Enhancing productivity, food security, and equity in Tajikistan through improved irrigation services
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The document outlines a USAID-commissioned research project aimed at enhancing productivity, food security, and equity in Tajikistan through improved irrigation services from 2014 to 2018. It discusses the evolution of Water User Associations (WUAs) established to improve irrigation for local farms, highlighting preliminary findings on their impact on agricultural productivity and conflict reduction. Recommendations for future investments include improving market linkages, expanding input supply, and ensuring irrigation services meet the needs of diverse farming conditions.
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Enhancing productivity, food security, and equity in Tajikistan through improved irrigation services
- 1. Enhancing productivity, food security, and equity in Tajikistan through improved irrigation services Soumya Balasubramanya, Marie-Charlotte Buisson, Panchali Saikia, Katherine McDonald, Sohrob Aslamy, Ted Horbulyk, David Wiberg
- 2. USAID-commissioned research project • Research duration: 2014-18; Budget: USD 1.5 m – USAID Feed the Future Program created WUAs in S. Tajikistan from 2010-14 – FTF is now supporting development of National Policy for WUAs • Two purposes for this commissioned research: – Providing evidence to USAID for policy-making: • Examine improvements in irrigation service delivery AND agricultural productivity justify supporting WUAs – Filling in knowledge gaps for guiding USAID’s future policies and investments in agricultural value chains
- 3. Tajikistan: a brief background • 70% of people live in rural areas; 49% below the poverty line • Agriculture: 46% of employment; only 21% of GDP scope to increase productivity and reduce poverty • Soviet days: collective farms irrigated by Vodkhoz; cultivated cotton (district irrigation department) • After independence: collectives broken into dekhan plots; but water management body to distribute water between farms
- 4. Evolution of WUAs • WUAs created to fill in the gap: primarily serve dekhan farms; but also provide water to homestead gardens • USAID Feed the Future (2011-14) – 12 districts of Khatlon – 60 WUAs on gravity schemes – Other WUAs created by government – Encouraging farmers to diversify
- 5. Preliminary results for strengthening WUAs • USAID WUAs improved irrigation services for dekhan farms • Improved timeliness of water delivery • Reduced conflicts between farms served by the same canal • USAID WUAs may be bringing about modest improvements in productivity and diversification for dekhan farms – More crops per year grown on farms – Crop yield impacts are mixed • To increase resilience of WUAs: – Resolve R & M division between stakeholders – Clarify nature, levy, purpose of irrigation fees; WUA fees
- 6. Preliminary results for future investments and policy • To support USAID’s goal of improving market linkages beyond cotton – Crops for sale are mostly high-value (fruits, vegetables); crops for self consumption mostly staples (wheat) – Increase number of input suppliers – Increase types of inputs available (seed, fertilizer) – Improve extension services – Design output markets that provide fair prices without increasing transaction costs • To enable irrigation services to be responsive to changing conditions – Meeting the requirements of female farmers – Mainstreaming irrigation for multiple production systems.
- 7. Publications • Soumya Balasubramanya, Marie-Charlotte Buisson, Panchali Saikia, Katherine MacDonald, Sohrob Aslamy, Ted Horbulyk, Corrie Hannah, Murat Yakubov and Alexander Platonov. May 2016. Impact of Water Users Associations on Water and Land Productivity, Equity and Food Security in Tajikistan. Baseline Technical Report. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute. • Marie-Charlotte Buisson, Katherine MacDonald, Panchali Saikia, Soumya Balasubramanya, Sohrob Aslamy, Ted Horbulyk. May 2016. Impact of Water Users Associations on Water and Land Productivity, Equity and Food Security in Tajikistan. Mid-term Technical Report. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute. • Contact: Dr. Soumya Balasubramanya [email protected]