Table of Contents
- What
is a Matching Grant?
- Who
are eligible to apply for ASF grant?
- What
sort of activities are eligible for grant funding?
- What
are Agribusinesses ?
- What
are Business Development Services (BDS)?
- What
are Business Development Services Providers (BDSPs) ?
- Who
will find Business Development Service Provider (BDSP)
for my business?
- What
is Farmers Enterprise?
- What
are Farmer Enterprise Groups?
- What
are Agricultural Extension Services ?
- Can
I apply for a grant to acquire fixed asset?
- How
much grant amount I can apply for?
- Where
can I submit grant application?
- Do
I have to deposit any security deposit alongwith application?
- My
application is approved, when will I receive grant funds?
What
is a Matching Grant ?
Matching grants are a partial (maximum 50%) contribution
towards expenditure incurred by agribusiness entrepreneurs
on purchase of Business Development Services (BDS).
Matching grants are financial incentives provided to agribusiness
entrepreneurs in order to overcome barriers to usage of
BDS. It is hoped that, these TEMPORARY subsidies will encourage
firms, who do not commonly use BDS, to try a service, which
they might be too risk-averse to try at full price. At the
same time, the increase in demand will stimulate suppliers
to develop and improve service products for agribusiness
market.
It is expected that, once both parties experience positive
business transactions, they will continue to exchange BDS
without further subsidy. ASF will also undertake initiatives
to link BDS suppliers in the market, who do not commonly
serve agribusinesses, with agribusiness enterprises.
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Who are eligible to apply
for ASF Grant?
Following individuals and enterprises are eligible
to receive ASF grants:
- Any
private sector person or enterprise whose revenues are
currently predominantly earned from engagement in agribusiness.
- Any
private sector person or enterprise that intends to start
to engage in agribusiness.
- Any
private sector person or enterprise engaged in the provision
of business development services to agribusiness.
- Any
private sector person or enterprise that is engaged in
research in the agriculture or agribusiness sector on
behalf of a private sector individual or enterprise engaged
in agribusiness.
- Any
private sector person or enterprise that is engaged in
the provision of extension services in the agriculture
or agribusiness sector on behalf of a private sector individual
or enterprise engaged in agribusiness.
- Any
non-government organisation (NGO) engaged in the provision
of rural support services, specifically with experience
in community mobilisation and the formation of groups.
- Any
farmers’ group enterprise formed through the assistance
of an eligible NGO as defined above whose revenues will
be predominantly earned from engagement in agribusiness
or in the production of commodities that may be further
processed and to which value is added by other individuals
or enterprises engaged in agribusiness.
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What
sort of activities are eligible for grant funding?
Any service that leads to outputs for a new, specifically
identified market or that develops new products or adds
value to existing products are eligible for ASF funding.
ASF grant funding is broadly categorized as follows:
-
Capacity building and related assistance to agribusiness
enterprises and for start-up enterprises. The grants are
provided to agribusiness enterprises for purchase of BDS.
- Support
to private sector BDS providers to enhance the availability
and quality of services to agribusiness enterprises.
-
Support to individual farmers and farmer groups for the
formation of agribusiness enterprises that can then obtain
ASF support for eligible services.
-
Demand-driven research by private or public institutions
leading to enhanced quality production and improved production
processes, or to meet an identified market demand.
-
Development of private sector extension services to be
provided to farmers serving or proposing to serve agribusiness
enterprises.
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What
are Agribusinesses ?
ASF defines Agribusinesses as “all enterprises that
assemble, process and transform raw agricultural commodities
into final products for distribution to local and international
consumers”
ASF works in the following Agribusiness Sub-Sectors
- Fresh
Horticulture (All fruits & vegetables – Processed
to increase shelf life)
- Floriculture
(ornamental) products
Processed horticultural products (frozen, canned, dehydrated,
freshly cut, in brine etc)
- Processed
dairy products
- Processed
Meats & Livestock Products
- High
Value Agricultural products suited to small farms (high
quality wood, vanilla, black pepper, saffron & other
spices).
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What
are Business Development Services (BDS)?
“Business Development Services (BDS)” are a
wide range of services used by individual entrepreneurs
to help them operate and improve the performance of the
enterprise, its access to markets, and its ability to compete.
Business Development Services include training, consultancy
and advisory services (financial advisory, legal, managerial
etc), marketing assistance (brand development, sales strategies,
marketing plans etc), technology development and transfer,
and business linkage promotion.
