Weather, water and climate services for resilient rural livelihoods and wellbeing in Tajikistan Project (WWCS)

Tajikistan is the most vulnerable country to climate change in Central Asia. According to the International Panel for Climate Change, temperatures in Tajikistan will rise from 1.8 °C to 2.9 °C by 2050.

Extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, avalanches, landslides recurrently destroy land, crops, infrastructure, and livelihoods. Climate change exacerbate these impacts. 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.

Livelihoods in Tajikistan, particularly in rural areas are highly dependent on agricultural production. However, the local communities in mountainous areas have low adaptive capacity to cope with negative climate impacts due to lack of resources, knowledge and adequate climate information to plan their agricultural production.

The country's hydro-meteorological services, designed to provide climate information for development planning, is under severe strain due to weak infrastructure and institutional challenges. 

Over the course of the four years about 690’000 persons from Rasht valley (districts: Lyakhsh, Rasht, Sangvor, Tojikobod, Nurobod)  and Eastern Khatlon (Muminobod, Khovaling, Kulob, Shamsiddin Shohin) will benefit through the project from WWCS-improved planning and risk management. Directly about 2’750 champion farmers will benefit from the project.

The state partners and institutions will benefit from the capacity building events (Hydromet, Committee for Environment Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, Academy of Agricultural Sciences etc.).

Outcome 1: Tajik Hydromet provides timely, effective and demanded weather, water and climate services.

Outcome 2: Farmers utilize WWCS to inform their decisions for effective agronomic practices, diversified crop mix associations and sustainable land management practices.

Outcome 3: Communities and authorities in target areas employ WWCS to manage risks from natural hazards;

Outcome 4: Governmental structures at all levels (national, oblast, district, jamoat) incorporate WWCS into their development processes.

Erwartete Resultate:  

• A dense network of 500 low-cost weather stations combined with citizen observations provides Hydromet TJ with the database to provide effective WWCS in target areas;
• Capacity of Hydromet TJ is strengthened to provide effective WWCS;
• Farmers (with a focus on women) in target communities have the capacity to apply WWCS-informed SLM and agronomic decisions;
• Improved market access for farmers ensuring the connections to the market exist;
• WWCS-based support for management of risks from natural hazards is established and available to communities and district authorities in target areas;
• Key actors in target areas have the capacity to employ WWCS for disaster risk management;
• Target communities have the capacity to take appropriate action ahead of hazard events;
• District development plans systematically integrate WWCS.

Coordination and synergies with a wide range of stakeholders including government structures, local authorities, the WB, UN agencies and INGOs, civil society and the private sector will be ensured through existing decision-making platforms such as the Tajikistan DRR National platform, the Water Supply and Sanitation network and the Pasture Management Network.

The cooperation will be further enhanced through participation in policy dialogues on national as well as local level.

The collaboration with other Swiss-funded relevant projects will be strengthened through peer exchange, sharing best practices and knowledge transfer.