The European Union (EU) Delegation to Tajikistan notes that in times of interrupted regional and global value chains and rising food prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the necessity of producing and processing food items in Tajikistan reaches another level of urgency.
Simultaneously, the country and its economy reportedly face significant effects of the changing global climate which exacerbate existing challenges in agriculture and water management. The latter concerns particularly the degradation of natural resources through soil erosion, floods and decrease of productive arable land. The annual mean temperature of the country has increased by 0.5°C per decade in the last 30 years. Extreme weather events such as heat periods, heavy rainfalls, and late frost in spring occur more often and cause crop and harvest failure in different regions. Moreover, the risk of animal and plant diseases is rising. Projections show that these climate trends will continue and intensify in the following years and decades, thus jeopardizing the performance of agrarian businesses in the Republic of Tajikistan.
To better prepare for and adapt to climate change, strengthening and building the capacities of the people is crucial. GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), through its Integrated Rural Development Project/TRIGGER conducted a series of Training of Trainers on Climate Change Adaptation between March 9 and April 1, 2022. The project is co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Three trainings conducted in Dushanbe, Panjakent and Vahdat (Romit) reportedly focused on developing the knowledge and skills of project implementing partners, village advisors and agronomists to raise farmers’ awareness on climate change and integrate adaptation measures, particularly in the Zarafshon and Rasht valleys. Moreover, they learned different methods for transferring the knowledge and skills into their organization and to their target groups. The content and methodology of the training builds on the Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Planning course.
The fourth training in Guliston aimed specifically at enhancing the understanding of implementing partners, their partner companies and relevant service providers about climate change and its negative and potentially positive effects on businesses. They learned how to identify risks and opportunities for companies and develop and implement strategies to prepare for climate change. The concept is based on the Climate Expert Tool developed by GIZ
All four Training of Trainers are part of the GIZ’s capacity-building initiatives including coaching of the newly trained trainers in their working environment and exchange and learning formats in summer. Furthermore, a training for climate change adaptation leaders starts in the second half of 2022 on advocating the relevance of climate change for businesses at the national level. Through trained multipliers, the project strives to reduce the vulnerability to climate change of farmers, producer groups and small and medium-sized businesses along selected value chains and increase their adaptive capacities to climate change.
The Integrated Rural Development Project (IRDP)/ GIZ “Towards Rural Inclusive Growth and Economic Resilience (TRIGGER)” is a joint project of the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to boost the added value of agricultural production in Tajikistan.
IRDP/TRIGGER aims to boost added value of agricultural production in Tajikistan. The project Output 2 and 3 – Strengthening Productivity of Selected Value Chains and Market Development and Export Readiness – aim to improve the technical and entrepreneurial competencies of smallholder farmers to advance farm productivity and the quality of farm produce in value chains such as apricot, apple and potato. Moreover, the project will improve export readiness, business skills and inclusive commercial relationships of downstream small and medium enterprises with producing smallholders. The competitiveness of local products will be increased, and the access to domestic and foreign markets will be strengthened. Across, the project will enhance knowledge, skills and actions on climate change adaptation and conserving biodiversity.
