The USAID Agricultural Value Chain activity increased agricultural productivity and prosperity in Uzbekistan. The activity worked throughout the entire value chain of Uzbekistan’s horticultural sector to create employment, increase fruit and vegetable yield, quality, and exports, and strengthened relationships between educational institutions and the private sector

Our Work

In five and a half years, USAID leveraged over $23 million in private sector investment in the agricultural sector, which resulted in improved agricultural practices over 11.4 percent of horticultural land and 55.1 percent producers adopting new practices. Through staff experts and the 75 new consulting service providers that emerged through USAID’s Agricultural Value Chain’s implementation, USAID provided over 100,000 training hours to its partners. These trainings were reinforced with DIY videos that have been viewed over 4 million times on YouTube. USAID linked domestic partners to strengthen supply chains, while also linking exports to foreign buyers, ready and willing to invest in Uzbekistan’s exports. Overall, USAID assisted 510 unique organizations and businesses, providing them with the tools, resources, and knowledge they need to make meaningful upgrades to their businesses and the sector. Since 2015, horticultural exports among USAID’s Agricultural Value Chain’s partners have increased 250 percent, and their agricultural incomes have more than doubled. In November 2020, USAID’s Agricultural Value Chain activity closes operations, and the program leaves a lasting impact on the sector it was designed to support. Horticultural actors will continue to reap benefits of USAID’s Agricultural Value Chain’s activities for years to come.

Improved the Quality and Volume of Agricultural Production

• USAID increased awareness of and demand for drip irrigation technologies among farm enterprises and producers, while simultaneously building the capacity of existing drip irrigation suppliers to improve quality and availability of services to meet rising demand for the equipment. USAID supported three qualified farm enterprises to install drip irrigation systems on a shared cost basis, not only increasing private sector investment in the immediate term but also providing demonstration sites to market drip irrigation to a second tier of interested investors. In five years, USAID brought 1,700 hectares under drip irrigation technologies.
• Through a series of managed platforms on Facebook, Telegram, and YouTube, USAID grew interactive and dynamic social media platforms to facilitate both one-way and multiple-way discussions across all topics of horticulture—so much so that its YouTube page reached more than 4 million views by the end of the activity and subscribers across all platforms exceeded 120,000.

Improved Post-Harvest Handling and Production

• USAID’s Agriculture Value Chain’s cost-shared investments in regionally available post-harvest technologies included 13 pre-cooling equipment units; two sorting and grading lines; four premium raisin drying facilities; and new packaging materials. Cost-shared investment in post-harvest equipment and technologies increased private sector investment in the near term and upgrades the volume and quality of Uzbekistan’s exportable produce in the long-term.

Expansion of Exports

• In four years of participation at the MacFrut exhibition in Italy, nine partners exhibited, and 12 partners visited, resulting in $8.8 million in export contracts negotiated, $1.7 million of which have already been signed and shipped. USAID’s Agriculture Value Chain activity provided branding and marketing support to four partners in preparation for the annual fairs.
• USAID supported six local producers/exporters to enter the Japanese market and introduced three new Uzbek products - freeze dried fruits, Sogdiana raisins, and prunes. From 2018 to 2020, the total value of all USAID’s Agriculture Value Chain activity supported export products to Japan reached over $420,000.
• With UzStandard Agency, USAID composed, printed and distributed a GlobalG.A.P. manual for select horticultural crops in Russian and Uzbek languages—providing a written reference for companies to follow on-site to be able to qualify for GlobalG.A.P. certification—a precursor to being able to target higher-end international markets with Uzbek products, receiving higher retail prices.  

Education

• USAID’s Agriculture Value Chain activity supported the establishment and equipping of Horticultural Value Chain Student Clubs at five agricultural universities to create an interdisciplinary platform for students to work together and the opportunity for practical study. These clubs will remain operational beyond the life of USAID’s Agriculture Value Chain activity.
• Two scientific articles on grape post-harvest practices for Uzbekistan’s export-oriented grape varieties were published in international journals this summer as a result of a research study supported by USAID’s Agricultural Value Chain activity. 

Contact

Bahtiyor Mirzabaev

Project Management Specialist

USAID/Uzbekistan 

Email: bmirzabaev@usaid.gov