Improving Community Resilience through Sustainable Livelihoods in the Rasht Valley, Tajikistan

Tajikistan is the poorest country in Central Asia and is ranked 125 out of 189 in the 2020 Human Development Index. The country is vulnerable to regional geopolitics and economic shocks. Nearly 27% of Tajikistan’s GDP is dependent on personal remittances, and the sanctions against Russia due to the war in Ukraine have a tremendous negative impact on the economy.

The country is also highly vulnerable to natural hazards. Extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, avalanches, landslides recurrently destroy land, crops, infrastructure, and livelihoods. Climate change exacerbate these impacts. According to the International Panel for Climate Change, temperatures in Tajikistan will rise substantially from 1.8 °C to 2.9 °C by 2050. Hence, climate change will negatively affect water resources and have detrimental effects on the agricultural sector, the energy sector, the transportation infrastructure and public health. 

The Rasht Valley, located in the upper central region of Tajikistan, is one of the most vulnerable regions of the country from a socioeconomic and environmental perspective.

The most critical issues in Rasht include
i) deficiencies in the existing water and sanitation services;
ii) ineffectiveness of the agricultural system;
iii) low resilience to climate change and disaster risks;
iv) limited livelihood opportunities for women and youth;
v) and a lack of strong governance system that can provide an enabling environment for a vibrant, inclusive, and empowered civil society that works closely with the public and private sectors to achieve mutual goals.

Over the course of five years, the program will be implemented in 49 villages, benefiting around 32,000 people (including 16,000 females) in four districts in the Rasht Valley – Fayzobod, Roghun, Nurobod, and Sangvor. 

The state partners and institutions will benefit from the capacity building events (Committee for Environment Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, Committee for Emergency Situations, Ministry of Energy and Water Resources).

Outcome 1: Community members actively participate in the design, implementation, and feedback mechanisms of the local development processes.

Outcome 2: Communities have equitable access and equitably use vital services (such as water and sanitation, childcare services) which are effectively provided by public and private actors.

Outcome 3: Women and youth generate a sustainable income.

Outcome 4: Communities engage in management, regeneration and protection of their natural resources and adopt climate change disaster risk reduction measures and practices.

Risultati principali attesi:  

-    New local development plans for 49 villages based on watershed assessments are developed;

-    Five safely managed water supply systems and five sanitation service systems established;

-    Eight Early Childhood Development centres are established and access to affordable day care services is improved;

-    Women and youth have access to financial products;

-    An innovative Green House Gas emission tool is piloted and accredited for scale up;

-    Climate-smart agriculture practices introduced to increase agricultural productivity and build resilience to climate-change risks;

-    Four community disaster risk preparedness and response plans strengthened and Community Emergency and Rescue Teams established.

Coordination and synergies with government structures, local authorities, the EU, the World Bank, UN agencies and INGOs, civil society and the private sector will be ensured through existing decisionmaking platforms such as the Tajikistan Disaster Risk Reduction National platform and the Pasture Management Network. 

The collaboration with other Swiss-funded relevant projects (e.g. Weather, Water and Climate Services of Caritas CH) will be strengthened through peer exchange, sharing best practices and knowledge transfer.