Resource information
Decades of Soviet rule have left a heritage of environmental and social problemsin Central Asia. The demise of an entire ecosystem at unprecedented pace, the"Aral Sea Syndrome", is the most prominent of the undesired outcomes of thefocus on agricultural production that has dominated land and resource use andcontinues till today. The international outcry over this ecological crisis has delegatedother – and maybe more urgent – problems to a second pane. Rural livelihoodsare rapidly deteriorating, unemployment is high, and rural poverty widespread.Ecological aspects, although strongly affecting everyday life in rural areas – such aswater and soil salinity and environmental pollution – are not the fore most concernto the local population, as the economic survival is the more pressing need.Nevertheless, it is exactly in this situation where the larger part of the populationexploits the natural resources further rather than preserving the ecological basisas a natural means of the local land’s productivity.Since their independence in 1991, the five countries of Central Asia have dealtwith these challenges in different ways. Uzbekistan has opted for slow, gradualreforms, keeping a strong government control over agricultural production. Its agriculturalsector is still characterized by a dominance of state ordered crops, mainlycotton and winter wheat which are sold to state agencies. State control and thelack of land ownership, true privatization (land is leased, not owned) and skills arewidely seen as the major causes for the rural poverty and rampant environmentaldegradation. According to common opinion, the slow pace of reforms and thestrong government control have aggravated environmental degradation and socialproblems. Careful analysis shows that the real picture is more complex and lessstraightforward than a quick look at the system would suggest, however.It is here that the Center's for Development Research (ZEF) project on "Economicand Ecological Restructuring of Land- and Water Use in the Region Khorezm(Uzbekistan)" sees its role. In this rural economy the use of natural resources,economic performance and the related social dimensions are closely linked. Theinnovative approach of the project is to tackle the issues at stake with a stronglyinterdisciplinary approach. Economists, social scientists and natural scientists areworking together to analyse the on-going changes in land and water use, allowinga deeper insight into the causal change between land use, poverty and environmentaldegradation. The results of some of the individual research projects –some of them surprising – are the subject of this book and will provide the basis for recommendations and solutions for decision-makers that address the ecologicaldeterioration as well as its economic and social consequences. The project aimsat providing a comprehensive, science-based plan for restructuring, at three nestedintervention levels: Markets, policies and institutions, and technologies. Modellingwill assist in developing scenarios of different levels of resource use and providedecision makers with information as to the future consequences of the decisionstaken today.These concepts are being developed in a long-term scientific research programwith the ultimate goal of improving rural livelihoods through judicious and sustainableland and water resource management. There is a specific regional focuson the Khorezm district of Uzbekistan, and the main partner is the State Universityof Urgench (capital of the Uzbek region Khorezm). The co-operation is based onstrong links built with local partners and international agencies for technical cooperation.Most prominent in this context are the collaborative agreements withUNESCO and with the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources Managementof the Republic of Uzbekistan. The cooperation with both partners is essential,not least because they will further ensure a strong embedding in national policymaking and capacity building efforts.Khorezm is a district of the Republic of Uzbekistan, located in the irrigated lowlandsof the Amu Darya River, which is the major tributary to the Aral Sea. It isin many ways an example of all of the irrigated lands along the rivers that cutthrough the Middle Asian deserts – mostly flatland, former desert areas that areirrigated for hundreds – if not sometimes even thousands of years – which havebeen subjected to huge changes in the last 40-50 years by means of immenseirrigation projects that represent a very strong path dependency for today’s effortsto manage the resources in the region.From the outset the main donor of the project, the Federal Ministry of Educationand Research (BMBF) of Germany, understood that such a project can be developedonly with a long-term perspective. The project was laid out for 10 to 12years, structured into four phases of which the first two have been completed sofar. Phase I saw the establishment of central databases and infrastructure, andPhase II field surveys and trials for understanding institutions and processes,that allowed the development of simulation and optimization models. Phase IIIwill be dedicated to testing an integrated concept for restructuring land use in atypical area of the region, on-farm, which will lead in Phase IV to the developmentof policy recommendations and a contribution to informed decision makingby Uzbek policy makers, by the water administration, and by farmers.The present volume represents preliminary results of the research undertakenmainly in the social and economic realm during project phase I and part ofphase II. It combines the contributions from a workshop held at Bonn Universityin April 2005. Its intention is manifold: First it provides basic information related to ongoing changes in land and water use and thereby enhances the knowledgebase for judging the effects of further change. Second, it describes those researchtools which have been adapted by colleagues to become suitable for this regionin transition and for the given historical background. One other goal was toenhance the analytical capacity on the basis of which solutions and/or recommendationsare to be developed. As the articles are the result of phase I and, tosome extent, of phase II of the project, they are "work in progress".This book should be seen in the context of two forthcoming volumes: One on thediverse aspects of tree intercropping systems in the Central Asian regions, andanother that will provide an integrative view of the research undertaken in thefirst years of this project.We would like to thank all partners, and particularly our colleagues from Uzbekistan,for having made this book possible. Without the close cooperation in thisinternational, multicultural research team, the achievement would not have beenpossible. Most prominently we would like to thank Prof. Dr. Alimboy Sadullaev,Dr. Ruzumboy Eshchanov and Prof. Dr. Bahtiyor Ruzmetov from the StateUniversity of Urgench who have always supported this project unfalteringly andwith great enthusiasm and continue to do so.Furthermore, we would like to thank those who have helped in editing the text.In that respect the special attention given to this volume by our colleagueJennifer Franz is greatly appreciated. Thanks also go to Guzal Matniyazova,Elena Kan, and Vefa Moustafaev for their support and the provision and correctionof Russian abstracts. We finally would like to acknowledge the never failingefforts by Sandra Staudenrausch, Eva Niepagenkemper and Kirsten Kienzler withediting, formatting and endless bug-chasing. Without them, the edition of thisbook would have been delayed much more! And of course our most sincere thanksgo to Paul. L.G. Vlek, Director at ZEF, who initiated this project. Without hisguidance and support, his unwavering efforts for raising the necessary funds andhis readiness to always openly discuss the topics and problems of agriculture inCentral Asia, this book would never have been possible. Last but not least, wealso are greatly indebted to the BMBF for its continuous efforts to provide theproject funds, and we would like to thank especially Dr. Jürgen Heidborn andDr. Susanne Kieffer at BMBF, as well as Dr. Ingo Fitting from Project ManagementJülich for their never failing support.
