Resource information
Tajikistan, with 93% of its surface area taken up by mountains and 65% of its labor forceemployed in agriculture, is judged to be highly vulnerable to risks, including climate changerisks and food insecurity risks. The article examines a set of land use policies and practices thatcan be used to mitigate the vulnerability of Tajikistan’s large rural population, primarily byincreasing family incomes. Empirical evidence from Tajikistan and other CIS countries suggeststhat families with more land and higher commercialization earn higher incomes and achievehigher well-being. The recommended policy measures that are likely to increase rural familyincomes accordingly advocate expansion of smallholder farms, improvement of livestockproductivity, increase of farm commercialization through improvement of farm services, andgreater diversification of both income sources and the product mix. The analysis relies forsupporting evidence on official statistics and recent farm surveys. Examples from localinitiatives promoting sustainable land management practices and demonstrating theimplementation of the proposed policy measures are presented
