Reaching Tipping Point? Climate Change and Poverty in Tajikistan

Published 18th February 2010 - 2 comments - 1498 views -

New Oxfam report says retreating glaciers and more extreme weather like droughts and floods could dangerously erode food security, livelihoods and even regional stability by 2050

The people of Tajikistan, many already feeling the strains of climate change, will be increasingly afflicted by deepening symptoms over the next 40 years unless immediate action is taken to mitigate the effects, according to a new report released today by Oxfam.

The report, Reaching Tipping Point? Climate Change and Poverty in Tajikistan, says that the country‘s glaciers, mainly found in its Pamir Mountains that make up part of the Trans-Himalayan range, are retreating and could lead to greater water shortages and potential disputes in the wider region in the future.

The painful blow of climate change has been sharply felt in rural areas of Tajikistan, where 1.4 million people are already food insecure, in recent years. Last summer’s good rains brought some relief to rural communities across Tajikistan that had previously suffered from three consecutive years of drought, failed harvests and one of the harshest winters on record. But the long-term trends are clear – and ominous.

Some key data disclosed in the report:

   - There has been a rise by 1.0-1.2 degrees C in parts of the country over the past 60 years
   - The number of days per year the temperature has reached 40 degrees C has increased
   - Droughts will likely be more intense and frequent in the future; in 2008 Tajikistan suffered one of its worst droughts on record while the winter of 2008 saw temperatures of minus 20 degrees C for more than a month, causing serious crop loss
   - According to cited scientists, 20 percent of the country’s glaciers have retreated and up to 30 percent more are likely to retreat or disappear by 2050
   - Fedchenko Glacier, the country’s largest, has melted at a rate of 16-20 metres per year
   - The consequences of climate change could overstretch many countries’ adaptive capacity in the region, contributing to political destabilization and triggering migration

The report is based on interviews conducted in the Vose, Fakhor, and Temurmalik rural areas of the Khatlon region bordering Afghanistan in the country’s south. Oxfam helps poor farming communities cope with increasingly frequent droughts, flooding and other disasters throughout Khatlon, known as Tajikistan’s ‘bread basket’ during Soviet times. Additional interviews were conducted in the Ferghana Valley agricultural areas of Spitamen and Ganchi in the Sugd region of northern Tajikistan. Seventy percent of the Tajik  population live in agricultural areas – there are very few other means to a livelihood outside the capital – the majority in Khatlon and Sugd.

Full report available in English here (pdf)

Category: Climate Reporting, | Tags: oxfam, climate change and poverty, tadjikistan, food security livelihoods,

This article is archived. Comments are closed.

Adela
Earth
Independent (Copy)writer

I write for a living. I take photos for fun. I tell stories for having a story to live by.

View all posts

Often imitated. Never duplicated. TH!NK ABOUT IT is a project by the European Journalism Centre.