Results
- Horticultural businesses in Uzbekistan became more profitable and productive, leading to the creation of over 34,500 permanent jobs – nearly 40% for women – and approximately 22,000 seasonal jobs, 75% for women.
- An additional 5,000 jobs were created in auxiliary industries such as food packaging, storage, and distribution. New jobs in rural logistics and transport allowed young rural workers to earn a stable income in their communities, instead of having to migrate to cities.
- Participating fruit and vegetable producers benefited from improved agricultural practices, access to better inputs, and the adoption of greenhouse technology, resulting in a 25–30% increase in crop yields and a 35% increase in gross sales, boosting labor demand and job sustainability.
- The project facilitated over $300 million in concessional loans to farmers and agribusinesses, helping more than 5,000 enterprises expand their businesses, modernize production, and increase employment capacity.
The Challenge
Of the 37 million inhabitants of Uzbekistan, 49 percent lived in rural areas in 2024 – and the rural population is growing faster than the urban population. Agriculture is a key economic sector, accounting for 27 percent of total employment in 2019. This is partly due to Uzbekistan’s prime location for agricultural production, particularly for horticulture. The climate allows for double harvesting of vegetables in most areas across the country – triple harvesting in some regions – and supports a wide variety of crops while limiting pests and diseases. However, more rapid growth in the horticulture sector is constrained by farmers’ limited knowledge of modern farming practices, a lack of mechanisms to effectively link farmers to markets, bottlenecks in the value chain, and a significant investment gap, estimated at over $1 billion. Boosting productivity and increasing lending could help Uzbekistan’s agribusinesses accelerate growth, leverage the country’s strong comparative advantage, and provide the growing rural population with the jobs and skills they need for improved wellbeing.
WBG Approach
The World Bank worked with beneficiaries across Uzbekistan’s horticultural value chain to improve productivity and profitability. The Uzbekistan Horticultural Development Project introduced farmers to new agricultural techniques, such as hydroponics and energy- and water-efficient irrigation, with a focus on climate-smart innovations that helped ensure long-term employment growth. Along with improvements in post-harvest handling, the interventions increased beneficiaries’ profitability by over 120 percent and made horticulture jobs more sustainable.
Farmers were connected to new markets for their increased yields, and the resulting increase in horticulture exports played a pivotal role in job creation and sustainability across the value chain. The project also included targeted interventions to enhance women’s participation in the workforce, such as financial incentives, training programs for women entrepreneurs, and skills development in high-value horticulture jobs.
The World Bank collaborated with local financial institutions to introduce a dedicated credit line for horticulture investments, which had not been available at scale in Uzbekistan before. This enabled producers to access concessional financing for modern greenhouses, processing, cold storage, and export facilities. Gross sales increased more than five-fold, allowing farms to add tens of thousands of jobs and contributing to the economic transformation of the entire sector.
