title=History

History of extension and the enabling environment

The history of extension support to farmers during the Soviet era in Kyrgyzstan is essentially linked to the structure of farms dictated by government policies. State and collective farms and local farm enterprises (called Sovkhoses/Kolkhoses) were dominant in terms of covering large land areas (about 500 agricultural enterprises controlling 98 percent of the arable land), and they were managed and operated by large teams of agricultural experts. Agricultural extension support was in-built in the Sovkhoses/Kolkhoses model and was provided by the experts based at the vast farms.

Household plots also existed, which could be considered as private. Although their numbers ran in hundreds and thousands, their individual sizes were very small (controlling only about 2 percent of agricultural land). Extension support for the household plots, where the raising of crops, vegetables, fruits as well as livestock was an intensive activity, was provided by the same teams of agricultural experts who managed large farms. This system kept operating till the start of Perestroika around 1980, which attached more importance to the private household plots and increased the number of local markets where small farmers could sell their produce at market prices.

The structure of farms in Kyrgyzstan was drastically changed by the government after independence from the Soviet Union around 1994. In 1998, an ambitious process of agricultural reforms was started. The state and collective farms were disbanded and agricultural land was re-distributed among individuals. According to an FAO report, by 2008, the share of agricultural enterprises (comprising about 1,200 privatized successors of collective and state farms) in arable land had gone down to 25 percent, while the share of the individual sector (comprising household plots and about 300,000 peasant farms that emerged since 1992) had increased to 75 percent. The government, however, still controls pastures, which cover about 85 percent of the agricultural land.

A large number of external donors have actively provided financial and technical assistance for developing various aspects of Kyrgyzstan’s agriculture sector. They include the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), European Union (EU), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and possibly others.

As a result of drastic agricultural reforms, extension and training needs of individual farmers in Kyrgyzstan emerged rather quickly and underlined the need for capacity building of the staff that had been working under the old extension support mechanism. The Swiss Government funded three projects between 1995 and 2010: Kyrgyz Swiss Agricultural Program (KSAP) (1995-2010) under which rural advisory service centers and an advisory training center were established; Agricultural and Rural Vocational Education Project (2001-2008) that focused on a new form of training for farmers; and Policy Support Project (2002-2010), which concentrated on capacity building of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources and Processing Industry. In addition the Policy Support Project worked on coordination of agricultural projects and assisted in developing a national extension policy that could help in consolidating and coordinating quite a number of extension advisory initiatives. According to a KSAP brief, the Kyrgyz Government’s unspoken vision was an industrialized agriculture with large Soviet era kolkhose type farms while the donors, in particular the Swiss, envisaged a small-scale agriculture, run by family farms. The Government hoped to receive tractors and buildings for advisory centers while the Swiss, on the basis of the pilot extension services in Naryn Oblast, promoted a farmer-owned, membership based rural advisory service. This model focused on both capacity building of advisors and organizational development for service providers.

UNDP has provided financial and technical assistance to strengthen the Training and Extension System (TES) Center, located in Osh, a national NGO, which designs training and consultation programs for farmers to enhance their incomes.  Although a number of non-public extension advisory bodies have been created, the privatization of the supply of agricultural inputs, notably improved seed, remains slow. Similarly, less success has been achieved so far in fertilizer and machinery service reforms, where privatization is not complete and farmers’ demand is not fully satisfied. Under the USAID-funded Kyrgyz Agro-Input Enterprise Development Project (2001-2008) that was implemented by the International Center for Fertilizer Development (IFDC), the project-supported dealers increased their turnover from a base of $2 million in 2001 to $45 million in 2008, and 35 retail farm stores were opened, which supplied modern inputs to more than 300,000 farmers. The Kyrgyz Agricultural Investment Forum, jointly sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) held a meeting in Bishkek from 28 to 29 September 2011 that was attended by public and private sectors representatives. One of the recommendations of the meeting was to encourage investment in rural education and agricultural extension and advisory services.

