Agriculture in Tajikistan

Tajikistan is a highly agrarian country, with its rural population at more than 70% and agriculture accounting for 60% of employment^[1] and around 20% of GDP in 2020.^[2] As is typical of economies dependent on agriculture, Tajikistan has a low income per capita: Soviet Tajikistan was the poorest republic with a staggering 45% of its population in the lowest income “septile” (Uzbekistan, the next poorest in the Soviet ranking, had 34% of the population in the lowest income group).^[3] In 2006 Tajikistan still had the lowest income per capita among the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries: $1,410 (purchasing power parity (PPP) equivalents) compared with nearly $12,000 for Russia.^[4] The low income and the high agrarian profile justify and drive the efforts for agricultural reform since 1991 in the hope of improving the population's well-being.

Tajikistan's agriculture is characterized by two farming systems determined by its geography, where potato and wheat farming, along with horticulture is taking place in the country's uplands, while irrigated cotton dominates in lowlands.^[2]

Agricultural output in Tajikistan is hampered by the relatively small amount of arable land, lack of investments into infrastructure, farm machinery, and equipment. ^[2] The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) laments the "lack of technical knowledge among small livestock holders, poor governance arrangements on pasture management, inefficient management of community livestock, shortage of feed during winter months, environmental degradation, and lack of access to good-quality fodder seed" as considerable obstacles to farming and livestock development as well.^[2]