Our Impact
MEI contributes to economic growth in Tajikistan, through infrastructure improvements, job creation, and contribution to local income, which all benefit the local economy. Through its operations in Khorog, Tajikistan, MEI employs a local workforce, made up mostly of women from low-income families, who use raw materials sourced from local smallholder farmers, to produce high-quality food products that are sold to consumers through grocery stores, hotels, and restaurants in the region.
MEI’s empowers the ultra-poor population in the Khorog region, through its for-profit social enterprise MFP, by providing meaningful employment opportunities and training, while ensuring food security through the development of a sustainable potato supply chain in Tajikistan.
MFP is a women-led enterprise (GM: Sadriya Marodmamadova) and the business employs mostly women from ultra-poor families
MFP employs 21 full-time workers and an additional 25 seasonal workers
MFP has processed 50 tons of locally sourced potatoes and produced and sold 150K units of potato chips through October 2023 to grocery stores, hotels and other retailers in Tajikistan
challenges in the region
- Food that is affordable in the region is not nutritious
- Snack foods that are affordable contain banned substances
- Limited domestic manufacturing, high reliance on imported products
- Female labor force participation is 27% vs. 63% for men
- Of the arable land, 97% of it is subject to soil degradation
- Lack of quality seeds suitable for potato chips
- There is a need for higher quality agriculture jobs in Tajikistan
- Economic contraction in Russia have reduced remittances
