For Ikhtiyor Alimov, finding foreign buyers was only part of the challenge. His dried-fruit business in northern Tajikistan also needed enough equipment to fill its orders.
Alimov founded Mevai Zarrin in Isfara with eight workers and handmade machinery. Its processing capacity eventually reached 200 kilograms a day, but manual production limited further growth. With the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the company upgraded its equipment and packaging. It can now process 600–650 kilograms daily, according to the organization’s account of its development.
“We were able to reduce our product waste by 20%,” Alimov said in UNDP’s regional account of the program.
Across Central Asia, small producers face similar difficulties. Processing a harvest before selling it can increase producers’ earnings, but expansion requires investment that many family businesses struggle to afford.
The Finland-funded Aid for Trade initiative, implemented by the UNDP, is closing after more than 15 years of work across Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. UNDP and Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of the Economy presented results in Bishkek on September 24, discussing which forms of support should continue beyond 2026.
In Tajikistan, UNDP reported that the initiative helped create 147 jobs, including 90 for women.
At Mevai Zarrin, support depended partly on buying fruit from local farmers and connecting producers in southern Tajikistan with processors in the north. The company signed contracts with ten farming households in Khatlon, securing supplies while giving growers another outlet for their harvests.
Pooling smaller harvests can make deliveries large enough for a processor to buy. For farmers, those arrangements offer a route beyond nearby markets without requiring each household to become an exporter. Mevai Zarrin also obtained FSSC 22000 food safety certification to help it pursue new customers. In UNDP’s September profile, Alimov said the company had sent samples to prospective buyers in Germany and was awaiting their response.
Processing the Harvest
In Uzbekistan’s Andijan region, Dildora Nurmatova’s family business, ErElDi, has increased its profits by processing peanuts. Nurmatova began investigating the crop during her agricultural studies. By 2024, her enterprise was harvesting five metric tons from one hectare. According to UNDP’s regional retrospective, selling processed snacks rather than raw peanuts tripled her profits.
Aid for Trade supplied processing and packaging equipment, alongside a separate workshop and a three-phase electricity connection. Business advice helped the family develop products and organize production.
The company supplies packaged peanuts to Andijan’s wholesale market. Lower-grade kernels go into milled products for bakeries and ice-cream producers, giving the family a market for material that cannot be sold as premium snacks.
ErElDi’s customers are close to home. The family can earn more from its harvest by doing the processing itself, before it considers the costs of finding buyers abroad.
In Kyrgyzstan, UNDP reported that the project contributed to 837 new jobs, including 548 for women, and supported export contracts worth $17.1 million.
Beekeepers inspect a honeycomb at the Issyk-Kul honey cooperative in Kyrgyzstan’s Tyup district. Image: UNDP Kyrgyzstan
Cooperation has also helped some Kyrgyz producers increase their output. Nine beekeepers formed the Issyk-Kul Honey Cooperative in 2023. UNDP reported in September that annual production doubled from 15 to 30 metric tons within a year after support that included equipment and improved practices.
Separately, Bishkek-based Dary Tyan-Shanya worked with the program in 2024–2025 to document production processes and obtain ISO 22000 food safety certification. UNDP says the company now exports honey to more than 30 countries. Reliable supplies from other producers are part of sustaining that business.
Emma Savitskaya of Kyrgyz honey exporter Dary Tyan-Shanya displays a jar of honey. Image: UNDP Kyrgyzstan
Connecting Producers With Buyers
For craft producers around Issyk-Kul, access to customers can begin with a local shop. Albina Alimova’s EthnoMir business in Karakol connects artisans with tourists and tour operators. Alimova helped the Tengri Wool group concentrate on products buyers wanted and to improve consistency. The group now sells through local tourism businesses, including her shop.
“They need a channel to market, and I need strong, good, sustainable products in my shop,” she said.
For small craft groups, a regular retail customer can make production easier to plan. Alimova, in turn, needs suppliers who can deliver consistent products in sufficient quantities when tourists arrive.
For Mevai Zarrin, expansion has also created work in Isfara. The company now employs 15 people, including 14 women, compared with eight when Alimov started. Its upgraded equipment allows it to process apples, pears, and quince alongside the apricots and plums on which the business was built.
