Uguloy Abdullaeva, a 64-year-old resident of Balkhi district of the Khatlon region has been in the cheese making business for twenty-four years, working closely with her family to grow it step by step. She often saw solutions to community problems, which were creative and innovative, and which often were missed opportunities for many.
Some two decades ago, Uguloy Abdullaeva, a 64-year-old entrepreneurial farmer in Tajikistan, noticed how most families in her area had dairy cows, but no one seemed interested in using their leftover milk to make cheese. She decided to fill that niche. And now with support from USAID, her cheese-making business has expanded from a small operation to one that sells in supermarkets across the country.
Women, who comprise 75 percent of agricultural workers in Tajikistan, often face low pay and job insecurity, and a lack of economic opportunities in Tajikistan is a critical threat to stability and security that extends far beyond its borders.
Through the Agribusiness Competitiveness Activity, USAID is building a network of business leaders like Uguloy to foster sustained and equitable economic growth in Tajikistan. By using a market-driven approach, the project increases job opportunities and improves livelihoods, while enhancing the competitiveness of Tajikistan’s dairy and horticulture sectors.
The project is part of USAID’s Feed the Future portfolio of activities in Tajikistan, which address the root causes of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in 12 districts in the Khatlon Province on the border of Afghanistan. Khatlon has the third-highest poverty rate in the country at nearly 40 percent.
Uguloy, who lives in the Khatlon region, started making cheese at home using a few liters of milk each day. However, since the cheese market was not large in her area and she did not have processing equipment, growing cotton and wheat remained her primary business.
“In pursuing my dream of establishing a cheese-making company, I went bankrupt once back in 2004, when I lost 3 tons of milk every day in 12 days because I didn’t know how to care for cows with specific diseases,” Uguloy said. “However, I never gave up. I always found the strength to start over.”
She did not let this setback discourage her.
“Falling is not failure,” said Uguloy. “Not rising back is failure.”
In 2010, Uguloy shifted her cheese business to a semi-industrial level after purchasing second-hand dairy processing equipment. It was a serious investment, and Uguloy had to sell all she had, including her farm tractor.
“It was one of the best decisions I made in my life,” said Uguloy, thinking back to those days.
Eight years later, Uguloy connected with USAID at a launch event for the Agribusiness Competitiveness Activity, where she learned about new opportunities in the dairy sector. She began participating regularly in the USAID project’s training sessions and study tours.
One USAID workshop in particular inspired Uguloy to expand her company even further. Uguloy’s daughter Muhabbat Abdullaeva, who helps in the family business, attended the hands-on workshop on the production of soft and semi-hard cheeses, which was led by an international consultant from Georgia.
Thanks to an in-kind grant from USAID, last year, Uguloy received advanced dairy-processing and cheese-making equipment to grow her business’s operations. She also invested 330,000 Tajik somoni (USD 30,000) of the company’s funds to construct a building to house the new machines. The new equipment added tremendous value to Uguloy’s business, doubling its monthly gross income.
Before receiving the new equipment, the business had sales of $2,000 monthly. With improvements in technology and acquired knowledge from the USAID workshops, Uguloy projects monthly sales of up to $7,000. She has been able to dramatically increase her business’s daily milk processing and cheese production, while diversifying the production line to include butter, cottage cheese, and sour cream.
One type of Uguloy’s cheese, called Paniri Balkh, is now sold in all Balkhi district stores, and in 14 stores in the city of Bokhtar. In May, USAID helped Uguloy Abdullaeva connect with one of the country’s largest supermarket chains, Yovar, and now she is supplying cheese worth $3,500 monthly to Yovar supermarkets countrywide.
“I suggest to new entrepreneurs to never give up in case of failures, to not accept losses, always arm yourself with modern knowledge, and keep up with the times,” Uguloy said. “Before starting a business, be sure to study the market, and whether there is a buyer or not.”
Among her many achievements, Uguloy says she is proud to have succeeded in changing the stereotypical mindset of many rural people in her district, who perceived women only as housekeepers. Thanks to her business, she is now improving livelihoods in her district, employing seven people in her cheese production facility, and buying milk daily from more than 20 women in the area.