Kyrgyzstan, being one of the poorest among the ex-Soviet Central Asian countries, attracted external donors very early. Donors’ interventions focused not only on re-structuring the agriculture sector but also on establishing meaningful non-government extension advisory bodies and strengthening of relevant public institutions. Kyrgyzstan, most likely, will soon be faced with the challenge of sustaining the gains in the extension advisory field when the very significant and lengthy external donors’ assistance comes to an end. Much needed proper balance between the promotion of the private advisory services and the quality control and coordination of such services by the government will constitute yet another major challenge.

title=Extension Providers

Public Institutions

Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Processing Industry

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Processing Industry (MAWRPI) is responsible for the development and administration of the agriculture sector and has 16 specialized sub-ordinate agencies, three scientific research institutes and 17 agro-industrial sub-sectors to supervise. As the Ministry has overall responsibility for the provision of public extension advice to the farmers, it handles policy, finance, institutional linkages, and capacity building of professional staff. Since the Soviet era influence started waning in Kyrgyzstan, due to key agricultural reforms, MAWRPI has grossly benefitted from the non-public, civil society extension advisory bodies established under various donor-funded programs. The newly created institutions (see the sub-section on non-governmental organizations) are functioning at various administrative levels and constitute, along with strengthened pre-existing institutions, the extension advisory system of Kyrgyzstan.  

Agricultural Research Institutes
The national agricultural research system of Kyrgyzstan comprises four main agricultural research institutes: Kyrgyz Research Institute for Agriculture (KRIA); Kyrgyz Research Institute of Livestock, Veterinary and Pastures (KRILVP); and Kyrgyz Research Institute for Irrigation (KRII). There are some other scientific research institutes under the National Academy of Sciences. Operational linkages between research institutes and extension advisory services are minimal. However, there are two important contributions of the research institutes to extension; first, the provision of in-service training to the extension, and second, researchers’ cooperation with the advisory staff  in conducting field trials on farmers’ fields. 

Non-Public Institutions

Private sector

Although external donors have been promoting the private sector’s participation in Kyrgyzstan’s agriculture since the early 1990s, there is no private company presently engaged in the provision of extension advisory services. There are, however, a few private organizations, such as described below, that have been supplying various agricultural inputs and necessary information.

Association of Agribusinessmen of Kyrgyzstan 
The Association of Agribusinessmen of Kyrgyzstan (AAK), locally known as Jer Azygy, is a non-profit organization, established in 2002 with the support of USAID-funded Kyrgyz Agro-Input Enterprise Development Project. AAK integrates, represents and coordinates the work of more than 140 producers, suppliers and agro-input dealers, and has been particularly successful in the protection their of rights and interests, networking and training. AAK has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kyrgyzstan’s Parliamentary Agricultural Committee of public-private sector cooperation on policy and regulatory reforms.

Seed Association of Kyrgyzstan
The Seed Association of Kyrgyzstan (SAK) was established in 1999. Presently, it has about 175 members that include 145 seed companies and 30 public seed farms. The association has offices in seven regions of the country. The mandate of SAK is to protect the rights and represent the interests of its members and to strengthen their technical base and knowledge.

Kyrgyz Agricultural Market Information Service
The Kyrgyz Agricultural Market Information Service (KAMIS) is a private company that collects and disseminates market price information countrywide on a wide variety of farm products and inputs.

Legal Assistance to Rural Citizens
The Legal Assistance to Rural Citizens (LARC) was established under a project funded by USAID and SDC. It provides legal services to rural population especially in the matters of land ownership in line with agricultural reforms. The project eventually led to the creation of the Kyrgyz LARC Public Association (PA).

Global Development Alliance
The Global Development Alliance (GDA) has been jointly created by the IFDC, USAID and the Eurasia Group (Pioneer, John Deere, DuPont, and Monsanto). The alliance has been instrumental in introducing technology and building human capacity through cost-sharing and in linking Kyrgyzstan’s agro-dealers to suppliers of improved technologies. 

Non-governmental organizations

Normally, NGOs in a country are formed by nationals or they evolve over time under local conditions. Kyrgyzstan, however, shows a different scenario where external donors have promoted, established and strengthened certain NGOs after the Soviet era ended. NGOs mushroomed and their number increased from 800 in 1996 to over 8,000 in 2006. However, by 2007, their number had shrunk again to about 514, mainly because most NGOs stopped their operations due to lack of funding from donors. Some of the NGOs are now important pillars of the country’s extension advisory services system as described below.

