An agricultural cooperative is a voluntary group of farmers who collaborate by sharing their resources for activities such as production, supply, and marketing. To gain a better grasp of operating a collective enterprise, it’s essential to formulate business strategies and establish a well-defined action plan for a specific timeframe. A highly effective instrument for achieving this is a business plan, which enables the assessment of a business concept, identification of potential risks, creation of financial projections, and attraction of investments.
From August 1-8, 2023, representatives from eight cooperatives based in the Jety-Oguz, Ton, and Kochkor districts, in team with their mentors from the Cooperatives Union of Kyrgyzstan, underwent training on formulating business plans using RuralInvest toolkit. The software program was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to support in the preparation and evaluation of small and medium-scale agricultural investment projects.
“We initially had an idea to establish a storage facility for fruits and vegetables, but we were uncertain about how to start and proceed. The RuralInvest toolkit proved helpful in assessing the feasibility of our business idea and calculating the necessary investment for its implementation,” stated Saltanat Kalykova, leader of the Saruu Ortok cooperative located in the village of Saruu within the Jety-Oguz district. “We are fully committed to transforming our concept into a functioning business, augmenting the income of 28 cooperative members, generating employment, and enhancing the quality of life in our community.”