By Bruce Gregory
Special to the Journal
In the remote area of Central Asia is a small country called Tajikistan that up until 1991 was part of the Soviet Union.
Tajikistan is south of Kyrgyzstan, a country we visited in 2004 and again in 2006 with the F2F program.
Tajikistan has one of the lowest per capita GDPs among the 15 former Soviet republics. Twenty-one percent of their GDP is from agriculture. Thirty-five percent of the 8 million people who live in Tajikistan live below the poverty level. Forty-six percent of the work force is involved in agriculture.
As part of a continuing program to assist the now independent countries that emerged from the break-up of the Soviet bloc, the U.S. Agency for International Development, Volunteers for Overseas Cooperative Assistance, Agency for Cooperative Development International, in cooperation with local Tajiks, have recruited volunteers from the U.S. who have experience in agriculture to go to Tajikistan on farmer-to-farmer exchanges.
I have been asked to return to Central Asia and the country of Tajikistan in November to assist a small group of farmers in the village of Mekhnatobod Jamoat (near Qurghon-Teppa city) in the southwestern part of Tajikistan. My host will be the Alosher Dehkan Farm, owned by Mr. Firdavs Safarov.
The host group in Mekhnatobod Jamoat village is a family group of seven that collectively manage a 1.5 hectare orchard of apples, pears, plums, cherry, apricots, peaches and almonds. In addition, I will be working with farmers in 12 other districts of the Khatlon Province throughout my three-week stay. There are another 200 indirect beneficiaries in the group; men, women and children.
The work I will be doing is to help the growers identify and start implementing improvements in their orchard management practices. There is little money for orchard technologies that we in the U.S. take for granted.
Most of what I will be doing is helping them improve their pruning methods, work on fertility and integrated pest management using mostly organic methods and providing them feed back on how they can take their limited resources and improve their quality of life through their farming and farms.
All of my expenses getting to and from Kyrgyzstan are paid for by VOCA/ACDI. My time in Tajikistan is volunteer time given by me.
The budget for this program does not include funds for simple pruning tools, sharpeners, educational materials or books, nor soil test kits, which are in high demand.
I am now in the process of collecting as many of these items and materials as possible to take with me when I leave in November.
We do not have a lot of money ourselves, just big hearts, some skills to share and the determination to help out some fellow farmers in a remote country.
If you (or anyone you know) would consider donating funds of any amount to be used to procure the above mentioned items we would appreciate it. In April of 2004 and again in 2006, the members of the Kyzyl-Alma association and growers in Gulbaar village, both in Kyrgyzstan, were most grateful for the items we were able to leave. Those items were paid for with donations from the San Juan Islands community.
If you wish to donate money to this project please send a check and mail to: Mitchell Bay Farm & Nursery, Tajikistan Project, 1071 Mitchell Bay Rd. F.H., WA. 98250.
We can also take funds via PayPal at mbfarm@rockisland.com; please reference the Tajikistan project with your gift donation.
Any funds not used by the time the suitcases are full will be donated to VOCA/ACDI. If you have additional questions please call us at 378-2309 or email us at: mbfarm@rockisland.com
I am required by the Volunteers for Overseas Cooperative Assistance, and Agency for Cooperative Development International to give several outreach presentations once I return, so look forward to a visual presentation with dialog upon my return. Thank you very much.
— Editor’s note: Bruce Gregory and Colleen Howe-Gregory are owners of San Juan Island’s Mitchell Bay Farm & Nursery
