Program objective

Within the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future Initiative, USAID’s Farmer Advisory Services in Tajikistan Program improves the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the Republic of Tajikistan by supporting an agricultural extension and advisory system in Khatlon Province and providing support for agrarian reform.

Activities

The U.S. Government Feed the Future Strategy for Tajikistan aims to better household food security by improving nutrition and increasing family income for people in the 12 districts of the Feed the Future geographic focus area in southern Tajikistan.

The Farmer Advisory Services in Tajikistan Program builds the capacity of local institutions and community-based organizations and supports completion of effective agrarian reform in that focus area of Khatlon Province and throughout Tajikistan.

Smallholder farms, whether run by households for themselves or as small commercial operations, are the main source of subsistence and cash income for most people in Tajikistan. Smallholder farmers need freer access to markets, improved inputs, including more land, assured irrigation water, and easier access to knowledge in order to operate their farms more efficiently and improve their livelihoods.

The program’s first component is designing and building capacity for an agriculture extension and advisory system. The extension system model, now undergoing development in several districts, assists smallholder and household farmers to increase and improve agricultural production for family consumption and sale. 

The second component builds capacity on national and Khatlon provincial government levels to improve the implementation of agrarian reform and development policies, making possible real positive change in rural people’s lives.