US-FUNDED AG PROGRAM PREPARES RASHT VALLEY FOR WINTER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001347

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PGOV EAID TI
SUBJECT: US-FUNDED AG PROGRAM PREPARES RASHT VALLEY FOR WINTER

REF: 08 DUSHANBE 735


1. (U) Summary: Econoff and USAID representative traveled to the
Rasht Valley town of Gharm, four hours northeast of Dushanbe, to
attend an agricultural exhibition organized by USAID grantee Mercy
Corps. The event highlighted Mercy Corps' efforts to help residents
increase food production and prepare for the winter by providing
inputs and training for greenhouse construction, canning, fruit
drying, and other skills. With food prices soaring and harvests
uncertain, these efforts play a vital role in improving food
security in a region that, even after the recent visit of President
Rahmon, remains both geographically and politically remote from the
capital. End Summary.

FFP PROGRAM HELPING GHARM RESIDENTS PREPARE FOR WINTER


2. (U) USAID/Food for Peace implementing partner Mercy Corps' work
in Gharm focuses on mother/child health and agricultural practices.
The mother and child health program offers a monthly food allotment
to mothers who agree to have a series of pre- and post-natal
check-ups and to take classes on nutrition and health. The primary
goal of the agricultural program is to help the region's residents
sustain themselves more effectively during winter by improving crop
yields and ensuring that a greater proportion of the yield is
available for consumption during the long winter. The Mercy Corps
program operates in six of Rasht District's 14 subdivisions,
reaching more than 4,500 beneficiaries a year. It focuses on five
strategies: greenhouse construction, composting, improved fruit
drying, canning, and the use of potato seeds.


3. (U) Mercy Corps staff and volunteers are teaching residents how
to work with potato seeds to prevent a repeat of last winter, when
potato stores were destroyed by the record cold temperatures,
hitting residents with a double-whammy: they lost an important
over-winter food source as well as the means of planting this year's
crop, which is usually done by planting potatoes from the previous
year. Using potato seed should free farmers from this vicious
cycle. Mercy Corps also helped build 2,700 greenhouses in Rasht.
They provided the plastic sheeting and technical advice while
residents obtained the other construction supplies and built the
greenhouses at their own expense. Using the greenhouses they were
able to significantly increase crop yields for tomatoes and
cucumbers, as well as extend the growing season. Most of these
vegetables were used for personal consumption.


4. (U) According to Mercy Corps' agricultural advisor in the valley,
residents benefited particularly from the improved drying and
canning techniques taught through the program. Mercy Corps provided
residents with 42,000 canning jars, but in a subsequent evaluation
discovered that the practice had spread widely, and some 126,000
jars were actually used. Additionally, some 99 tons of fruit -- the
Rasht ValleyQs main crop -- were dried for use over the winter, and
1,000 people were actively composting.


5. (U) The new techniques were highlighted in an agricultural
exhibition on October 22 in Gharm's House of Culture that drew
between 100 and 150 visitors. The event included speakers and
exhibits demonstrating the techniques. The Deputy Head of Rasht
District, Loiqov Qanoatshoh, spent the majority of his time praising
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, who had visited the valley earlier
in the month (reftel),for improving agriculture in the region, but
concluded by asking for more USG support. He said he would like to
see an additional 2,000 people engaged in agricultural production in
the district (whose population is over 90,000),and the construction
Qthe district (whose population is over 90,000),and the construction
of facilities for juice production and leather and wool processing.
He hoped to see the expansion of the program into Rasht's remaining
8 sub-districts (jamoats) as well.

BUT OUTLOOK REMAINS PRECARIOUS


6. (U) Food prices in Gharm, as in much of Tajikistan, are
significantly higher than last year. Residents said that a 50-kg
bag of flour sells for between 35 and 37 USD, compared to 16 USD
last year. (Econoff confirmed prices in the local market.) Despite
last winter's calamitous conditions, this year's harvests have not
been disastrous: Mercy Corps staff said potato yields have been
about average, or slightly below, while there was a bumper crop of
apples, for which Rasht is locally renowned. The pear crop mostly
failed this year, however. The addition of greenhouse-grown
vegetables and dried fruit has provided many residents with a hedge
against another bad winter. One animated beneficiary took the
microphone at the exhibition to boast that she had prepared some two
tons of fruit for drying. When asked whether she would sell the
surplus she laughed and said no, this would be her personal supply
of "glucose for the winter."

PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO GHARM: SHOWCASE OR DOG AND PONY SHOW?


7. (U) Travel from Dushanbe to Gharm took about four hours, along a
road being improved by Chinese laborers as part of an Asian

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Development Bank project. The first stretch of 100 kilometers from
Dushanbe to the town of Obi Garm is complete, while the remaining
100 km is mostly gravel and tattered asphalt. Several Chinese road
crews were at work near the approaches to Gharm, leveling the
roadbed and building small bridges.


8. (U) On the face of it, Gharm residents were enthusiastic about
the recent visit of President Rahmon. Several of those questioned
said they enjoyed the accompanying fireworks display and dance
performances, and were happy for the tractors and other supplies the
President brought. Some raised their eyebrows, however, at the
lavish production of the visit, wondering whether a contingent of
ambulances and a retinue of 7,000 visitors -- equal to the town's
population -- were really necessary.


9. (SBU) Comment: The Rasht valley is one of the poorer places in
Tajikistan and its resident struggle along with little support from
the government. Because of its history as a center of
anti-government sentiment, Gharm's economic conditions may have a
significance outweighing the town's status as a small regional
center. While the President pulled out all the stops to ensure a
successful and fanfare-laden visit this month, another bad winter
could leave the valley even further alienated. Both direct
beneficiaries and the regional leadership see the
Food-For-Peace-funded program as a success in providing sorely
needed support to the area. Local leaders pointedly asked what more
could be done to increase food security in the region. This modest
effort not only supports a vulnerable population; it also allows us
to monitor both the humanitarian situation in a remote part of the
country and to check the political pulse of a sensitive region.

JACOBSON