October 24, 2015. The Government of Japan have concluded allocation of the budget of JPY596,000,000 (approx. USD 5.0 million by the rate 1USD=119JPY) to FAO for the “The Project for Improvement of Locust Management” in the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. During the meeting between H.E. Mr. Shinzo ABE, Prime Minister of Japan and H.E. Mr. Emomali RAHMON, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, two documents for the Project have been signed by the following persons. On the Exchange of Notes, Mr.Takayuki KOIKE, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Republic of Tajikistan and Mr.Viorel GUTU, FAO Representative in Tajikistan have signed. And on the Grant Agreement, Ms.Kae YANAGISAWA, Vice-President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the above FAO Representative have signed.
This project has been proposed by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan to Fifth Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in July 2014 in the frame work of “Central Asia plus Japan” dialogue and approved.
Employing about two out of every three people in the working population, agriculture is the primary means of livelihood in these three countries but accounts for only about 25 percent of the GDP in each, so improving agricultural productivity is a challenge directly linked to raising the standard of living for farmers and alleviating poverty.
One of the reasons for the low agricultural productivity is damage to crops by locusts that swarm periodically. Moreover, locust damage is increasing. In 2011, 158,000 hectares of farmland were damaged in Tajikistan and 227,000 hectares in Afghanistan, and in 2008, 163,000 hectares were damaged in Kyrgyzstan.
This project is for capacity development of responsible agencies in each country, also will be enhanced regional cooperation which is necessary for locust management due to its trans-boundary nature. Also this project has hard component with provision of equipment for monitoring and pest-control, including sprayers and vehicles. Important part of the project is risk reduction on human health and environment with pest-control operation.
The project would be expected to reduce damage by locust to agriculture product in Tajikistan and the above two countries.
