Our Work

Democracy, Human Rights and Governance

USAID’s annual apricot contest attracts farmers, researchers and processors interested in identifying the best apricots in the region. The event serves as a venue for farmers to share technical knowledge and improve production methods.

USAID AgLinks Plus Project

USAID helps civil society leaders engage the government on critical issues, assists political groups to improve communication with constituents, and strengthens organizations that champion women’s issues, rights for disabled citizens, and the environment. USAID encourages Uzbek parliamentarians to be responsive to the citizens they represent and to collaborate with their counterparts in the U.S. Congress through exchange visits.  

A source country for human trafficking, Uzbekistan benefits from USAID anti-trafficking assistance, which has helped more than 3,000 trafficking survivors return to their communities and rebuild their lives. Our work with local government officials has improved the delivery of local services and increased citizen participation in decision making.

Economic Growth and Trade

More than two-thirds of Uzbekistan’s population resides in rural areas, where agriculture is a key sector. As a result, agricultural development is crucial to increasing local economic opportunity and addressing rural poverty and food security. Cotton is the country’s largest export, but horticulture exports are growing quickly, averaging nearly $1 billion annually. USAID increases agricultural productivity, income and market access in the horticulture sector. Our activities help farmers achieve immediate results through improved techniques and more efficient technology. In particular, USAID ensures the continued strength of the Uzbek horticulture sector by introducing higher-quality, more disease resistant plant materials. To increase family income through post-harvest management, USAID trains households to process grapes and other fruits and introduces small cold storage facilities.

In 2011, USAID trained 3,000 farmers in new production techniques that at a minimum doubled crop yields and resulted in sales increases of up to six-fold. Over the next several years, we expect that our agricultural assistance will reach 50,000 rural households, create 17,000 new jobs and train 10,000 people in agricultural techniques that improve their livelihoods.

USAID collaborates with the Government of Uzbekistan to foster local and regional trade by lowering internal and external trade barriers. To promote regional trade, USAID helps Uzbek and other Central Asian firms overcome shortcomings in export capacity and formal or informal barriers to trade. USAID organizes networking opportunities for exporters from around the region to strengthen business relationships and creatively address shared concerns.

Global Health

USAID introduced a financial management system that now supports 3,200 rural primary health care facilities in Uzbekistan—almost the entire rural primary health care sector. We also focus on countering multidrug-resistant TB through the implementation of the Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) strategy for TB control, as Uzbekistan continues to struggle with rising rates of multidrug-resistant TB—a problem that is further aggravated by high migration rates. Our program promotes better monitoring of treatment by implementing electronic tracking of treatment sessions. Furthermore, it improves the accuracy of TB laboratory diagnostics by training health care workers in best practices.

Highlights of Our Work

• Over 3,000 farmers learned new production techniques and technologies resulting in 2,500 hectares of new land under improved management practices in 2011. Productivity increased 2 to 5 fold depending upon the crop.
• USAID supported the introduction of a per-capita health care financing system that encourages quality services in almost the entire rural primary health care sector.
• USAID provided emergency health kits to support 100,000 Uzbek refugees from the neighboring Kyrgyz conflict in 2010.