In February 2019, the European Union (EU) contributed with an additional 10 Million EUR to the Single-Donor Trust Fund for the rehabilitation of the water management and irrigation systems in the Zarafshon river basin area (Sughd province).
According to the EU Delegation to Tajikistan, the objective of the project, with a total EU funding volume of EUR 15.6 Million for the implementation period 2016 – 2021, is to improve livelihoods by enhancing food security through an increased production of agricultural products, and in generating additional incomes and strengthening the institutional framework of irrigation planning and its management in the Zarafshon River basin of Tajikistan. The beneficiaries of the project are Water Users Associations, dehkan farms and rural households, the Agency on Land Reclamation and Irrigation, as well as the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources.
Through the project, which has a coverage of some 30,000 hectares, it is expected that the water infrastructure in the Zarafshon river basin will improve, in notably covering some 21,000 hectares with water volumetric management systems, as well as cleaning and rehabilitating some 1.100 km of irrigation canals The project will also reabilitate13 water pump stations, 28 vertical wells, 58 water control structures, 5 irrigation and pipe networks, as well as 4 river bank protection sections. Finally, Water User Associations and the Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation will be strengthened through trainings for their staff.
Composed of 28 member nations, the European Union is the world’s largest aid donor. Tajikistan receives the main share of EU's bilateral assistance to Central Asia: €251 million for 2014-2020. During this period, the development cooperation between the EU and Tajikistan covers three key sectors: education – focusing on secondary general education and TVET, health – focusing on Primary Healthcare and Health Financing, and rural development – including support to agrarian reform, rural entrepreneurship, irrigation and water sector reform, as well as promoting natural resources management. The EU also supports reforms of the country's governance systems, trade policies and Public Finance Management.
Tajikistan also receives regional and thematic assistance in areas like border management, drug control, education, democracy and human rights, non-State actors, energy, transport, SME development, peace and stability, and water/environment/nuclear safety. The EU has been active in Tajikistan since 1992 and provides approximately EUR 35 million annually in development assistance in grants.
