On Wednesday February 8, U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Elisabeth Millard attended a launch ceremony for the new $9.7 million Feed the Future Tajikistan Land Market Development Activity Project, according to the U.S. embassy in Dushanbe.

The ceremony was also attended by key stakeholders and other counterparts who make significant contributions to promote land use rights, including Rajabboy Ahmadzoda, Chairman of State Committee for Land Management and Geodesy of Tajikistan, as well as representatives from Parliament and the Government of Tajikistan, and the U.S. Embassy.  The project will continue through August 2020.

In Tajikistan, access to land is a fundamental right, and the productive use of agricultural land is a key economic driver.  Advancing growth in the agriculture sector holds the potential to reduce poverty and improve food security in rural areas of the country.

However, without a functioning land market, recent gains in land reform may stall as farmers are not able to obtain new land or sell land that they no longer wish to farm.  The Feed the Future Tajikistan Land Market Development Activity seeks to create a land market where farmers are able to buy, sell, and lease their agricultural land.  The project will also promote a simple and transparent land registration process with equal access and rights for men and women, and the project activities will be focused in the 12 districts of Khatlon.  The project will also work on building the capacity of local government officials, farmers, and other stakeholders, including civil society and land sector professionals, about newly adopted land reform regulations to foster greater transparency in land administration.

USAID supports the Government of Tajikistan’s agrarian reform effort to increase agricultural productivity through the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative working to: strengthen land rights; expand the availability of quality agricultural inputs; crop diversification; and market development.  The Feed the Future Tajikistan Land Market Development Activity supports the Feed the Future initiative, and continues USAID’s effort to support land reform and farm restructuring in Tajikistan, which began in 2004.