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 DUSHANBE 00001347 002 OF 002 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