The pastures are the backbone of livestock economy in Central Asia. The rational access to them and the robust system to maintain them is a joint responsibility of the government and the farming community.
The countries in Central Asia, as a rule, cooperate with each other and share their knowledge. This is one of the reasons why Central Asia is among the most cohesive regions in the world.
We are producing here a report published by Asia Plus news service of Tajikistan about the fate of the pastures in Central Asia including Tajikistan. It is informative and thought provoking.
The silent death of Tajikistan’s pastures
In Tajikistan, more than 70% of pastures belong to the richest people in the country, who do not allow other people’s livestock into their territory without rent. They do not care about the development of pasture lands and lead them to certain destruction, thereby causing great damage to the country’s food security.
The report was originally published by Asia Plus on 1 July 2024 at this link:
Unprotected shepherds
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in its new report identified the main cause of land degradation and declining agricultural yields in Central Asian countries. This is due to the conversion of pasture lands to crop production in order to improve food security and their privatization.
In the countries of the region, 60% of the territory is used for pastures, and cattle breeding provides food for most of the region’s population.
The report’s authors note that in Central Asia, the replacement of state management and oversight with privatization and industrialization of agriculture has left herders unprotected and dependent on scarce natural resources, causing widespread degradation. This also applies to Tajikistan.
Pastures have fallen into disrepair
According to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, 93% of large livestock and 82% of small ruminants belong to the population, but 70% of pastures belong to the richest people in the country, who do not allow other people’s livestock into their territory without rent.
There are 3 million 832 thousand 161 hectares of pastures in Tajikistan. They are located in the mountainous regions of the country and are winter, summer, spring-autumn and all-season.
In recent years, the area of high-quality pastures in the republic has been shrinking, and year after year it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain livestock. In many livestock-raising areas of the republic, there is a shortage of feed in winter. Shepherds face difficulties when grazing and moving livestock from one place to another.
Moreover, many of the lands marked on the Goskomzem map as pastures and cattle ranches became sites for the construction of rural housing.
Experts note that the main problem is the uneven distribution of pasture lands, their irrational use, and the deterioration of the natural state and productivity of the lands.
Owners of many pastures allow livestock in excess of the norm to obtain as much profit as possible.
The well-established scheme is as follows: shepherd entrepreneurs contact the owners, mostly without drawing up contracts, and verbally rent pastures. Due to the high rental price dictated by the owner, the shepherd collects as many livestock as possible. As a result, instead of the allotted, say, 100 cows, he brings 400-500 to the land.
This leads to excessive trampling of pasture plants, reduced pasture productivity and erosion of the top layer of soil.
Today in Tajikistan, according to industry experts, more than 80% of pastures are subject to degradation and erosion, their productivity has decreased by 2-2.5 times. This was confirmed by specialists from the Pasture and Reclamation Trust to the government newspaper Jumhuriyat at the beginning of 2024.
According to scientific recommendations, 1 cow or 5 sheep should be grazed on 1 hectare of pasture throughout the year.
As a result, as the authors of the UNCCD report put it, the “silent death” of vast grasslands threatens the climate, food and well-being of millions of people.
How to take away pastures from those in power?
To preserve and improve the efficiency of land in Tajikistan, the “Pasture Development Program for 2023-2027” has been adopted.
It states that “pastures in the republic are the main source of feed for meat breeds of cattle, yaks, sheep, goats and horses and account for more than 60-70% of their annual needs.”
Of the total pasture area, only 284 thousand 853 hectares, or 7.5%, are year-round, the rest of the territory is used for seasonal grazing.
According to statistical data, currently there are more than 2.7 million head of cattle and 7 million small ruminants in all forms of farming.
Compared to 1991, the number of cattle increased by 53%, horses – by 49%, small livestock – by 50%.
Under current conditions, the productivity of grasses of spring, autumn and winter pastures is reduced and amounts to only 1.5-2 centners.
Due to the lack of pasture grasses, from 10-15 to 25 percent of the live weight of small livestock is lost in winter. If you improve the condition of pastures and increase their productivity, then the rate of grazing can be increased by 2-3 times.
The World Bank notes that “Tajikistan’s forest cover was once 25% but is now down to just 3% due to overexploitation and uncontrolled grazing.”
The main goals of the Program are to increase the reserves of natural pasture vegetation using modern technologies and increase productivity to 15-20%.
The government sees a way out of the situation in public use of pastures. Among the expected indicators of the program are also the creation of commissions to regulate the use of pastures and the creation of pasture user societies at the level of towns and villages.
However, the question is: will these commissions be able to take away pastures from careless owners and place them under community management?
UN calls for protection of pastures and livestock
In turn, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD) points the way to restoration and better management of rangelands.
The report’s main recommendation: protect pastoralism, a mobile lifestyle based on the grazing of sheep, goats, cattle, horses, camels, yaks and other domesticated herbivores.
Pasture degradation is manifested by a decrease in soil fertility and nutrients, erosion, salinization, as well as alkalization and compaction of the soil, which impedes plant growth. All this leads to drought, rainfall fluctuations and loss of biodiversity both above and below ground.
The problem is largely due to the conversion of grassland to cropland and other land use changes associated with population growth and urban expansion, soaring demands for food, fiber and fuel, overgrazing and abandonment, and regulations that promote overexploitation of grassland.
To prevent the situation from worsening, the UNCCD calls on countries around the world to change the paradigm of governance at all levels – from grassroots to global.
The UN General Assembly has declared 2026 the International Year of Pastures and Pastoralists. The declaration calls on UN member states to invest in sustainable rangeland management, restore degraded lands, improve pastoralists’ access to markets, expand livestock extension platforms and fill gaps in knowledge about rangelands and livestock. /// nCa, 18 July 2024