Initial situation/Land use, sustainable agriculture, and value chains

The use of natural resources, especially farm land, pastureland and forests, shapes both socio-economic development and the state of ecological systems in Central Asia. Against the backdrop of growing land use conflicts, increasing climate volatility and the loss of traditional forms of land management, concepts of sustainable, biodiversity-preserving agricultural and land use are increasingly becoming the focus of scientific and development policy projects.

The projects listed in this section examine key issues relating to the interaction between land use, ecological functions and resilience. The Agriwanet project analyzes the effects of water scarcity and agricultural reforms on agricultural systems in five Central Asian countries. CROSSGRASS is dedicated to the spatio-temporal dynamics of grassland ecosystems under the influence of climate variability and political framework conditions. At the same time, practice-oriented projects such as JuniperCA or the project on walnut forest use in Kyrgyzstan focus on participatory approaches to sustainable management and resource use.

Particular importance is attached to projects on agrobiodiversity, which are being implemented in Tajikistan and Usbekistan, among other places, with the aim of preserving the genetic diversity of agricultural crops, promoting local adaptability and strengthening food security in the long term. In addition, this thematic area also includes projects that deal with the research of agricultural and forestry value chains. The focus here is on questions of sustainable use, processing and marketing of these chains. The aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of existing approaches to promoting environmentally friendly and economically viable production systems in the region.

Publications and information platforms

Publications

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Websites

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Projects

project name	duration	country	executive organisation	funding	objective
Conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity to improve regulating and supporting ecosystem services in agriculture production in Uzbekistan	2010-2015	UZB	State Committee of Nature Protection of Uzbekistan Republic, Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan Republic, Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of UzR, Institute of Genetics and Plant Experimental Biology of the Academy of Sciences of UzR, Bioversity International, (regional office for Central Asia, Tashkent)	GEF (Global Environment Facility)	Aims to increase area devoted to sustainably managed fruit tree diversity and enhance ecosystem services through greater use of biodiversity in water-scarce agricultural production systems.
Agriwanet	2014-2016	Central asia	Leipniz-Institut für Agrarentwicklung und Transformationsökonomie (IAMO)	Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)	Aims to investigate the complex relationships between water availability and land management in Central Asia in an innovative way.
CROSSGRASS	2018-2020	Central asia	Leipniz-Institut für Agrarentwicklung und Transformationsökonomie (IAMO)	EU Horizon 2020	The aim is to analyze the causes and extent of changes in the "greenness" of pastures in Asia's drylands, which is an important indicator of plant growth.
Integrative and Climate-sensitive Land Use in Central Asia (ILUCA)	2021-2024	Central asia	Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)	German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)	The aim is to better embed integrative land use concepts in all Central Asian countries and at regional level.
Promoting community-based management of walnut forests and pastures in South Kyrgyzstan	2018-2020	KGZ	Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)	German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)	Aims to incorporate a sustainable natural resource management model into the economic practices of southern Kyrgyzstan’s woodland-dependent communities, thereby assisting them in conserving the biodiversity they depend upon, adapting to climate change and increasing their income.
Ecological and economic development of the Aral Sea region	2020-2024	UZB, KAS	Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)	German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)	The governments of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are improving the cross-border, ecologically sustainable and economic development of the Aral Sea region.