Projects

JAILYM PROJECT KHAZAKHSTAN

ILS LEDA is a partner of the JAILYM project, a “Multi-actor partnerships and innovation at the service of economic and environmental sustainability of grazing activities in Enbekshi-Kazakh District”, a project co-financed by the European Union, leaded by FELCOS Umbria and carried out in the Almaty Region (Kazakhstan), with particular reference to the Enbekshi-Kazakh District.

The project started in 2022 and will last 2 years.

With 54.000 operating enterprises and 345.000 personal subsidiary farms, agriculture is the largest sector of Almaty region’s economy, in terms of employment. The region ranks first in Kazakhstan for number of cattle, horses and poultry, and second on sheep and goats and the number of livestock and livestock products is on the increase. The proximity to the mountains and the wide and diversity of pastures contribute to make this region particularly suitable for livestock activities. In fact, even if animal husbandry is not a life style anymore, it is still an important economic activity and a main source of income and subsistence for many rural households in the region. Natural pastures are a national treasure of Almaty region and of all Kazakhstan, but unfortunately their condition is alarming. The uninterrupted and irrational use of the public pasturelands led in the past decades to the loss of 27.1 million hectares of pastures and to the decrease of yields. Climate changes effects are worsening the impact of the human activities on the lands, risking to produce a permanent degradation and to alter the function of the entire ecosystem. Despite its relevance for the district’s and regional economy, farming activities and pasturelands in the EK area face various concerns. Due to the absence or insufficient use of pasture rotation, grazing lands are degraded and low-yielding and this is having serious consequences on the agricultural productivity and on the resilience of the land and the farmers.

The action’s Overall objective is: to contribute to improve efficiency and coordination between CSOs, LAs and smallholder farmers, in tackling the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss on pastures and agriculture. The need to preserve pasturelands in Kazakhstan is considered of vital importance for the local communities’ prosperity and the overall territorial resilience. This task is under the shared responsibility of the policy executive bodies, the farmers, and the communities.

In this perspective, the action Specific Objective is: Capacities and interaction of the CSOs, Akimats and farmers enhanced, on elaboration and adoption of Sustainable Pasture Management Plans, and on the use of digital technology for more rational and ecological grazing in pilot areas of Enbekshi-Kazakh District.

The logic of the Action relies on:

• the belief that the recent decentralization process undertaken in Kazakhstan can provide a fertile ground on which cooperation between CSOs and LAs can be built, especially in the field of sustainable local development and transition towards a more inclusive and resilient growth.
• Moreover, the fragility of the local eco-system, threatened by human activities and climate changes, is making more and more urgent a joint commitment to preserve biodiversity and health of lands, on which the prosperity of communities and the region largely depends.
• In addition to that, the COVID-19 pandemic crisis confirmed once more the need to approach development issues and environmental challenges with a joint responsible engagement from the LAs, the private sector, and the civil society.

The accomplishment of the specific objective will represent a small milestone and a pilot practice, which will contribute to enhance the role of the CSOs and the coordination with the LAs, in tackling the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss on pastures and agriculture.

The foreseen working packages (WP) are the following:
WP 1 – Preliminary analysis and target group mobilization: focused on the assessment of the status of the target pastures and infrastructure, and on commitment of the local actors in the constitution of the District Pasture Coordinating Council and the advisory group, whose impulse will be central for addressing and organizing the local governance process, following the TALD methodology.
WP 2 – Capacity building on pasture and livestock management, climate change mitigation and circular economy: it is focused on strengthening the capacities of the target LAs, CSOs and farmers on the technical topics necessary for the development of the pasture management plans; it will be based on technical assistance, transfer of know-how and peer-to-peer exchange finalized to enable the key actors to assume the necessary competences and role.
WP 3 – Direct support to the Unions of Pasture Users (UPU) and the local communities: will be addressed to the constitution of the UPU, and will include training, technical assistance and follow-up by the Project team both in the setting up of the Unions and in the development and realisation of the envisaged quick-impact projects, through transfer of know-how and 3rd parties’ financial support.
WP 4 – Development and implementation of an electronic information system for sustainable pasture management: it focuses on the development and set-up of a service and a computerized system for the efficient management of pasture lands and breeding activities. It foresees the scientific inputs and support by the project team and experts, the transfer of know-how, technical assistance, and follow-up.
WP 5 – Capitalization and dissemination and WP0 - Project management, M&E (crosscutting) are transversal and will be run with the active engagement of all project partners, under the supervision of the lead applicant FELCOS.

ILS LEDA will be committed to contribute to the WP 2, with specific attention to the transfer of know-how, mainly through disseminating best practices, and WP 3, with specific attention to training, technical assistance regarding the Union performance and governance.