AKF has worked with local communities in Tajikistan to identify the poorest and most vulnerable households …

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

Food security and income generation initiatives supported by AKF include this potato storage facility in …

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

In Tajikistan, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) supplies machinery to harvest the potatoes, works with farmer …

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

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Tajikistan | Agriculture and Food Security

Tajikistan’s economy is largely dependent on agriculture, which accounts for half of total employment and cultivates the country’s 850 thousand hectares of arable land. Lack of productive land, limited access to quality agricultural inputs and capital, low nutritional and agricultural knowledge, and unavailability of productive infrastructure leads to food insecurity and threatens livelihoods.


As of 2020, the Ministry of Trade found that 26 percent of households in the country were food insecure, contributing to high levels of child stunting. Food security is expected to worsen in light of rising food prices, limited access to agricultural inputs and remittance decreases resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges will be compounded further by climate change, affecting high-altitude communities in particular.


326,000

We have supported 326,000 farmers to adapt to climate change, seize economic opportunities and mitigate physical hazards

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Aga Khan Foundation

Through the Mountain Societies Development Support Programme (MSDSP), the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) aims to ensure tangible food security, agricultural development and natural resource management, with special emphasis on the needs of rural communities in mountainous and resource-poor areas. By supporting sustainable, locally adapted interventions, AKF and MSDSP are contributing to better household nutrition and food security. Since 2014, we have supported 326,000 farmers to adapt to climate change, realise greater economic opportunities and mitigate risks in disaster-prone areas. Recognising that investments in household food security do not always translate into adequate dietary diversity and intake for women and children, we integrate nutritional interventions to address maternal and child malnutrition.


Spatial Poverty


AKF addresses spatial poverty through the development of productive assets, including irrigation channels, greenhouses, animal sheds and storage facilities, under AKF’s regional Central Asia Poverty programme. This includes a significant targeted effort to address nutrition education and support, as well as the establishment of Agricultural Input Revolving Funds, the development of new agricultural land, the improvement of land fertility and soil quality and the increase in access to machinery.


AKF and MSDSP are contributing to better household nutrition and food security, while supporting 300,000 farmers to adapt to climate change.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

Rural Infrastructure

AKF and MSDSP continue to catalyse investments in community-prioritised local and cross-border rural infrastructure, supporting food security and critical supply chains. This includes cash-for-work initiatives and community support to repair and maintain irrigation channels, as well as to build and improve market rural roads, bridges, irrigation systems and storage facilities.


Over the past six years, we have constructed or rehabilitated 1,600 rural infrastructure projects, enhancing food security and famers’ access to markets in some of Tajikistan’s most remote mountain communities.


To raise incomes, AKF is supporting farmers like this one in Tajikistan to diversify their crops by planting orchards.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

Farm Livelihoods and Natural Resource Management

MSDSP aims to increase crop diversity, yields, quality and nutritional value; promote effective agroforestry, water and livestock management; and bring technologies and best practices to public institutions, private service providers and rural communities.


For example, establishing 137 agricultural input revolving funds has given 17,684 smallholder farmers (over half women) sustainable access to high-quality agricultural inputs, including seeds and fertiliser.


AKF improves local livestock breeds by facilitating quality fodder seeds through Agriculture Inputs Revolving Funds, strengthening the capacity of farmers and enhancing the quality of veterinary services and animal sheds.


A forest planted by the Aga Khan Foundation and the Mountain Societies Development Support Programme (MSDSP) with support from the local community in Roshtqala district, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), Tajikistan.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

Climate Change Adaptation

AKF adapts farming systems to the changing climate. Our focus on new techniques and inputs includes identifying appropriate seed varieties and water management innovations. The University of Central Asia’s (UCA) Mountain Societies Research Institute complements these interventions with research and analysis to determine the most resilient, climate-smart techniques and technologies appropriate for different contexts.


To build local capacity and sustainability, AKF and UCA engage local research institutions such as the Pamir Botanical Institute, Kulob Botanical Garden and Khorog State University.


We reduce 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. We also promote and support initiatives on renewable energy production, green technologies and energy efficiency in households and in public institutions. AKF and Pamir Energy have initiated the establishment of the AKDN Energy Plus working group in Tajikistan to develop collaboration between various AKDN agencies.


Donors and Partners


Funding



  • AKF

  • European Union

  • United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

  • Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

  • Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

  • The Christensen Fund (TCF)

  • German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO)


Government



  • Ministry of Energy and Water Resources

  • Ministry of Agriculture

  • Local Authorities

  • State Science Institutes - Horticulture, Soil and Livestock


Others



  • ACTED

  • Sarob

  • Camp Kuhiston

  • Water User Committees

  • Pasture User Unions

  • Producer Groups

  • Village Technology Groups