The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) together with the State Forestry Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan organized a conference dedicated to the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.

The conference brought together officials from the ministries, international and public organizations and research institutes, who made reports and presentations on the implementation of the National Action Plan to Combat Dust and Sand Storms and Reduce Their Negative Impact, as well as the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

 It was emphasized that in 2023 Uzbekistan will be one of the first among the CIS countries to host a meeting of the Executive Committee of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought. At the same time the event summed up the results of the work done in 2017-2022 under the Central Asian Desert Initiative (CADI) project. In addition, the training on the economic valuation of desert ecosystems was held for stakeholders.

This year, the theme of the International Day Against Desertification and Drought “Rising up from drought together”, emphasizes the need for early action to avoid disastrous consequences for humanity and the planetary ecosystems. The number and duration of droughts have increased by 29 percent since 2000, as compared to the two previous decades (WMO 2021). When more than 2.3 billion people already face water stress, this is a huge problem. More and more of us will be living in areas with extreme water shortages, including an estimated one in four children by 2040 (UNICEF). No country is immune to drought (UN-Water 2021).

“We plan to hold a meeting of the working group on the measures set out in the National Action Plan to Combat Dust and Sand Storms and Reduce Their Negative Impact, where we will discuss in detail the work to be done in this area”, said Sobirjon Umarov, Head of the Department for Combating Desertification and Drought of the State Forestry Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Central Asian Desert Initiative (CADI) has been implemented in Uzbekistan by FAO since 2017 and is funded by the German government.

“Since 2017, the CADI project has been implemented to support and improve the living standards of the population of Bukhara and Navoi regions of Uzbekistan. In particular, more than 10,000 tree seedlings were handed over to the owners of household plots, 120 beneficiaries received small greenhouses, equipment for storing and processing milk, as well as for handicrafts (sewing). About 270 beneficiaries were trained in crop cultivation, greenhouse management, beekeeping, animal husbandry, milk processing, sewing and national crafts. And at today’s event, we conducted a training course on the implementation of methods for the economic valuation of desert ecosystem services for a wide range of stakeholders”, Nariman Nishanov, the National Coordinator of the CADI project in Uzbekistan noted.

The overall objective of the project on “Integrated Natural Resources Management in Drought-prone and Salt-affected Agricultural Production Landscapes in Central Asia and Türkiye” (CACILM-2) is to scale up integrated natural resources management (INRM) in drought-prone and salt-affected agricultural production landscapes in the Central Asian countries and Türkiye.   Over the past period, the project beneficiaries received more than 500,000 seedlings of fruit trees and grapes, 108 small greenhouses, more than 100 units of small agricultural machinery and equipment, and more than 100 tons of seeds of drought-resistant and salt-tolerant crops. In addition, 12 modern automatic agrometeorological stations were transferred to Uzhydromet and installed in the agricultural territories of Jizzakh and Kashkadarya regions.

“The overall goal of the project is to scale up integrated natural resource management through the expansion of sustainable management practices that minimize pressure and negative impacts on natural resources, reduce risk and vulnerability, and enable rural people to better cope with and adapt to drought and salinity”, said the National Manager of the CACILM-2 project in Uzbekistan Muhammadjon Kosimov.

UzA