WWCS - Scientific Backstopping related to the Weather, Water and Climate Services (WWCS) initiative for Increasing Resilience and Well-being of Rural Communities in Tajikistan

Tajikistan’s climatic conditions are challenging. With less than 10 % of national territory suitable for agriculture, food security is of persistent concern. 30 % of the population live below the national poverty line, inducing work migration that often leaves women and the elderly in charge of rural farms. Exacerbated by land degradation from deforestation and overgrazing, floods and landslides threaten lives and goods, especially in mountain areas. Rural communities are highly vulnerable to these events and to weather impacts on their agricultural production.

Engagement in the country since: 1996 Main partners: Committee on Emergency Situations and Civil Defense, Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Tajikistan, Agency of Hydrometeorology, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, Aga Khan Foundation, Swiss Confederation, Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF), World Meteorological Organisation Main donors: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), World Food Programme, Government of Liechtenstein, Leopold Bachmann Foundation, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), European Union, Deutsche Zusammenarbeit (BMZ)

Building on more than three decades of experience in Central Asia, ICARDA provides scientific backstopping to the Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Tajikistan, and more generally to the Ministry of Agriculture, in the generation of contextually relevant approaches for sustainable land and water use management; and evidence of outcomes attained through sound and judicious application of WWCS. The project will initially target the districts of Laksh and Muminabad and later expand nationally through effective engagement with national partners.

UPDATES

In 2022, the WWCS project of Caritas in Tajikistan received technical support from ICARDA’s Restoration Initiative on Dryland Ecosystems (RIDE) through the installation of water harvesting structures, irrigation systems, and planting of several varieties of diversified crops.