ADI steps up Kyrgyzstan herb project
07.08.2013
The Agency of Development Initiatives (ADI) is stepping up a private partnership project working with women’s self-help groups to supply organic valerian from Kyrgyzstan to Europe.
Two years in to the partnership with the Willmar Schwabe company, ADI is working to increase production in a bid to keep up with the growing demand for the herb.
"Last year our self-help groups managed to collect seven tones of valerian, and this year we are planning to provide 52 tons,” says ADI coordinator Aida Jamangulova.
“We need to involve more and more villagers and extend the planted area in order to create a stable supply base for our clients, the pharmaceutical companies. That means more self-help groups will be mobilized and trained. So this initiative targets two urgent problems in rural areas – unemployment and poverty.”
In 2012 ADI mobilized 46 farmers and created seven self-help groups for valerian growing. This year there are already 300 households in eight villages engaged in the new rural business.
Sonungul Jyltyrova was among the first women to get involved in valerian cultivation. She lives in the remote village of Bozuchuk in the mountain forests of the Issyk-Kul region. Traditionally, livestock and potatoes have been the main source of income for local villagers, but limited pastures and low prices persuaded Sonungul and colleagues from ADI to look for alternative income-generating options.
They managed to find assistance through the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), which facilitated cooperation with the pharmacological company.
For women groups, the project means stable and secured income, and the demand for medicinal herbs is growing.
Willmar Schwabe alone is willing to purchase up to 100 tons of dried or 400 tons of raw valerian annually, and there are more European pharmaceutical companies interested in Kyrgyzstan's herbs.
According to Vilhelm Schmid of Willmar Schwabe, there are two main reasons for this.
“We’d made a chemical analysis of local valerian samples in our laboratory in Germany and the results showed that their quality fully meets the high criteria and requirements of European pharmaceutical companies. The local valerian is ecologically clean, which is very important for medicine production. We believe that this is thanks to the unique mountain ecosystem of the Issyk-Kul region, and the fact that it is grown by small-scale farmers who do not use chemicals and pesticides, thus keeping the soil organic.”
ADI is now also looking to diversify its activities so that women can become not only growers but also producers of organic products. Inspired by the first results of the valerian sales, women are developing a ‘Mountain Eco Product’ initiative to produce herbal teas for export and are receiving training on organic farming from the Bio Kg foundation.
ADI believes that certification will open new markets and will create more ‘green’ jobs for mountain communities in Kyrgyzstan, especially for rural women.
Photo: Women from an ADI self-help group show Vilhelm Schmid of Willmar a valerian plot in Bozuchuk village.
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