Rural Advisory Services
Rural Advisory Services (RAS) is an NGO, created by the World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), as a part of the Kyrgyz-Swiss Agricultural Project (KSAP), which was funded by SDC and implemented by HELVETAS (Swiss Inter-cooperation Kyrgyzstan) from 1995 to 2010. KSAP could be called one of the earliest, longest (comprised seven phases evolving over 17 years), financially significant (cost over 20 million Swiss Francs) and technically as the most important project in terms of institution-building for extension advisory support in a CIS country. It benefitted farming families in the oblasts of Naryn, Issyk Kul, Jalal Abad, Chui, Osh and Talas. The rationale behind creating RAS was to achieve the following six objectives:

1. Prepare and implement technical programs in advisory services;
2. Carry out on-farm demonstrations and field trials on farmers’ fields at the request of farmers;
3. Commission local adaptive research contracts;
4. Manage staff in oblasts and rayons, and maintain accounts;
5. Liaise with local governments; and
6. Disseminate information.

In 2011, RAS had 7 oblast and 41 rayon offices. Each oblast office had several subject-matter specialists while each rayon office had two to four advisors. Main technical areas covered by RAS included crops, livestock, farm machinery, marketing, extension, farm management, tourism, handicrafts, business planning, gender, and group dynamics.

Following the project approach, the RAS managers now prepare annual work plans for their respective oblasts under the guidance of local Oblast Steering Councils, which comprise representatives of oblast-specific farmers, NGOs and government institutions. These annual work plans indicate demand for specific tasks which are used by the national coordination office of RAS as basis for issuing contracts to oblast and rayon advisory services, which were established under various donor-funded projects. The RAS national coordination office is authorized to receive all donors’ and, to some extent, government’s funds for this purpose. Other functions of RAS include in-service training of its staff, organization of training events and consultations, and the organization of field demonstrations for technology transfer.  Some of the problems being confronted by RAS are low staff salaries, inadequate operational budget, changing concept of RAS with each new phase, selection of unsuitable farmers, poor institutional linkage with research, and weak political support.

Advisory Training Center (recently re-named as Training, Advisory and Innovation Center)
The Advisory Training Center (ATC) was formed in 2007 as an autonomous unit within the Rural Advisory Service with the objective of building the capacity of the SAR to function satisfactorily. The role of the ATC was to serve as a resource center, act as a methodology and training site, and to provide marketing skills to RAS staff. Regular and contracted training staff of ATC covers technical areas of farm development, business planning, plant and livestock production, home-based processing, marketing, and integrated pest management (IPM). The staff also works on improving the quality of technical publications meant for farmers and advisors.

Recently, the ATC was re-named as Training, Advisory and Innovation Center (ZOKI). It is now participating in the Water Productivity Improvement Project technically led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Coordination Water Commission of the Central Asia (SCI ICWC), and funded by the SDC. Under this project, the ATC/ZOKI will provide information, extension advice, and training of trainers (TOT) to the RAS and Water User Associations’ support units in the Oblast.

Training and Extension System Center
The Training and Extension System (TES) Center, a national NGO with expertise in advisory service, was jointly founded in 1997 by the Osh State University, Kyrgyzstan and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). The objective was to enhance mostly small farmers’ income through quality training and private advisory consultation, which was to be provided by freelance field advisors and training staff of the TES Center. The TES Center comprises four departments, namely organizational development, farmer school, technical advisory service, and publications. The Center is headed by a management board of three senior staff. The supervisory board comprises the founder (Osh State University), a major client (USAID), two TES staff, and three freelance advisors and training specialists. Table 1 shows the extension advisory staff of the TES Center as of 2010.

Table 1: Human Resources at the Training and Extension System (TES) Center, Kyrgyzstan as of 2010

Source: http://www.worldwide-extension.org/asia/kyrgyzstan/tes

The TES facilitates the organization of farmers’ self-help interest groups to enable them to qualify for seasonal loans and marketing. TES contracts field advisors and training specialists and guides them to deliver advice to the farmers’ groups throughout the year. Training in extension methods and agricultural technologies is provided during the off season. According to a 2011 study report of IWMI, every year, the TES supports about 50 agricultural advisors, more than 100 farmers’ groups, and between 1,000 and 1,500 individual farmers. In return, advisors and training specialists pay annual service fees to the TES while farmers pay attendance fee for each specific training course. The TES Center organizes occasional agricultural demonstrations on the fields of farmers’ groups. Its agronomists assess farmers’ fields three times during the growing season, and based on the results, a gratuity payment is made to the field advisors.

Forum of Women’s NGOs
The Forum of Women’s NGOs (FWNGO) in Kyrgyzstan was established in 1994, and presently unites more than 85 NGOs. The FWNGO’s mission is the consolidation and strengthening of women’s movement towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, building partnerships, and increase women’s participation in public life through their organizations and NGOs.

