Group 3 Presentation Italy, 2018 IPROMO Bio-economy in mountain areas: an opportunity for local development Group 3 Presentation Italy, 2018

Working group 3 members: Alexandra, Barsha, Debasish, Jerome, Kyial, Moselantja, Pratistha and Veronica

CONTENT: Country context Project Details Challenges Objectives Scale Expected Outcomes Challenges Application of sustainable bio-economy principles

Country Context: Kyrgyzstan LOCATION: Landlocked country in Central Asia Population : 6 million , 65% resides in rural areas Human Development Index: 120th/188 with 25.4% poverty level. Major issues: Chronic poverty ; food insecurity & malnutrition, disparities in regional economic development , reliance on remittances , gender inequalities, climatic and environmental risks Situation: Only 7 % of the national land area is arable Agricultural farms operated by 400,000 smallholder farmers. Poorest people spend 74 % of their budgets on food

Project Objectives Enhance livelihoods and increase resilience to shocks, to support food security and nutrition needs all year round for vulnerable and food-insecure communities in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Project scale Budget: USD 59 million. Locations: In 5 provinces (Osh, Jalal-Abad, Batken, Naryn and Talas) Duration: January 2018 – December 2022 Project participants: over 100,000 persons Project beneficiaries: over 500,000 persons

Expected Outcomes/Results: Food-insecure communities in targeted areas benefit from rehabilitated productive assets that help increase their productivity and income Improved awareness on nutrition Enhanced knowledge and skills : agricultural production & productivity, sustainable management & use of natural resources, reduction of post-harvest losses, processing & marketing, capacities for risk profiling & risk-informed planning. Rehabilitated & newly constructed climate-resilient assets. Increased evidence available to national decision-making bodies (enabling greater coherence in national policies and strategies for food security, nutrition, social protection, disaster risk management and climate change)

Challenges: Knowledge, Research and Technology Lack of knowledge and skills Lack of primary data and research Water scarcity challenges Low productivity Poor waste management Technology

Challenges continued….. Policy and governance Lack of coordination / partnership/ collaboration among the stakeholders and governance Government policy conflicts/ guidelines, etc. Environmental politics Access to resources and poor services (lack of financial resources) Access to market for mountain products Poor waste management Water scarcity Incentives and subsidies (positive and negative) Poor forest management

Challenges continued….. Geographical limitations Barriers – geographical, social, structural Access to resources and poor services Low productivity

Challenges continued Lack of Opportunities/ Alternatives for livelihood Lack of alternatives for livelihood/ economy Social inclusiveness and gender Migration

Challenges continued…. Anthropogenic pressure Drying of wetlands/water sources Land degradation, including increased soil salinity Natural and man-made hazards like water contamination Change in land use patterns and demography

Challenges continued… Climate change issues Climate change induced hazards – drought... Low productivity Deforestation

ACTIONS Application of sustainable bio-economy principles to address challenges: 1. To develop an Integrated Resource Management Plan for agricultural lands, forests, pastures and water resources of targeted geographical locations with the participation of local communities. Pastures: Develop and implement grazing plans for cows, sheep and horses Pasture land rehabilitation including use of livestock manure for rehabilitating and revitalizing grass lands (soils and organic fertilizer) Capacity building, awareness raising, knowledge sharing Monitoring of physical and productivity conditions of pastures

Agricultural land: Improvement of soil condition: use of cattle manure, composting, mulching and organic fertilizer, crop rotation, reduce tillage, minimize the use of chemical products Improve water delivery systems Revitalize indigenous knowledge and practice jointly with modern technologies to revive agricultural productivity: planting native crops & improving crop diversification, gene bank. Creating Cooperatives & Farmers association: unite fragmented small holder farmers, develop value chains and enable effective production, processing and marketing of agricultural products.

Forestry: Optimization of forest products (timber and non timber) by multi-stakeholders involvement (local communities, forestry division) through joint forest management agreements Conducting research on product diversification from forests (medicinal and pharmaceutical potential), development of new technologies to convert wastes to resources. Reforestation activities in targeted areas in accordance with the Integrated Resource Management Plan Explore opportunities for carbon trade Facilitate coordination of existing associations: Water users, Pasture Management, Forest and Land Users

2. Waste management Promote an effective waste management programme (reduce, reuse, recycle) Awareness raising and capacity building: training on the importance of waste management through implementation of pilot projects in specific areas.

3. Managing hazards: adaptation to climate change Coordination with the Ministry of Emergency to promote disaster mitigation practices: non-erosive flood recovery methods (bamboo plantation, green cover etc.) Introducing drought resistant crops.

4. Creating alternative opportunities for income generation Exploring more community based tourism (horse riding, tour guiding for trekking, hiking, bird watching, experiencing local culture, gastronomy and activities with staying with village communities) Promoting traditional festivals: organizing local food fests, music festivals etc. Training for vulnerable people: wool extraction and production, dairy production, wood crafting, traditional garment production, artisanal production Optimization of products from bio-products (oils from nuts, dried fruits) Creating Women Cooperatives: promoting & marketing local products by rural women

THANK YOU!