Indicative Sample of Expression of Interest (eoi)

Expression of Interest (EOI) Format (Indicative)

1. General information

2. Executive Summary

Banana is one of the major horticulture crops of Sindh. Most of the fruit is consumed locally and only a small portion is exported through dry trucks to Afghanistan and Iran. Though, huge international markets exist for bananas that are easily accessible via both sea and road routs, Pakistan has so far failed to successfully exploit the full potential of these markets. Persian Gulf, The Middle East and the Central Asian Republics are big markets that are in close geographic proximity to Pakistan / Sindh and are easy to penetrate.

According to FAO report Iran alone imported 243,000 metric tons of bananas in 2004-05 whereas in 2006 total import of bananas into Iran grew to 294,000 metric tons. In addition, Saudi Arabia and UAE imported another 111,000 and 70,000 metric tons of bananas respectively in 2004-05.

Due to poor variety selection; crop management; and post harvest fruit handling, Pakistani exporters get miserably low per kg price as compared to the price earned by other banana exporting countries. According to government estimates about 30 – 35% of all horticulture produce is wasted due to poor post harvest handling. These losses could be avoided by streamlining the supply chain.

Sindh possesses all the ingredients like right soil and climatic conditions; cheap labor; effective irrigation systems; sea port and efficient road and rail networks that are required to produce and export world class bananas. Gaps are in the management area that can be fixed with knowledge and systematic approach.

Banana is a very popular fruit the world over and if Pakistan can overcome the problems with respect to fruit quality and transportation she could potentially look at entering bigger and higher paying markets of Europe as well. Countries which have successfully developed international banana trade earn huge foreign exchange by supplying quality fruit nicely packaged, generally sold under well known international brands like Dole, Chiquita etc.  

This report proposes that through the PROJECT program Mr. XXXXXX, the progressive farmers of XXXXX are supported in developing international standard banana pack house supported by a cold rooms and ripening chambers. XXXXX are large banana growers and are already involved in supplying bananas to large exporters of Afghanistan and Iran but need to upgrade their operations in order to themselves penetrate into the export markets. They are also involved in developing a tissue culture laboratory with the help of Agribusiness Support Fund.

The proposed project would require intervention in the following areas:

1. Introducing newer varieties
2. Technical assistance in crop management and post harvest handling of fruit
3. Infrastructure development (mainly pack house)
4. Equipments (mainly cold room with ripening equipment)

In other words this project has two components of support:

1. Technical Assistance for improving crop and fruit management practices
2. Matching Grant for building a modern Pack House; building cold store with ripening facilities; and other necessary assets.

Total cost of the project is estimated at PKR 35 million

3. Project Description

1. Project Title: Infrastructure and Capacity Development for Banana Export
2. Duration (months): Three years
3. Project Location: XXXX - Sindh
4. Sector (please insert tick mark):

 Dairy                   Meat               Horticulture        Livestock           Fisheries          Floriculture[pic 1][pic 2][pic 3][pic 4][pic 5][pic 6]

1. Profile & Prior Experience of the project team:

Applicant in the past has been supplying banana to exporters taking the fruit to Afghan and Iranian markets. Though, the sponsor did not then have proper facility to process the fruit, he managed to supply few trucks to these buyers at an agreed margin of PKR 2 / KG. The report from these buyers was extremely encouraging as they managed to sell the produce at significant profit margins. The same buyers are keen to buy substantial volumes of processed banana on daily basis from the sponsor.

Overall applicant has been involved in domestic market of horticulture produce for the past 20 years and has a good reputation amongst the local horticulture community.

4. Project Background & Focus (Innovation/Value Addition)

Briefly describe, in not more than one page, the situation/circumstances which have led to the need to develop the proposed project and how it will add value.

Banana is produced in abundance in most part of Sindh. The production of the fruit is round the year and there exists a huge international demand for this very popular fruit.

With all the necessary ingredients present, proper handling and packaging is the only missing link which can be overcome by investing in pack-houses and ripening chambers. Upgrading banana supply chain can result in significant foreign exchange earnings as well as huge opportunity for job creation.

Iran and Afghanistan are two major neighboring markets that can be tapped with proper planning and infrastructure development. Though, direct exports to Afghanistan may be a distant reality due to the security issues, significant margins are available if the nicely processed and packaged fruit is sold to local traders for destinations in Afghanistan. Iran on the other hand is a real opportunity and serious efforts must be made to penetrate and capture this very large and lucrative market.