沙漠研究 24-1, 179-182 (2014)
Ἃ₍◊✲ 24-1, 179 - 182 (2014)
Journal of Arid Land Studies
Journal of Arid Land Studies－ DT11 Refereed Paper －㸫DT11 Refereed Paper㸫

Revitalizing Rural Areas through Modernized Sericulture- A Case Study in Fergana Region, Uzbekistan Makoto IIKUBO*1), Yoshiko KAWABATA 1), Masaaki YAMADA1), Siaw ONWONA-AGYEMAN1),
Umarov Shavkat RAMAZANOVICH2), Javkochdiev KAHHOR3), Salmanova MANZURA4),
Vyacheslav APARIN5) and Tsutomu ARIE1)
Abstract: This study investigates the potentials and limitations in the collaboration with our university, non-governmentalorganizations and companies. Fergana is one of the poorest and highly populated regions in Uzbekistan with a high unemploymentrate. A wide gap exists in the standard of living between this area and the cities. Therefore, there is an urgent need to eradicate
poverty in this area. In addition, development assistance and investment after the collapse of the Soviet Union were concentrated in
the urban areas and did not extend to rural areas. Historically, the silk industry developed and thrived for a long time as the stopping
point of the Silk Road in this area. However, in recent years, the region is unable to come up with internationally competitive lines ofsilk thread of quality due to timeworn machines or obsolete traditional technologies. There is a need for the environmental
improvement of the farm village mainly in the sericulture business in this area for the revival of the traditional industry and poor
population. It was against this backdrop that Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) began the grass-root technicalcooperation project in Fergana Basin from 2009, financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) A), in order torevitalize local silk production as a model case in Uzbekistan., At the moment, high quality cocoons are produced in the Fergana region
after the implementation of our project. And domestic consumers and international tourists can purchase excellent silk products
made from these projects. From these results, the potential and limitation in the collaborations are discussed.
Key Words: Fergana, ODA, Rural development, Silk products, Uzbekistan

1. Introduction
Uzbekistan is located along the ancient Silk Road ofCentral Asia. The Fergana Region is one of the poorest,
highly populated areas of Uzbekistan with a highunemployment rate. There is wide gap in the standard ofliving between this area and cities. Therefore, eradicating
poverty in this area is one of the top priorities of thegovernment.
In addition, development assistance andinvestment after the collapse of the Soviet Union wereconcentrated in the cities and did not extend to rural areas. In
the past, the silk industry in this area had developed and was
known for a long time as the stopping point of the Silk Road.
However, in recent years, the area is unable to come up withinternationally competitive lines of silk thread of quality due totimeworn machines or obsolete traditional technologies in thiscountry. The incomes by the silk industry continue todecrease as exports, mostly to China in the form of cheap
cocoons and sericulture farmhouses, have dramaticallydecreased now. Therefore the succession of the traditional
industry has become difficult. It is important to improve thecondition of the farm village mainly via the sericulturebusiness in this area by reviving the traditional industry and theexisting poor population.
The predecessors of Tokyo University of Agriculture andTechnology were founded in 1874 as the Meiji Interior
Ministry’s Agricultural Training Institute and Sericulture
Experiment Section. In 1890, the Agricultural Training
Institute was expanded and integrated to Secondary
Department (renamed Practical Applications Department in1898) of Agricultural College of the Imperial University(today’s University of Tokyo), which later incorporated itself
into Tokyo Imperial College of Agriculture and Forestry in1935 B). Later, the Sericulture Experiment Section became
Tokyo Imperial College of Sericulture in 1914. After WorldWar II, both Imperial Colleges of Agriculture and Sericulture
merged into Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technologyin 1949, with its Faculty of Agriculture and Faculty of Textile.
Around that time, cotton textile took over from silk threads and㸦Received, September 14th, 2013; Accepted, November 27th, 2013㸧

* Corresponding Author: iikubouz@gmail.com
3-8-1, Harumicho, Fuchu,Tokyo, 184-8588, Japan
1) Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

4) Business Woman Association of the Republic of Uzbekistan

2) Uzbekistan Sericulture Research Institute5) Ministry of Geology of Republic of Uzbekistan

