World Bank to allocate $90 million to Kyrgyzstan for pasture development
By Aynur Jafarova
The World Bank (WB) will allocate $90 million to Kyrgyzstan for pasture reforms.
Department director of Kyrgyzstan's Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ministry Abdymalik Egemberdiyev said that the funds will be allocated for the improvement and development of infrastructure and support of pasture committees of the country.
According to him, the funds will be allocated within five years - from 2013 to 2018.
Most of the land in the Central Asian countries is used as pasture, making up an estimated 65 percent to 82 percent of the whole region.
Today, these pasture areas are mainly used by smallholder farmers.
Agriculture is a big part of the Kyrgyz economy, generating nearly 25 percent of the country's GDP. Pasture-based livestock production and export of animal products, like meat and milk, provides employment and livelihoods for rural communities, which comprise two-thirds of the country's population.
A new law on pasture use has been in force since 2009, which is being implemented by the pasture department of the Ministry of Agriculture. The partner NGO, CAMP Alatoo, has provided advisory services to the department.
By the end of 2011, the pasture department had set up 454 user committees across all the country's rural communities. Each pasture committee is the executive arm of the local pasture users' association.
It consists of the head of the local administration, members of the local parliament and representatives elected by the pasture users.
The committees help to ensure that cattle and sheep on the community pastures are vaccinated, prompting livestock vaccination throughout the country. They also contribute to better management of pastures by ensuring fair access to pastures for all livestock owners.
Along with private veterinarians, these pasture committees play an increasingly important role in fighting animal diseases in Kyrgyzstan.
Furthermore, a concept on the development of pasture farming of Kyrgyzstan for 2012-2015 envisages the increase of number of cattle on a pasture by 2 percent, sheep and goats - by 2.2 percent, horses - by 1 percent annually thanks to rational and efficient use of lands.
Since 1992, the World Bank has been a leading development partner of the Kyrgyz Republic with commitments of $1,089 billion in the form of grants and highly concessional credits.