| Project Detail |
Project Name Resilient Livelihoods and Empowerment of Rural Women Project Project Number 54111-008 Country / Economy Tajikistan Project Status Approved Project Type / Modality of Assistance Grant The project will address the vulnerabilities, and improve the livelihoods of rural women in the Khatlon province by strengthening their employability, agriculture productivity, and response to gender-based violence. The focus will be on women farmers with household gardens (less than 1.3 hectares of land), with many of them also engaged as mardikors. The project will (i) improve womens agricultural skills for improved production, (ii) promote womens role in the agriculture value chain through social entrepreneurship, and (iii) enhance employment readiness of women agricultural workers to improve household incomes and reduce food insecurity. This will lead to an economic empowerment of women farmers and female youths for resilient, climate adaptive, and sustainable livelihoods. Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has adversely affected Tajikistans economy as the 7.5% growth reported in 2019 dropped to 4.5% in 2020. Since 2010, Tajikistans agriculture sector experienced volatile but strong average growth rates of about 6% each year. It accounts for more than half of the countrys total employment and contributed around 22% to the gross domestic product in 2020. About 70% (over 6.5 million) of the Tajik population (9.5 million) live in rural areas where small-scale household farming is the major source of household income. Improving the countrys agricultural productivity is critical to advancing overall economic growth, reducing poverty, and improving food security. Tajikistans exposure to climate change impacts is one of the highest in Central Asia. Droughts, in combination with heat stress and the increased water demand for key crops, will further reduce agricultural yields. Rural women will be disappropriately affected by climate change impacts as their main source of income and livelihood stems from agriculture activities. Tajikistan faces high levels of food insecurity. In 2021, about 21% of the total population was food insecure. Undernourishment rates are high (30% in 2017), with a disproportionately high percentage of undernourished women. There is a well-established link between food insecurity, sexual violence, exploitation, abuse, and child marriage. When scarcity over food and water increases, community conflicts tend to rise as well, with women and girls being at much higher risk of violation of their rights. Food insecurity is expected to even further increase because of the limited capacity to respond to climate-induced shocks that will adversely affect agricultural production. Women also often bear the brunt of coping mechanisms in food insecure households, by skipping meals altogether, eating less nutritious food or smaller portions. According to the latest data from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, 14% of women aged 15-49 years reported that they had been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former partner within a year in Tajikistan. Between January to September 2022, more than 6,000 cases of domestic abuse were reported to one crisis center in Bokhtar, Khatlon province. The countrys agriculture-based economy is highly dependent on female labor. High rural male outmigration of around 40% has resulted in increased women participation in various facets of agriculture. Two-thirds of women in Tajikistan are engaged in the agriculture sector but many work in precarious conditions as informal agricultural workers. |
