Final learning event of USAID Agro Horizon Project held in Osh

Osh, Aug.26, 2019 /Kabar/. The event on exchange of experience in the framework of summing up the results of the USAID Agro Horizon Project on support and development of processing enterprises in agriculture took place in Osh on Aug. 23.
The event was attended by Zamir Yusupov, the Agency for External Relations and Business Environment Development of Osh Mayor’s Office Director, Gary Shu, the USAID Economic Development Office Director, representatives of international organizations, entrepreneurs, representatives of small medium-sized businesses and agricultural producers.
"The project has yielded a significant number of positive results and capital investments in the production and processing of dairy products, animal feed and meat products, fruits and vegetables. I would also like to note the opening of new industrial facilities for processing of agricultural products at the enterprises of Osh "Orgemil" Holding Company, Alaikuu Organics, Turan Group," Director Yusupov noted.
USAID Representative Gary Shu spoke about the results of the project and the benefits that farmers have received by participating in the project.
"For 5 years of the project implementation, more than 60 thousand farmers have been provided with new market opportunities, increased their productivity, and established partnership with more than 50 agricultural enterprises that invested $ 66 million in the agricultural sector of the country. A total of 1,400 permanent jobs have been created. In Osh, Jalal-Abad, Batken and Naryn Oblasts, new storage facilities with a total area of 30 thousand cubic meters were created and additional production capacity was put into operation to process 65 thousand tons of products. In addition, farmers and businesses have access to $40 million in financing. The project has been implemented from October 2014 to September 2019. The budget amounted to $24 million," Gary Shu said.
During the project implementation the farmers were trained in the basics of entrepreneurship and marketing, were trained on modern methods of preparation and cultivation of soil, on livestock farming. Within the framework of the Agro Horizon Project, entrepreneurs, producing finished products from domestic raw materials on site, began to export goods to the markets of the United States, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, Tajikistan and other countries.