1. The agricultural sector from NEFCO’s
perspective

2. NEFCO
- a regional international financial institution
- established in 1990 by the 5 Nordic countries
- has as its purpose to promote cost effective
solutions to reduce the environmental load
from the adjacent region
- finances projects primarily in the Baltic Sea
region and in NW Russia
- mainly focuses on small and medium sized
projects
- provides equity financing, loans, soft loans,
contingency financing and in some cases
grants

3. AGRICULTURE – ENVIRONMENT
- The agricultural sector is a significant
source of emissions (primarily nutrients and
pesticides)
- - In the Baltic Sea the nutrient load is the
single most important element of the
environmental load
- - In all countries of the Baltic Sea region
agricultural emissions remain a problem

4. - Experience shows that it is difficult and time-consuming
to reach significant reductions of
agricultural emissions
- A wide range of measures is required involving
development of best practice methods &
investment in appropriate equipment and
technology

5. NEFCO ACTIVITIES
- A limited number of pilot & demonstration
projects in the agricultural production and
food industry sectors
- Positive experience from successful Polish
program (NEFCO involvement through NEDF
grant and EC-Phare-LSIF grant managed by
NEFCO)

6. - Small scale loan scheme for Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania under preparation in co-operation
with the World Bank, GEF and Swedish BAAP
- Development of agricultural credit is of
importance as a means of non-subsidized
financing. Subsidies will always cover only part
of the costs
- All financing (subsidies as well as loans)
should integrate sustainability criteria
- Effective monitoring important for
fulfilling sustainability

7. STEPS FORWARD
- Set realistic goals and timetables
- Partial, stepwise solutions are necessary
- Select cost effective technical solutions
- Capacity building and training are critical