The World Bank has approved $58mn in grant financing from the International Development Association (IDA) for the Strengthening Resilience of the Agriculture Sector Project in Tajikistan, the institution said in a statement. 

The project aims to contribute towards a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector. The sector provides the vast majority of employment for Tajik citizens outside of migrant work in Russia. Specifically, the project will support the development of viable seedling, seed and planting material systems to ensure the availability of locally adapted and climate resilient varieties of inputs for priority crops. 

“Planting the seeds for a sustainable, more productive, climate-resilient, and inclusive agricultural sector should allow for a harvest of economic growth, food security, nutritional quality, rural employment, and steadier incomes,” said Jan-Peter Olters, World Bank country manager for Tajikistan. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to continue modernizing the sector to ensure that farmers and everyone else working in rural economies continue earning income, root causes of seasonal poverty are addressed, and families can rely on access to affordable, nutritious food.”

The project will engage with research institutions associated with the Tajikistan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Tajik Agrarian University in order to boost longer-term capacities in research and the development of technologies for climate adaptation.

“In parallel, the project will provide support to efforts to strengthen the capacity of select public institutions for crisis prevention and management. The priority areas for capacity-building include real-time monitoring of agricultural production and agrometeorology, soil testing for improved soil fertility management, and crop protection and locust control,” the statement added.