Photo story: A journey through Ala-Buka district of Kyrgyzstan

Ala-Buka district, located in Jalal-Abad region in Eastern Kyrgyzstan, is home to some 90,000 inhabitants. One gets there only after going up and down mountains and valleys, through peaks reaching 3,500 meters.

Ala-Buka is a rural district, and most of the population relies on subsistence agricultural activities. But there is one thing that complicates such activities: poor irrigation methods. With support from EuropeAid, ACTED contributes to promoting inclusive growth through community driven socio-economic initiatives. One of the keys: training on new irrigation methods that gathered over 500 people.

The participants did not waste any time and immediately put into practice the newly acquired skills on their plot of land. Some of them even received a small grant to build a greenhouse and increase their vegetable production.

Others have set up other types of activities, such as raising turkeys, a rather innovative activity in a region where sheep or beef is the most consumed meat. It could sound crazy, but it’s not: as a matter of fact, even before starting their activities, the new breeders have already had requests from potential customers. For Burak, this means a good prospect to amortize the 30% he has already invested to launch this new activity.

Inauguration done by the head of the village in Jany-Shaar – ACTED Kyrgyzstan, 2017

Through this project, ACTED could support people, while contributing to restoring or installing about 7km of electrical lines.

Finally, how to talk about the region without mentioning its fruits, Ala-Buka’s apples and plums? The project allowed the creation of farmers’ cooperatives – 8 in total, one for each village of the district.

The whole thing is managed through a regional cooperative, which deals with different companies to sell dry apples and plums. A leading supermarket brand in the country’s capital, Bishkek, signed a contract to sell Ala-Buka produce in its shops!