• International NGOs also oparate in  Kyrgyzstan. A few examples are:
• ACDI/VOCA
• Counterpart International
• Eco-Forum (European Eco-Forum)
• Foundation of International Community Assistance (FINCA)
• Initiative for Social Action and Renewal in Eurasia (ISAR)
• Farmers-based associations, cooperatives and societies

Quite a number of farmers-based associations have emerged in Kyrgyzstan. It is not certain how much do they offer to their members in the way of extension advisory service. Names of a few associations are:

• Agribusiness Association of Kyrgyzstan
• Private Farmers’ Association
• Pasture User Association
• Farmers’ Union
• Kyrgyz Sheep Breeders Association
• Peasant Farm Association
• Water User Associations (an essential part of irrigation system, spread all over the country’s irrigated areas)

Kyrgyzstan has the Kyrgyzstan Union of Cooperatives (CKK) that was established in 2007 at the end of a GIZ project. The CKK’s main functions are lobbying, funding, advisory services, auditing, and marketing. In 2012, there were 3,500 officially registered cooperatives in the country, which the CKK classifies into: (a) large and active cooperatives; (b) small family cooperatives; (c) sleeping cooperatives; and (d) not anymore working cooperatives. In 2012, only 375 cooperatives, i.e.10 percent of the total number, were operational.

Kyrgyzstan also has Raiffeisen Cooperatives Development Foundation. The foundation has been creating and supporting credit unions and commodity service cooperatives since 2003.  A Bio-Farmer Agricultural Commodity and Service Cooperative (ACSC) also exist in Kyrgyzstan. It emerged in 2007 out of the Organic Cotton Production and Trade Promotion Project implemented by HELVETAS, the Swiss Association for International Cooperation. The ACSC promotes organic farming and helps in marketing of organic produce. It also provides an internal quality control system leading to organic EU certification.

List of Extension Providers

 The following list shows an excerpt from the GFRAS Directory of Extension Providers for Kyrgyzstan. Some of these entries may be specially marked for having more detailed information in the database of the Worldwide Extension Study WWES.

title=Training

Training options for extension professionals

Pre-service education in agricultural disciplines could be pursued at the Kyrgyz National Agrarian University (KNAU) located at Bishkek, or at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, located at Izmir, or at the Kyrgyz Academy of Agriculture, located at Bishkek. All of these institutions have faculty of agriculture and some also have faculty of veterinary sciences. In-service training for extension professionals is available or may be organized at the Rural Advisory Service (RAS), Training, Advisory and Innovation Center (ZOKI), and at the Training and Extension System (TES) Center.  Also, training in technical subject-matter may be received at any of agricultural research institutes located in Kyrgyzstan. Ongoing donor-funded agricultural and rural development projects also provide opportunities for in-service training for the extension advisory staff.

title=ICT

Info-mediaries and information and communication technology (ict) for agriculture and extension

According to the World Bank, in 2011, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) in Kyrgyzstan was 116.40. During the same year, the number of Internet users (per 100 people) in the country was 20.   Kyrgyzstan has made significant progress during recent years in developing an information infrastructure and relevant legislation, and in enhancing relevant educational level. A State Computer Network has been set up.  Information projects are being implemented in various economic sectors. The country has formulated a national strategy called Information and Communication Technologies for Development in the Kyrgyz Republic, which sets out main priorities, objectives and tasks, principles, provisions and directions for the national ICT policy.

Quite a number of ICT adoption related activities are being carried out, but a lot of work remains to be done. An ITU-E-Strategy project of the International Telecommunication Union is aiming at bringing benefits of the Internet to remote farming communities in Kyrgyzstan. The project will cover commodity prices, improved agricultural techniques, new crop varieties, advanced pest control methods, weather, seasonal planting schedules and new copping options. At the moment, however, there is no evidence of any significant application of ICT to the agriculture sector or to extension advisory services.

title=Resources

Resources and references

Akramov, K. T. 2009. Institutional Change, Rural Services, and Agricultural Performance in Kyrgyzstan. IFPRI Discussion Paper 00904. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Association of Civil Society Support Centers. 2006. Review of the History of Establishment and Development of the NGO Sector in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Childress, M.D. 2004. Agrarian Research Institutes and Civil Society in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: In Search of Linkages. Civil Society and Social Movements, Program Paper No. 12. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.

