On 21 December, 2018, the National Union of Water Users Associations (WUA) hosted a kick-off seminar titled, “Problems of family farming through the prism of natural resource management: Earth-Water-Forest-Pastures” at Hotel Jannat. The purpose of the seminar was to inform the public and government institutions about our initiative to assist the family farms in the Kyrgyz Republic.
It has been over one year since the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted the Resolution 72/239, which claimed 2019-2028 to be the UN Decade of Family Farming. This resolution calls for all nation-states to develop, implement and improve public policies on family farming and to share with other nations their experiences and best practices on family farming. It also invites government institutions and other relevant stakeholders, including international and regional organizations, civil societies, the private sector and academia, to actively contribute to the UN Decade of Family Farming.
In September 2018, four civil society organizations of Kyrgyzstan, the National Union of WUAs of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Association of Land Users and Forest Users of Kyrgyzstan, the National Association of Pasture Users, Kyrgyz Zhaiyty, and Rural Development Fund (RDF) proactively announced their support for the UN Decade of Family farms (SFH) in the Kyrgyz Republic. Our first aim is to create a national committee (a civil society organization) on family farms in the Kyrgyz Republic to implement this initiative.