An integrated landscape approach to enhancing the climate resilience of small-scale farmers and pastoralists in Tajikistan

The Republic of Tajikistan is the most climate-vulnerable country in Central Asia. Extreme rainfall events have become more frequent and intense, the rainfall season has shortened in many parts of the country, air temperatures have risen markedly, and glacial melting is accelerating. As a result, hydrometeorological disasters such as droughts, floods, mudflows and landslides are more frequent and rates of soil erosion across the country are increasing. The socio-economic impacts of these changes are considerable: livelihoods, agricultural productivity, water availability and hydroelectricity production are all compromised.

The project aims to introduce an integrated approach to landscape management to develop the climate resilience of rural communities in Tajikistan. The project’s activities will focus in particular within one of the most climate-vulnerable river basins, namely the Kofirnighan River Basin (KRB).

The project has three components:

• Integrated catchment management to build climate resilience
• Ecosystem-based Adaptation, including Climate smart Agriculture and Sustainable Land Management, in agroecological landscapes
• Knowledge management on building climate resilience through integrated catchment management and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in the KRB