Mirza Bakhishov, 47, and his family pose with a week’s worth of food outside their home in Shahveller village. Mirza, 47, was born and bred in this village, in this house. He has been engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry all his life. He and his wife, Zarkhara, 37, and two sons, Khasay, 18 and Elchin, 15, own a small amount of land. Zarkhara produces 1 hectare of alfalfa, which he uses for his animals. He also cultivates a small area of cotton and wheat on the other hectare as well as parsley in his garden. He has two cows, two buffaloes, a calf, a donkey, some sheep, six ducks and two chickens.
“Our small cattle and poultry is everything for us. All our income and livelihood is dependent on them. the main problems for us are related to agricultural water and irrigation of our crops. We used to have problems obtaining animal feed, but now thanks to Oxfam and Aktivta, our problem is solved.” says Mirza
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