2006.10.05: October 5, 2006: Headlines: COS - Kyrgyzstan: Fishing: Department of State: Peace Corps Project Helps Expand Fishing Industry in Kyrgyzstan
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2006.10.05: October 5, 2006: Headlines: COS - Kyrgyzstan: Fishing: Department of State: Peace Corps Project Helps Expand Fishing Industry in Kyrgyzstan
Peace Corps Project Helps Expand Fishing Industry in Kyrgyzstan
After much study, the owner of Oasis Site and a group of farmers in the region concluded that constructing a fish farm was the answer. The farm would host regular sessions where experts and local residents could meet and learn how fish farms are constructed, maintained and managed to reach sustainable profitability. Unfortunately, the group did not have the funds to build such a farm. To resolve the problem, the Oasis owner and a local professor took their concern to a Peace Corps volunteer serving in the area. Through the Peace Corps Partnership Program, which collaborates with individuals across America and facilitates their donations to specific community development projects, funds were raised to build the fish farm and buy fish to fill it.
Peace Corps Project Helps Expand Fishing Industry in Kyrgyzstan
Peace Corps Project Helps Expand Fishing Industry in Kyrgyzstan
Partnership for a Better Life
Since the end of Communist rule, Kyrgyzstan has faced many economic problems. The Issyk-Kul region, comprising 20 small villages and three towns, is one example of a group of neighboring communities where food and money are scarce.
The main source of income in this area is seasonal tourism and agriculture. Unfortunately, because of a lack of a trained labor force, the depletion of natural resources and weak direct foreign investment, the area had failed to produce the income citizens needed for basic living expenses.
In 1999 the U.S.-Israeli-Kyrgyz MASHAV Agri-Business Consulting Program was established to address the agricultural side of the region's income problem. The program led to the construction of a greenhouse at the Oasis Agricultural Site where agricultural producers in the region receive both formal and one-on-one training from agricultural experts.
With many farmers having learned about the benefits of greenhouse cultivation and with the greenhouse's production well established, the community looked to increase food production in another area.
Within Issyk-Kul the lake fish population nearly had been depleted, causing a significant decline in the traditional fishing industry. The resulting loss of jobs led to more poverty.
After much study, the owner of Oasis Site and a group of farmers in the region concluded that constructing a fish farm was the answer. The farm would host regular sessions where experts and local residents could meet and learn how fish farms are constructed, maintained and managed to reach sustainable profitability. Unfortunately, the group did not have the funds to build such a farm.
To resolve the problem, the Oasis owner and a local professor took their concern to a Peace Corps volunteer serving in the area. Through the Peace Corps Partnership Program, which collaborates with individuals across America and facilitates their donations to specific community development projects, funds were raised to build the fish farm and buy fish to fill it.
The construction of this fish farm at Oasis will not only provide more jobs for residents of the Issyk-Kul area, but it also will provide the necessary training in how to develop and manage a profitable fishing industry and avoid depleting fish stocks in the future. Local college students and teachers also plan to go to the farm to help with hands-on training for farmers.
As the adage goes: If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. In teaching many in Issyk-Kul to farm fish, Peace Corps has enhanced this region's ability to boost its income and pull people out of poverty.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: October, 2006; Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan; Directory of Kyrgyzstan RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Kyrgyzstan RPCVs; Fishing
When this story was posted in February 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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Story Source: Department of State
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Kyrgyzstan; Fishing
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