AKRSP’s approach is based on the belief that local communities have tremendous potential to plan and manage their own development. Since its inception, AKRSP has trained over 126,000 women and men in different technical and vocational fields, completed 4,700 community infrastructure projects benefiting more than 380,000 households, and planted tens of millions of trees. It has helped establish and mobilise 5,300 Village and Women’s Organisations, representing more than 78 percent of the households in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. These organisations have saved more than PKR 500 million ($1.8 million), and disbursed PKR 2 billion ($7.2 million) as loans.

AKRSP's current work includes:

• strengthening local support organisations (LSOs) and community-level village and women’s organisations (V/WOs) with training and financial support so that they are better able to plan and manage social and economic development activities;


• strengthening agricultural livelihoods by improving water management, diversifying farming systems and strengthening connections between agricultural suppliers, producers and processors;


• generating non-farm employment and developing entrepreneurial skills through training and market development;


• promoting financial inclusion through community-based savings groups; and


• improving the availability and quality of small- and medium-scale infrastructure in order to strengthen livelihood opportunities and improve access to markets and social services.

Central Asia Poverty Programme

This programme addresses spatial poverty through the development of productive assets, including irrigation channels, greenhouses, animal sheds, storage facilities, roads and bridges, and energy.

Improving Rural Infrastructure

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is building and enhancing critical infrastructure to support food security and critical supply chains. This includes cash-for-work initiatives and community support to repair and maintain irrigation channels, as well as build and improve rural roads.

Supporting Vulnerable Communities

AKF provides agricultural inputs to farming communities. These ensure they are able to harvest enough food to meet their consumption and long-term nutrition requirements while also earning a livelihood.

LSOs play an important role in planning and implementing rural development activities in agriculture, non-farm enterprise, employment and infrastructure. They also help to mobilise matching funds from communities, which helps to ensure community ownership and sustainability of project activities.

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of natural disasters, and affecting factors such as water availability, vegetation cover and soil quality in already fragile mountain environments. Rural communities lack reliable access to electricity, and when electricity is accessed, it is often powered by fossil-fuel based energy sources which produce high levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

In response, AKRSP reduces carbon emissions from crop and livestock farming by piloting low-carbon agriculture practices, including solar-based irrigation systems, micro-irrigation devices, optimised fertiliser and water use and crop diversification.

The programme also establishes small-scale community-based energy generation solutions. These provide access to clean energy for domestic and commercial uses such as off-grid micro-hydel projects (under one megawatt), which are owned and managed by communities.