The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has completed a project in Tajikistan, to help drive co-op development and strengthen rural institutions under the national Agrarian Reform Programme.
The work – part of the FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme Facility project – focused on the working environment of co-ops and boosting the capacity of national authorities to support the development of co-operatives and rural institutions.
On a local level, the project supported four agricultural co-ops, adds the FAO – providing office equipment and, in the case of the of the Nuri Shahriston Farmers’ Cooperative – purchasing essential equipment including two two-wheel tractors and a potato harvester and various related tools.
”FAO is committed to continuing its technical assistance and support to strengthen co-operatives, help ensure their institutional and economic sustainability and further contribute to Tajikistan’s agricultural growth and food security,” said Aghasi Harutyunyan, FAO representative in Tajikistan. “FAO is also working closely with local partners to strengthen the capacity of co-operatives to better serve the needs of smallholder farmers and promote rural development.”
FAO’s efforts are in direct support of the national Agricultural Reform Programme, which helped to establish Nuri Shahriston and other co-ops, with the goal of increasing productivity and improving access to machinery and markets.
With the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, in March 2024 the project hosted the First National Cooperatives Forum, where co-ops and stakeholders discussed their challenges and experiences, explore opportunities for development and heard best practice from abroad.
The FAO also supported the Ministry of Agriculture as it revised national co-op law, ran training sessions on horticulture and potato production, and created an accounting system for the management of the co-operatives, alongside detailed action plans and cost-benefit analyses for specific co-ops. These were followed by marketing and financial planning trainings.