FAO Representation in Kyrgyzstan and the Ministry of Agriculture. 2013. FAO Country Program Framework in the Kyrgyz Republic 2011-2015.

Government of Kyrgyz Republic. 2003. National Strategy, Information and Communication Technologies for Development in the Kyrgyz Republic. Available at: http://www.ict.kg.

GTZ . 2004. Analysis of Actual Situation and Suggestions on Improvement of Agricultural Legislation in the Kyrgyz Republic for the Purpose of Improving Framework Conditions for Commodity and Service Cooperatives (development of commodity and service cooperatives in cooperation with Tax Consultant Professor Dr. E. Bahrs, Germany).

ICCO Microfinance Center. 2011. Research on Agricultural Value Chains in Kyrgyzstan.

Ilamov, A., A. Hede and R. Persson. 2007. Focus on Seed Programs: The Kyrgyzstan Seed Industry.

IFDC.2008. Completion Report of the Kyrgyz Agro-Input Enterprise Development Project, submitted to USAID.

International Telecommunication Union (no date). Empowering Agricultural Development in Kyrgyzstan (Brief on the ITU E-Strategy Project).

Jailobaeva, K. (no date; probably 2008). NGOs in Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek: American University of Central Asia.

Katz, E. and A. Barandun .2002. Innovative Approaches to Financing Extension for Agriculture and Natural Resource Management: Conceptual Considerations and Analysis of Experience. Lindau: Swiss Center for Agricultural Extension.

Kazbekov, J. and A. S. Qureshi .2011. Agricultural Extension in Central Asia: Existing Strategies and Future Needs. IWMI Working Paper 145. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute.

Kock, T.K. and M. C. Edwards .2008. Youth and community development in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. Proceedings of the 24th Annual Meeting of AIAEE, held at EARTH University, Costa Rica in 2008 (only Abstract on page 545).

Kyrgyz Agricultural Investment Forum.2011. Report of the Forum Meeting held at Bishkek, 28 to 29 September, 2011.

Lerman, Z. and D. Sedik .September 2009. Agrarian Reform in Kyrgyzstan: Achievements and the Unfinished Agenda. FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia; Policy Studies on Rural Transition No. 2009-1.

Ministry of Agriculture and Land Improvement and Ministry of Health. 2012. Kyrgyz Republic Proposal for Funding of Agriculture Productivity and Nutrition Improvements under the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP).

Mirzabaev, A., C. Martius, S. Livinets, K. Nichterlein and R. Apasov. 2009. Kyrgyzstan’s National Agricultural Research and Extension System: An Assessment of Information and Communication Needs. Final Report prepared by  the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Regional Office for Central Asia and the Caucasus, Tashkent, Uzbekistan for submission to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Rijsoort, J.V. and J.V.D. Berg. 2012. Assessment of Cooperatives in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Agriterra Project No. 11at-5654.

Ronsijn, W. 2004. Coping during Transition in Rural Areas: The Case of Post-Soviet Southern Kyrgyzstan; Working Paper No. 4. Conflict Research Group.

Schmidt, P. 2012. Voice and Choice: Rural Advisory Services in Kyrgyzstan; Learning from 20 Years of Development Cooperation. Zurich: HELVETAS.

Vogtli, F. 2008. Application of a Result-based Payment System in the Kyrgyz Swiss Agricultural Program KSAP. Project thesis submitted to the University of Berne.

World Bank. 2011. ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions; e-Source Book; Report No. 64605.

World Bank. 2004. Kyrgyz Republic Agricultural Policy Update-- Sustaining Pro-poor Rural Growth: Emerging Challenges for Government and Donors.

World Bank. 2007. Kyrgyz Republic Country Review; Integrating Environment into Agriculture and Forestry: Progress and Prospects in Eastern Europe and Central Asia; Volume II.

More

More documents

• Kyrgyzstan_Status_of_RAS_Shaibek_Karasartov_2014_.pdf
  1.22 MB
  2020-02-17
• Kyrgyzstan_Survey_Results.xlsx
  33.28 KB
  2020-02-17
• RAS Status Kyrgyzstan 2015.pdf
  1.13 MB
  2020-02-17
• Status_report_Kyrgyzstan.pdf
  2.22 MB
  2020-02-17

title=Feedback ?

Do you have corrections or additions to this article? Please use the commenting feature below to submit your contribution. And please be specific, point out what is missing, what is wrong, or what needs to be updated.

We will then incorporate your contribution into the main text.

Thank you!