3) Ministry of Agriculture of Republic of Uzbekistan

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fabrics as the number one export of Japan. Finally in 1962,
the Faculty of Textile changed its name to Faculty ofEngineering. The university became involved in international
cooperation programs or a globalized outreach to developing
countries, and as a result it launched a grass-root technicalcooperation project in Fergana Basin in 2009, financed by theJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in order torevitalize local silk production as a model case in Uzbekistan.
The outcomes of this project were as follows:
1) Self-sufficiency system of silkworm eggs in the Fergana
region was established.
2) High quality cocoons were produced in the Fergana region
by transferring the production technology of success to theFergana region.
3) High quality silk products were produced together with
non-governmental organizations.
Yamada (2012) reported that the Uzbek tradition of cocoon
production in the Fergana region could be successfully revived
and improved in our project. In this study, the potential andlimitation in the ability to produce high quality silk products
and sales and the collaboration with the universities,
non-governmental organizations and companies werediscussed.

2. Materials and Methods
The grass-root technical cooperation project in Fergana
Basin was financed by the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) from September 2009 until August 2012.
This study takes a form of action research, throughimplementation of the projects regulated by JICA’s project
cycle management (PCM) F) with supervision of JICA Global
Plaza office. These authors conducted semi-structured
interviews, questionnaires and observations to identify
beneficiary needs and to evaluate project performance withreference to the project design matrix (PDM) of each project.
The image of our Uzbek Silk Project is shown in Figure 1.
Part of high quality silk products was developed with
Business Women Association of Uzbekistan C) (BWA) ofFergana Branch. BWA is an NGO organization to promote
the self-reliance of women in Uzbekistan.

3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Developing handicrafts made of traditional silk ikat(‘Atlas’)The beautiful Atlas or the “king of silk” ikat weaving
technique has been inherited through generations among local
women in Uzbekistan. These vibrant textiles are createdusing a resist-dyeing process with tie-dye on the warp, weft orFig. 1. Image of the Multipurpose Uzbek Silk Project.

both threads prior to being woven (Zerrnickel, 1997). Silk(Atlas) and mixed silk (Adlas) are traditional textiles widelyused for clothes and in the household. Atlas and Adlas are
traditional bright colors to color combinations of the latest
fashion. After the end of former Soviet regime, however, thetraditional silk industry of Uzbekistan has declined.
However, there is a problem in terms of sewing anddesigning quality silk products made by Atlas. Therefore, inthis project, we decided to co-develop with BWA products
using traditional silk Atlas and Adlas in order to increase theincome of rural women. As it was not successful initially, wehad to re-create the prototype many times.
At first, we discussed the target purchaser group with BWA.
Many foreign tourists visit the Islamic historical sites in
Uzbekistan after independence, and they prefer handmade
products and also purchase high price products compared withthe locals. Most of them are particular about the quality ofproducts, so we had a description in the BWA for quality
control and ordered the prototype samples of foreign tourists’taste. After many discussions and modifications, it wasfinally launched in Uzbekistan. However, sales were notgood.
Next, we contacted the Uzbekistan office of the Japan
External Trade Organization (JETRO), which is agovernment-related organization that works to promote mutual
trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world D).
JETRO, in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry, has developed One Village, One Product Markets
at both Narita International Airport and Kansai International
Airport, based on the One Village, One Product campaign E).
Thanks to the advice from JETRO, we were able to further
improve the quality of the products and started marketing themin One Village, One Product Markets at both Narita
International Airport, Tokyo and Kansai International Airport,
Osaka from February 2011F) (Fig. 2). The goods were sellingwell in this shop presumably due to improved product targetingfor Japanese customers. In spite of the fact that we areamateur sellers, there are new products and the market isgrowing in Japan (Fig. 3).

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Fig. 2. Products sold at our products in One Village, One ProductMarkets, at Narita Airport, Japan.

Fig. 5. Poster of Handicraft contest.

Fig. 3. New Products from our Project.

Fig. 4. Rural workshops on handicrafts.

