Walnut fruit forests in rural Kyrgyzstan

Agroforestry is the predominant way of life in forested parts of southern Kyrgyzstan and walnut forests are a major part of the cultural landscape. Local farmers lease forest plots from the state and these provide a wide range of nontimber forest products (NTFPs).

NTFPs including walnuts, wild apples, rose hips and mushrooms provide an important source of subsistence food; other useful products include fire wood, hay and medicinal herbs. Collecting, processing and marketing NTPFs – mostly walnuts – is also a source of potentially high and much needed cash income for local households.

• In a year with a good harvest, walnuts form a significant part of the livelihood for households from all income categories.
• The income from a good harvest can sustain families for up to one year and significantly complements the income gained from other activities.
• Walnuts fetch considerably higher market prices than most other NTFPs; the price for 1 kilogramme of walnuts is approximately 30 times the price of1kilogramme of wildapples.

This income is unreliable, however, mainly due to late frosts damaging the young shoots and flowers of walnut and other species. However, there are only two to four good walnut harvests per decade on average. In years with bad harvests, only poor households get a significant part of their income fromforest resources. This is because their incomes are particularly low, and they typically lack many alternative income opportunities.

Collecting, processing and  marketing NTFPs,mostly walnuts, is a source of potentially high and much needed cash income for local
households in southern Kyrgyzstan

The prime role of NTFPs from walnutf ruit forests is to contribute to local people’s basic subsistence needs.

Due to the strong variations in yields, their role as a reliable source of income is limited.

• To reduce poverty, it is important to guarantee that poorer households have access to NTFPs; poorer households should be prioritised when allocating leased forest plots.
• Poorer households also need to be involved in processing (for example cracking walnuts, making jam, and drying mushrooms, wild apples or rosehips) and marketing NTFPs. 
• It is important that poorer households also have access to more reliable sources of income than NTFPs, such as agricultural and offfarm activities, to diversify their subsistence and income sources and thus increase their livelihood security.

Kaspar Schmidt
Intercooperation, PO Box 6724, CH3001 Berne, Switzerland T +41 31 3851010 F +41 31 3851009
kaspar.schmidt@intercooperation.ch