LocationsNavruz received support under “Aid for Trade” project initiative implemented jointly by UNDP’s LITACA / Aid for Trade in Central Asia project, funded by Japan and Finland in partnership with Aga Khan Foundation.
How Farmer Navruz’s Dried Fruits from a Tajikistani Village Found Their Way to the World
February 13, 2026
Navruz Aliev with his daughter and seasonal women employees at his fruit-processing enterprise in Ponghoz village, Asht district, Tajikistan.
UNDP Tajikistan
When Hard Work Does Not Pay Off
Navruz Aliev, 43, is a farmer from Ponghoz village in the Asht district of northern Tajikistan, where most families make their living from agriculture. He grew up in a household where growing, drying and selling fruits were the family’s main source of income. Like many others in the village, his parents worked season after season growing apricots, mulberries, and cherries, drying them under the sun, storing them, and taking them to the local market.
The work was hard and time-consuming, yet the returns were small. Traditional drying methods affected the quality of the produce, forcing farmers to sell their fruits cheaply. As a child, Navruz watched his mother and father work tirelessly, wishing there were a way to make their efforts easier and more rewarding.
After finishing school, Navruz left home for Dushanbe to study law, eventually earning an LL.M. But even as he sat in university classrooms, the scent of his childhood orchards stayed with him — a quiet reminder of where he came from and where he hoped to make a difference.
After graduation, Navruz returned home and realised that the challenges his family had faced years earlier were still there.
“Nothing had really changed,” he says. “Farmers were still working just as hard but earning just as little.”
That realisation became a turning point. Navruz decided to transform a long-standing problem into an opportunity.
Boxes of dried fruits prepared for market at Navruz Aliev’s enterprise.
UNDP Tajikistan
Bringing Modern Standards Transform Challenges into a Growing Business
He immersed himself in learning the science of fruit processing — how to preserve colour, taste, and nutritional value. He spent months visiting factories, studying modern technologies, and learning international quality standards. With determination — and strong support from his wife and family — Navruz eventually opened his own fruit-processing enterprise.
“The journey wasn’t easy,” he recalls. “To compete in international markets, quality is everything. I knew I had to raise my standards if I wanted our fruits to go further.”
Navruz’s persistence soon caught the attention of UNDP’s LITACA / Aid for Trade (AfT) project, which recognised his potential and stepped in with support. Through the project, Navruz received targeted training, mentorship, and modern equipment, including a calibration and processing line that significantly improved efficiency and product quality.
Navruz Aliev presenting his dried fruits at an international food exhibition.
UNDP Tajikistan
With this support, Navruz was able to scale up his business — sourcing fruits not only from his own village, but also from across the Khatlon region, where many farmers faced similar challenges with post-harvest losses and limited market access.
Through training, mentorship, modern equipment support, and business linkages, the project helped connect farmers from Khatlon with buyers and processors in the Sughd region. This new linkage opened up broader market opportunities, enabled farmers to improve skills and quality, and strengthened value chains between regions.
Today, Navruz exports 200–250 tons of dried fruits each year — including apricots, mulberries, cherries, and more — to Russia, Belarus, and Turkey. Prices range from 3 somoni per kilogram for basic products to 40 somoni for premium-quality dried apricots. Last season alone, his sales exceeded 800,000 TJS.
His enterprise now provides seasonal employment for 60 local villagers, including 54 women, offering not only income, but dignity, skills, and new opportunities.
“With each shipment, I think of my father and our orchards,” Navruz says. “What began with the smell of fruit in my childhood has become a source of opportunity for many families.”
Looking ahead, Navruz plans to expand processing capacity to 700 tons per year and reach new export destinations. He hopes that one day Ponghoz will be known far beyond Tajikistan as a source of high-quality dried fruits.
And every time he steps into the processing room and inhales the familiar scent of apricots, Navruz is reminded that success — like fruit — grows best when nurtured with patience, care, and deep roots.
Navruz receives a certificate from an Aga Khan Foundation representative, joined by his seasonal workers at his enterprise.
UNDP Tajikistan
About the projects
UNDP’s “Improving Livelihoods in the Border Areas of Tajikistan and Afghanistan (LITACA-III)” project, funded by Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and “Aid for Trade in Central Asia (AfT)” project, funded by Finland, aim to strengthen the dried fruit value chain and enhance export competitiveness in Tajikistan.
The projects focus on strengthening the capacity of stakeholders and members of the dried fruit value chain in the Khatlon and Sughd regions, with the overall goal of improving production standards, market access, and export capacity.
Implementation covers key production and trade hubs across two regions. In the Khatlon region, activities were carried out in Bokhtar, Kulob, Hamadoni, Shamsiddin Shohin, Farkhor, and Panj. In the Sughd region, the project was implemented in Bobojon Gafurov, Konibodom, Isfara, Asht, and Mastchoh districts.
The projects deliver integrated support across the value chain through:
- Direct assistance to agricultural processing enterprises and farmer groups engaged in dried fruit production;
- Practical, hands-on training workshops aimed at strengthening technical skills, quality standards, and business management capacities;
- Support to improve marketing strategies and enhance the export readiness of agricultural producers and exporters;
- Facilitation of cooperation and commercial linkages between producers in the Khatlon region and fruit processing and export enterprises in the Sughd region.
The total number of direct project beneficiaries exceeds 1,800 local farmers and entrepreneurs, of whom 40% are women, contributing to more inclusive and export-oriented rural economic development.
Media inquiries: Nigora Fazliddin, Communications Analyst, UNDP Tajikistan – nigorai.fazliddin@undp.org