Developing Climate Resilience of Farming Communities in the Drought Prone Parts of Uzbekistan

Introduction

This project aims to develop climate resilience in farming and pastoral communities in the drought-prone Karakalpakstan region of Uzbekistan. The project will develop institutional and technical capacity for drought management and early warning, establish climate resilient farming practices on subsistence dekhkan farms, effect landscape level adaptation measures for soil conservation and moisture retention, and widely foster knowledge of climate resilient agricultural and pastoral production systems in arid lands. The project will improve climate resilience of more than an estimated 1,000,000 ha of land.

The frequent occurrence of drought, an overall trend of desertification of Uzbekistan’s poorest region, Karakalpakstan, places serious strain on water availability, and is causing a decline in land productivity and thus the ability of rural poor to withstand the current and future impacts of climate change. There have been considerable infrastructure investments in the agricultural sector and progressive reforms socially, but vulnerable farmers and pastoralists who reside in arid and marginal lands don’t benefit directly from these improvements. This project is designed to propel positive reform processes in climate adaptation, while also reaching out to the poorest and most marginal to provide urgent adaptation solutions.