Quarterly Report #11: Year 3, Quarter 3 Page ii Introduction Building on previous investments, successes, and lessons learned from USAID and other donor initi- atives in Serbia, USAID’s Competitiveness Systems Strengthening Activity (Project/CSS) is a four- year activity initiated in April 2017. The Project aims to strengthen Serbia’s agriculture processing sector (the sector) by focusing on the growth of sales as the key benchmark for evaluating performance. CSS approach takes a market system perspective and focuses on addressing competitiveness issues that are systemic—rather than particu- lar—thereby testing and proving the collaborative methodologies required to resolve these gaps. While the approach is only being tested on a narrow set of value chains (VCs), fruits and vegetables (F&V), within the sector –, it should create a “ripple effect” into others, creating momentum for strengthening Serbia’s overall competitiveness. For this reason, the Project approach to implementa- tion is organized functionally—rather than being tied to a specific product or VC, it instead targets products and VCs with the highest competitiveness potential for Serbia. The Project targets functional competitiveness areas in different capacities: Table 1: CSS Functional Competitiveness Areas Competitiveness Area Acronym Description Access to markets A2M Increasing the confidence of Serbian enterprises to identify markets to in- crease connections to local, regional, and international buyers. Firms’ Operations improvement include providing support for improvements in enterprise management, product design and development, product quality. Access to finance A2F Stimulating demand for growth finance and making finance accessible and borrower-friendly. Workforce development WFD Improving the pipeline of qualified workers to companies needing them. The business environment is being addressed by identifying important issues within the policy and regulatory environment and working actively with government partners, USAID’s Cooperation for Growth project (CFG) and EU programs. To mitigate risk, monitor the progress of activities, and adjust in implementation as needed, CSS uses Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) as a fundamental implementation principle. The primary goal of CLA is to ensure that the desired objective and purpose of the Project remains the same, even if while changes in program activities lead to modifications in expected outputs. Figure 1. CSS Theory of Change Quarterly Report #11: Year 3, Quarter 3 Page 1 Executive summary During the third quarter of Year 3, CSS activities made significant progress, particularly in fresh pro- duce marketing which is increasingly becoming a high-value industry segment with strong competi- tiveness potential. As expected, the largest EU buyers sourced from Serbia this season, which should lead to further development of professional export firms. The Belgrade Food Show 2019 showed impressive results, and CSS continued with preparations for the first AgroBelgrade show and Fruit Logistica in Berlin. The Serbian business association “Serbia Does Apples” (SDA) successfully concluded the first year of its formal existence. SDA helped its members to diversify export markets and became a member of the world’s leading organizations (WAPA and Freshfel). Serbian associations and traders, successfully participated in Fruitnet Fresh South-East Europe Forum (Belgrade) and Fruit Attraction Trade Fair (Spain) representing the Serbian fresh F&V industry. By the end of 2019, CSS formalized agreements with 5 Serbian companies to implement integrative business models for small F&V growers to enter value chains and export to the EU. Specialty food activities continue to show remarkable results and are now looking to establish sustainable models to continue supporting the Serbian F&V processing industry. Pilots in the frozen segment continue to demonstrate the need to expand to the organic segment. A proposal from the Union of Cold Storage has also been received for a possible partnership
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