ASF will fund only those BDS, which can be implemented rapidly
and can be expected to show measurable and sustainable results
leading to higher productivity, greater efficiency or increased
sales or sales margins that will produce proportionally
higher financial gains for the beneficiary within 18 to
24 months of the start of implementation. The minimum ratio
of cost of BDS to incremental financial gain within the
first 24 months should not be less than 1 to 3 (in practice,
very much higher ratios are normally observed).
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What
are Business Development Services Providers (BDSPs) ?
Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) range from
individuals working part-time in the informal sector, to
large formal sector companies and institutions, providing
Business Development Services (BDS) to businesses.
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Who
will find Business Development Service Provider (BDSP) for
my business?
The selection of the BDSP is the responsibility of the applicant.
However, ASF has the right to veto a BDSP if it has any
doubts about the ability of the nominated BDS provider to
undertake and complete the task satisfactorily, or if there
is any doubt that there is a genuine arms-length commercial
relationship between the agribusiness enterprise and the
BDSP.In offering to provide a grant, ASF in no way guarantees
the quality of the service that will be financed by the
grant. Equally, ASF accepts no liability to you or any third
party for any damage or incidental costs relating to the
implementation of the service financed by the grant or for
any activities related to it or driving from it.
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What
is Farmers Enterprise?
A Farm Enterprise is any commercially viable agribusiness,
operated primarily by individual farmers in conjunction
with a bona fide agricultural, horticultural, pastoral or
aquacultural operation and is involved in processing of
raw agri products for human consumption or semi-processing
for production of additional value added products. Activities
of a farm enterprise may include secondary processing and/or
retail sale of agricultural, horticultural, or silvicultureal
products as well as other activities.
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What
are Farmers Enterprise Groups?
A farmers enterprise group, is established and managed by
a group of individual farmers in order to meet the mutual
needs of its owner / members. The main aim of the group
is to unite separate and independent farmers, in order to
help them pool their activities, become more competitive
through economies of scale and so increase their individual
income and security on the market. Thus the group exists
to solve specific agribusiness support problems, such as
securing access to loans, insurance or advisory services.
It is a local level, informal, self-governing, self-financing,
voluntary organisation, whose members are not forced to
join and can withdraw their membership.
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What
are Agricultural Extension Services?
Agricultural extension services are public and private sector
activities relating to technology transfer, education, attitude
change, human resource development, and dissemination and
collection of information. Agricultural extension services
bring to the farming community information and new technologies,
that can be adopted to improve production, incomes and standards
of living.
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Can
I apply for a grant to acquire fixed asset?
No, ASF Grant does not cover the Equipment/Capital Expenditure,
except for purchase of software.
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How
much grant amount I can apply for?
Under normal circumstances, a maximum limit of Rs.1,500,000
will apply to all grants (effectively equivalent to a total
service cost of Rs.3,000,000). A single grant recipient
can apply for more than one grant under special circumstances.
Demand-driven research and private sector extension services
providers may apply for higher amounts.
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Where
can I submit grant application?
Grant Application can be directly submitted on prescribed
format to Agribusiness Support Fund, Head Office,144,CCA,Defence
Housing Authority, Lahore or the participating organizations.
The Prescribed Grant Application Form can be obtained from
the same offices as mentioned above or can be downloaded
from our web site.
Click here to Download Grant Application
Form.
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Do
I have to deposit any security deposit alongwith application?
Yes, a refundable security deposit of Rs.10,000/- is required
to be submitted alongwith all grant applications. Farmer
Groups will be required to deposit Rs. 5,000/- as security
deposit.
The payment can be made through crossed Cheque/Pay Order/
Demand Draft favoring "Agribusiness Support Fund".
Applications received with out security deposit will not
be entertained.
For all the instruments payable outside Lahore, the refund
of security deposit will be made net of bank charges. The
security deposit will be forfeited if applicant fails to
complete the activities for which the grant was provided.
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My
application is approved, when will I receive grant funds?
The method and timing of payment of a grant will be at the
discretion of the applicant, as follows:
- On
a reimbursable basis under which the recipient will incur
all identified costs related to the service and, subject
to satisfactory completion of service delivery, will be
reimbursed for 50% of the identified costs.
-
In advance of the purchase of the service in question
subject to the applicant providing a bank guarantee in
favour of ASF for the amount of the grant. All charges
relating to the provision of such a guarantee will be
met by the applicant not by ASF.
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