BOSNIA - 2007 PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR PRM

UNCLAS SARAJEVO 001163

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE
(HOH/FOOKS/STINCHCOMB),PRM (OLSON)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BK PHUM PREF PREL
SUBJECT: BOSNIA - 2007 PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR PRM
AMBASSADOR'S FUND FOR REFUGEES

REF: SECSTATE 27884


1. (U) This is an action request, see paragraphs 3 and 4.


2. (U) In response to PRM's announced renewal of the
Ambassador's Fund for Refugees for the seventh year (ref),we
have identified a critical gap in returnee assistance and
protection for FY 07. Last year PRM provided funding for the
electrification of ten homes in the eastern Republika Srpska
returnee village of Glogova. The USG donation encouraged
additional financing of the project by UNHCR, the local power
company Elektroprivreda and the municipality. Media coverage
of the Ambassador's visit to implement the project was
widespread and well-received. After consultations with local
organizations assisting minority returns and through personal
filed visits, we have identified the following project for FY
07 funding through the Ambassador's Fund for Refugees.


3. (U) Post requests $10,000 in funding for the purchase of
milking machines and sanitary milk pails for distribution
among a cooperative of Serb returnees in Drvar Municipality.
Drvar is located in what has traditionally been one of
Bosnia's poorest areas, but has one of the highest
percentages of post-war returns with more than 8000 Serbs now
living in the municipality. However, the region's depressed
economy threatens the sustainability of those who have
returned, and the development of agriculture towards
commercially-focused production has become one of the
region's greatest opportunities for economic development. In
2005, members of the returnee agricultural cooperative
"Drvar" received cattle from the International Orthodox
Christian Charities (IOCC) aid agency under a USDA-funded
program. In March 2007, after increasing the size of their
herds, the cooperative began a milk collection program with
one of Bosnia's largest dairies, "Meggle." Although the
collection is going well, the milk is being slowly and
laboriously collected by hand and the cooperative worries the
dairy will lose interest if farmers cannot produce the
expected quantity and quality of milk.


4. (U) The distribution of milking machines and proper milk
pails to 20 members of the cooperative will enable the
farmers to increase milk collection by almost 600 percent and
will directly assist more than 150 members of the community.
With a grant of $10,000, each individual beneficiary will
receive one milking machine and two 20-liter milk pails. The
milking machines will help to reduce the labor intensity of
daily milking, indirectly encouraging farmers to expand their
capacity and invest in their post-war return. The milk pails
will help to ensure the quality and sanitary handling of the
milk as the buyer requires, providing the buyer with greater
confidence in the farmers and possibly leading to a stronger
contractual commitment. These two mutually reinforcing
elements should indirectly influence farmers to increase
their herds which will lead to rise in their cash income,
thus promoting an air of greater permanency to their returns.
IOCC would match our donation with resources available
through an ongoing USDA-funded agricultural development
project, doubling the number of beneficiaries reached through
this donation.


5. (U) If approved, Post will implement and manage project
funds and will ensure appropriate monitoring and follow-up.
Post will arrange for media coverage to promote the
implementation of the fund and will use the occasion to
highlight our support of minority returns in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
MCELHANEY