The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) handed over new agricultural equipment to rural people living in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan border regions 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 the 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 developing cooperation in agriculture and other areas, focusing on empowering women and youth in the border regions of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

In-kind assistance was provided to rural people of Markhamat district of Andijan region and Kasansay and Yangikurgan districts of Namangan region. In August 2023, FAO provided households and self-help groups (SHGs) formed under the project with the necessary equipment to produce dairy products efficiently: 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 effectively using the equipment and agricultural products they had received. This knowledge enables rural people, especially women and youth, to increase incomes and contribute to sustainable development. Through this initiative, FAO aims to promote gender equality and empower vulnerable groups, recognizing their critical role 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 area to become acquainted first-hand with the activities of SHGs and the results achieved by the project.

UzA