The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are joining forces to improve farmland management and strengthen food security in the Kyrgyz Republic, Kabar reports.

The two institutions have launched an initiative named Greening Kyrgyzstan’s Economy: Know More, Act Better, Enhance Results, which will foster climate-smart agriculture through the use of geographic information system (GIS) technology.

The EBRD Food and Agribusiness team is supporting the project, strengthened by the active participation of three local aggregators, Kaindy-Kant (sugar beet processing), Kirbi (potato processing) and Dan Agro (pulses/legume processing). This cooperation will enable the initiative to serve more than 5,000 farmers who supply these aggregators.

The GIS technology will be administered and hosted by the State Agency for Land Resources, Cadastre, Geodesy and Cartography and used by a wide range of farming-sector stakeholders, from the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Food Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic to farmers and aggregators of agricultural produce. It will help users in numerous areas of their work, including identifying sown crops, measuring the efficiency of land use, estimating potential productivity levels and monitoring crop rotation and sustainable water use.

With financial assistance from the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic, the State Agency will also develop an app for farmers that will improve accessibility and simplify the adoption of the GIS system at a grassroots level. Alongside this, the EBRD and the FAO will deploy a free e-extension app delivering advisory services.