3.2. Training on handicrafts
Many Uzbeks believe in Islam and many rural women stayat home in Fergana region. Women hesitated to work outside
as required by Islamic culture in many cases. Under thesecircumstances, our aim was to assist women to become
self-reliant by making extra income from work that can bedone at home. We organized rural workshops on handicrafts
in 2010 and 2011 collaborated with BWA G) (Fig. 4).
In these workshops, BWA was able to test the technique ofsewing. Our initial objective to create jobs for rural women
was materialized after the workshop as many women began toshow interest in the handicrafts industry.
3.3. Handicraft contest
As we were novices in product development, and BWA
was not able to produce high quality products to target
Japanese customers, we planned a handicraft contest using
Atlas in Japan. It was decided that work which won a prize inthis contest could apply for approval to be commercialized inFig. 6. Poster of 300 creative designs for handicraft contest.

Uzbekistan (Fig. 5). It was also intended to promote thespread of the Atlas in Japan.
A contest was held in Japan that received almost 300
creative designs (Fig. 6). Twelve winner exhibitions weremounted at the malls Iias Tsukuba, Iias Sapporo andUzbekistan Embassy in Tokyo.
We were overwhelmed by the number of entries anddecided to exhibit the products of all entries to the people ofUzbekistan and Japan. The products of all entries in Gunma
Prefectural Government, in Maebashi and the Ikuo Hirayama
International Caravan-Sarai of Culture (ICSC) in Tashkent areshown (Fig. 7).

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by organizing a contest and exhibition, which were publicizedon TV and news, our Atlas products were further made more
popular than before.

Fig. 7. Leaflet of Exhibition of Handicraft Contest in Tashkent.

Women engaged in sewing began to produce new works
based on the products of the contest winners. However, thespread of Atlas in Japan did not progress as expected. So, wedecided to do an exhibition at the museum along with theJapanese enterprises dealing with Atlas. We conducted ourexhibition of Atlas in Science Museum of Tokyo University ofAgriculture and Technology H) and Setagaya Life Craft Center I)with Kanno textile J). Kanno Textiles is a company that hascreated a product using the Atlas in Japan. The Ambassadorof the Republic of Uzbekistan to Japan made a courtesy call tothe President of TUAT and visited exhibition of Atlas inScience Museum of Tokyo University of Agriculture andTechnology with Tomioka Mayor and President K).
Our activities which were given publicity in TV-news,
newspapers, and websites both in Uzbekistan and Japan,
facilitated the spread of Atlas. By organizing the contest andthe exhibition, we were able to receive numerous inquiries
about Atlas. We have just begun a new grass-root technicalcooperation project in Urgench from 2013, financed by JICA,
with the aim of promoting the Silk-Road Silk Industry inUzbekistan - Developing a Technology Transfer Model toIncrease Sideline Income of Remote Villages. Through thenew project, we intend to spread further the use of Atlas.

4. Conclusion
Uzbek tradition of cocoon production could be
successfully revived and improved with international technicalcooperation in the Fergana region. The authors tried toexpand the traditional silk Atlas in this project by collaboratingwith the BWA on product development. This promotion wasachieved with the help of JETRO and other companies. Then,

Notes (web links valid as of 10 September 2013)
A) Japan International Cooperation Agency, http://www.jica.
go.jp/english/index.html
B) History of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology,
http://www.tuat.ac.jp/en/outline/history/index.html
C) Business Woman Association of Uzbekistan, http://bwa.
uzorg.net/about_eng.html
D) Japan External Trade Organization, http://www.jetro.go.
jp/en/jetro/E) One Village, One Product Markets, http://www.jetro.go.jp/
en/events/ovop-market.html
F) Sell our products in One Village, One Product Markets,
http://www.tuat.ac.jp/~jica-uz/atlas/silk_products.html
G) Rural workshops of handicrafts in 2010 and 2011,
http://www.tuat.ac.jp/~jica-uz/atlas/bwa.html
H) Exhibition in Science Museum of Tokyo University ofAgriculture and Technology, http://www.tuat.ac.jp/~museum/old/CONTENTS/2011/silkroad_paper.pdf
I) Exhibition in Setagaya Life Craft Centre, http://www.
setagaya-ldc.net/program/198/
J) Kanno textile, http://kannotextile.com/
K) Courtesy call of the Ambassador of the Republic ofUzbekistan to Japan, http://www.tuat.ac.jp/en/news/20130415160748/index.html

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