A female Tajik farmer improves productivity with a new tractor

Ms. Shamsikhol Sultonova is the most established female farmer in her village Aivoch, located in the southern part of Tajikistan. Managing 20 permanent workers where more than 50% are female, she owns 15 hectares of land for planting cotton and additionally rents 20 hectares of land for cotton production. Currently, she procures external tractor machinery services which are often not reliable.

To overcome her operational challenges, Ms. Sultonova approached one of the EBRD’s partner banks for a GEFF loan of US$ 18,983 and invested in a new fuel-efficient tractor MTZ 80X. The higher fuel efficiency of the tractor will lead to reduced diesel fuel consumption of at least 20%.

The tractor is used for the plowing, soil preparation, planting, dissemination of mineral fertilizers and inter-row soil processing.

The European Union investment incentives of 30% is available which makes the financing more accessible to farmers.

“With the increased revenues, I plan to introduce a number of different crops and import high quality seeds from neighbouring countries such as Uzbekistan. I will also hire more female workers which provides employment and income opportunities to women in the village as well” explained Ms. Sultonova.

GEFF Tajikistan is supported by the European Union, the Green Climate Fund and South Korea.

GEFF Tajikistan [Agricultural Value Chains] helps Tajik farmers and agribusinesses adopt technology solutions that can enhance competitiveness of the agricultural value chains. The program supports gender activities that aim to enhance women and men’s equal opportunity to access finance for green technologies.