CACILM Multicountry Partnership Framework Project Document

Abstract

Land degradation1 is one of the greatest challenges facing the Central Asian countries (CACs) of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The loss of land productivity over the past two decades due to unsustainable land-use practices not only directly affects the well-being and livelihoods of one-third of the combined population of these countries, it has also resulted in large losses of foreign exchange earnings and threatens national food security. The situation is equally serious from an environmental viewpoint. The CACs contain unique dryland, mountain and riparian ecosystems of importance to global biodiversity. These are being degraded and lost as rural populations become more desperate to sustain their livelihoods and as a result of policies favoring unsustainable agricultural practices. Significant further progress in poverty reduction and natural resource conservation in the CACs will rely to a large extent on their ability to achieve growth in the agricultural sector—a major contributor to CAC economies—and, hence, on attaining sustainable land management (SLM).