Mongolia -- Strengthening Policy Analysis and Monitoring Capacity Development Objective     The development objective is to improve in-house capacity and skills of the Ministry of Industry and Agriculture (MIA) to undertake policy analysis and monitor their implementation. The MIA recognizes the need to review agricultural policies and monitor their implementation on a regular basis and the need to build in-house capacity and has requested for Bank support. The IDF will principally strengthen the institutional capacity and human resource skills of MIA to be able to undertake   reviews and monitor government policies, enabling greater in country reliance in order to provide sound, objective and timely guidance to the govern Component 1. Institutional Capacity Strengthening The aim of this component is to develop the institutional framework for policy development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and feedback. This is to ensure that the mechanism for the development and monitoring of agricultural policies is transparent and structured to incorporate the views of as many stakeholders as possible including those of donors.   To achieve this, the project will engage the services of a reputable firm/consultant to undertake stakeholder assessment, develop an appropriate training and capacity building plan for MIA. The plan will include the institutional framework for policy development and the necessary feedback loops required to inform the process.  The principal activities where Government capacity will be strengthened include the area of subsidy programs for primary agriculture and food chain industries and their impacts, public expenditure reviews, public expenditure tracking surveys, among others to be identified during the stakeholder assessment. MIA is particularly interested in estimating impact of specific policies on specific sub-sectors, with a view to provide evidence-based and analysis-backed recommendations to policy makers with respect to the effectiveness of those programs considering their direct as well as indirect down-stream value-added benefits.  One concrete example could be a study on the impact of wool subsidy program for processors. This would involve a specific survey of the domestic firms in the industry that received subsidies and those who did not (as a control group) to establish the level of investments made by the companies, nature and type of technology adoption, the resulting changes in cost of production and their competitiveness, level of employment and overall multiplier effects. Component 2. Knowledge exchange dissemination framework The aim of this component is to develop institutional linkages/partnerships with local and international agencies and other policy analysis organizations and create a forum and for information exchange and discussion of government agricultural policies. The component will support the development of a communication framework to address the needs of relevant stakeholders including but not limited to government officials, parliamentarians, herders, farmers, academia and the media. The framework will comprise virtual exchanges, workshops and content development (lessons learned and case studies), study tours and the development of appropriate information materials.   Component 3. Project Management The component will support activities required for managing the grant and the required financial audit. This will include support for monitoring and evaluation and logistics for operations. To reduce overhead cost, the day to day management will be delegated to the Project Implementation Unit of the GAFSP-funded/WB managed Livestock and Agricultural Marketing Project (LAMP), under the overall guidance of the General Director, MIA. The development objective is to improve in-house capacity and skills of the Ministry of Industry and Agriculture (MIA) to undertakepolicy analysis and monitor their implementation.