Tajikistan

Farmers in Tajikistan's poorest region will receive a USD 12 million boost from the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to help curb poverty, boost incomes and improve the lives of farmers in 250 villages. The initiative will target the Khatlon region, where more than two-thirds of the rural population is poor. Low productivity is common among Khatlon's farmers due to land degradation, limited credit, lack of irrigation facilities and poor access to technology and markets. The Khatlon Livelihoods Support Project seeks to organize farmers and provide them with improved technologies and finance infrastructure schemes. (UN News Service)