The Organic Movement Federation BIO-KG has won the 12th Equator Prize, which is awarded annually by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to local indigenous communities from around the world.
The winning organization from Kyrgyzstan was awarded such an award for the first time. Namely, for the project “organic aimaks”, the concept of which is designed to significantly affect the beneficial situation with arable land in the country – the model of organic aimaks, successfully implemented in the regions of Kyrgyzstan since 2014, has shown in practice that land degradation can be prevented by switching to organic agriculture –the use of natural fertilizers, the revival of traditional, including agricultural culture of the Kyrgyz, and, in general, careful attitude to Mother Earth.
The model of organic aimaks played a key role in the adoption of the Law on Organic Agricultural Production and the statement of the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic on the full transition of the country to organic agriculture within 10 years.
At the moment, aimaks are carrying out their work in the Chui, Naryn, Issyk-Kul and Talas regions, covering 23 villages, and the total number of farmers has exceeded a thousand.
Today, farmers of organic aimags grow vegetables, fruits, medicinal herbs and process wild plants, dairy products.
The Equator Prize winners will receive 10 thousand US dollars and the opportunity to participate in a series of special events, such as those related to the UN General Assembly, the Nature for Life Center and the UN Summit on Food Systems at the end of this year. They will join a network of 255 communities from more than 80 countries that have received the Equator Prize since its foundation in 2002.
The winners were selected from more than 600 nominations from 126 countries by an independent technical advisory committee consisting of world-renowned experts.