Support to rural people in border regions of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan lifts prosperity
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) handed over new agricultural equipment to rural people living in the border regions of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to increase their incomes. The support was provided within the framework of the joint project of FAO and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), “Shared prosperity through cooperation in border regions of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan,” which is funded by UN Secretary-General's Peacebuilding Fund. The project aims to strengthen good neighbourly relations on both sides of the border that runs through the Fergana Valley by development of cooperation in agriculture and other areas, with a special focus on empowering women and youth in the border regions of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
In-kind assistance was provided to rural people of the Markhamat district of the Andijan region and the Kasansay and Yangikurgan districts of the Namangan region. In August 2023, FAO provided households and self-help groups (SHGs) formed here under the project with the necessary equipment for the efficient production of dairy products: 27 milk separators and five refrigerators. In addition to the socio-economic support previously provided in March 2023, the SHGs received a motor cultivator and meat mincer. In total under the scope of the project, more than 500 beneficiaries received from FAO 39 separators, 15 motor cultivators, five refrigerators, one sprayer and one meat mincer, as well as 5,850 seedlings of fruit orchards, ten tonnes of seed potatoes and 24,000 vegetable seedlings.
The project organized special trainings for the beneficiaries, where they gained key information and practical skills for effective use of the equipment and agricultural products that they had received. This knowledge enables rural people, especially women and youth, to increase their incomes and contribute to sustainable development. Through this initiative, FAO aims to promote gender equality and empower vulnerable groups, recognizing the critical role they play in achieving sustainable development and shared prosperity in the border regions of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
From August 18 to 21, Gwi Yeop Son, Regional Director of the UN Development Cooperation Office for Europe and Central Asia, and Consuelo Vidal Bruce, UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan, visited the project areasto become acquainted first-hand with the activities of SHGs and the results achieved by the project.
