DUSHANBE, September 24, 2008, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan will be the first country in Central Asia to become participant of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) member, according to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
On Monday September 22, the Minister of Agriculture Qosim Qosimov met with a delegation of representatives the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and BCI.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Narzullo Dadaboyev, a spokesman for a MoA, said that participation of Tajikistan in the BCI program had been a major topic of the talks.
“At the first stage of Tajikistan’s joining BCI it is necessary to study the situation in Tajikistan’s cotton sector,” said the spokesman. “In this connection a two-day seminar with participation of representatives of the cotton sector, EBRD and BCI was launched in Dushanbe yesterday.”
The seminar is supposed to end with adoption of recommendations for the MoA on enhancement of the cotton sector in Tajikistan.
Cotton makes an important contribution to both the agricultural sector and the national economy. Cotton accounts for 60 percent of agricultural output, supports 75 percent of the rural population, and uses 45 percent of irrigated arable land. At the national level, it is an important source of both export earnings and tax revenue. Tajikistan is the world’s fourth largest exporter of cotton, and there is strong demand on international markets for its high quality product.
The Better Cotton Initiative has been established to respond to the impacts of cotton cultivation. BCI aims to promote measurable improvements in the key environmental and social impacts of cotton cultivation worldwide to make it more sustainable (economically, environmentally, and socially). BCI endeavors to initiate global change in the mass market, with long-term benefits for the environment, farmers and other people dependent on cotton for their livelihood.
