12.09.2018  17:45

Pusurova Almakan lives in the village of Kaiyrma in Bazar-Korgon district. Here, many people are engaged in agriculture. Almakan changed her direction in agriculture after joining the ‘Baichechekey’ SHG. This SHG was established by the means of the project ‘The Introduction of a Combination of Traditional and Modern Approaches to Prevent Conflict in the South of Kyrgyzstan’, financed by the international German organization Bread for the World (Brot für die Welt).

She took part in the trainings on how to start a business, advocacy and lobbying. She instantly became very motivated and began to look for ways to multiply funds and improve living conditions. When earlier she grew vegetables, watermelons and honey melons in her vegetable garden, she now grows strawberries. Women in the group also supported her. To begin with, she took out a loan of 5000 soms from the group's savings, bought strawberry seeds and began to grow on land with an area of 0,14 hectors. In the cultivation of strawberries, no special effort is required, but it must be harvested in time.

-“There are always a lot of customers for strawberries. Since it is used for making jam for the winter, the villagers collect them directly from my garden and buy them from me. In addition, I sell strawberries even at the bazaar for 80 soms per kilogram. From the first harvest, I received 30,000 soms of net profit. The next harvest is already to be collected. Strawberries give their fruits before the first snow. Therefore, I hope that they will also get sold quickly”, says Alymkan.

- “According to the Coordinator of the SHGs of the project Kishimzhan Boronbaeva, formal and informal trainings, as well as business trainings, training on advocacy and lobbying, have a great influence on participants of SHGs. After gaining knowledge in such trainings, people begin to look for ways to earn money and improve their business. Thanks to the trainer Venera Babedinova the women can now use those skills acquired. One participant noted that they previously did not receive such knowledge, and that they learned a lot during the trainings. Now they have the desire to start common business for the benefit of the village. Especially women become active after the creation of the SHG Association and try to improve their living conditions,” she added.

Baktykan Azhymamatova, Jalal-Abad oblast