Kyrgyzstan, Issyk-Kul, Shakhta Forestry, September 2011

In the Kyrgyz Republic, WFP is helping rural communities to become food secure and self reliant through a number of carefully selected and targeted projects. In 2010, more than 40,000 people benefited directly from Food for Work, while countless thousands reaped the rewards of completed projects in communities across the country. One of WFP’s priority areas is to improve the resilience of local communities to cope with shocks, such as natural disasters, through disaster risk mitigation. Food security assessments carried out on a regular basis by WFP consistently show that one of the main factors for food insecurity in the Kyrgyz Republic is the exposure to shocks. Projects therefore include reforesta- tion, building gabions to prevent flooding, and securing roads and settlements which are prone to mudslides. Disaster risk mitigation ultimately contributes towards better food security among subsistence farmers by taking measures to pre- vent disasters or helping to mitigate their impact on rural infrastructure. FFW also targets improving agricultural production and creating agricultural assets, such as developing seed farms. Dilapidated or neglected irrigation systems are rehabilitated and put back into use, pasture land protected from degra- dation, and roads, bridges and access ways are made passable.

Rehabilitation of a bridge in Shakhta Forestry in Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. The bridge ensured access to mountain pastures for the community. 

Photos: WFP/Vladimir Voronin