Bishkek, Feb.3, 2020. /Kabar/. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in the Kyrgyz Republic purchased wheat from small farmers for the first time as part of an initiative, aimed at stimulating agriculture by connecting poor farmers to markets.
The initiative was made possible thanks to support from the UN Peacebuilding Fund and the Ministry of Labour and Social Development of the country.
Under the Empowering Local Smallholder Farmers pilot project, WFP supported more than 100 low-income farmers in Osh Oblast by purchasing wheat at a competitive market price, which allowed them to invest profits to increase production and improve food security.
The Local Smallholder Farmers' Empowering Initiative helped smallholder farmers become competitive market players by selling wheat for use in WFP's projects in the Kyrgyz Republic, such as improving rural infrastructure, training skills, supporting international economic relations and inter-community dialogue.
"We are working to create sustainable food systems in Kyrgyzstan that guarantee high-quality locally produced products will be available to everyone in the country, regardless of income levels," said Andrea Bagnoli, WFP Country Director in Kyrgyzstan. - Smallholder farmers, who produce most of the food in Kyrgyzstan, are key to building such systems. Through this initiative, we have created a guaranteed market for their crops and are supporting them in improving their living standards.”
For its first wheat purchase, the WFP selected low-income farmers who would otherwise be unable to sell their small wheat crop at market price, based on vulnerability criteria such as family income, family size, number of children and presence of people with disabilities.
More than 800 direct beneficiaries in Osh and Batken Oblast received locally produced products for their participation in WFP field projects, including rehabilitation of drinking/irrigation water supply systems in the border areas of Batken Oblast.
Such actions directly or indirectly reduce the drivers of conflict over natural resources in multi-ethnic communities and promote peaceful cross-border economic relations.
In the Kyrgyz Republic, as part of its five-year Country Strategic Plan, WFP is working to improve access to nutritious food for all primary schoolchildren throughout the country, and to support more than 100,000 poor families, especially women- in selected underdeveloped communities with a view to improving people’s livelihoods and their ability to cope with natural disasters and climate change.
Assisting 86.7 million people in around 83 countries each year, the World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.
As the international community has committed to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition by 2030, one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat. Food and food-related assistance lie at the heart of the struggle to break the cycle of hunger and poverty.
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