Climate change: Tajikistan’s agricultural output suffers 50% decline

President Emomali Rahmon has warned of the severe impact of climate change on Tajikistan’s food security, noting that in 2025 the yields of several agricultural crops have fallen by almost fifty percent.

He described this as a direct consequence of increasingly intense climatic processes, whose effects across the region have become impossible to ignore.

Speaking at the seventh Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in Tashkent, Rahmon stressed that the climate agenda is becoming a central pillar of regional cooperation.

Tajikistan which is made up of 93% mountainous terrain, faces annual landslides, floods, droughts and avalanches — disasters that cause casualties and inflict significant damage on infrastructure.

Rahmon points out that rapid retreat of glaciers as one of the most alarming trends; Tajikistan is home to more than 13,000 glaciers that generate around 60% of Central Asia’s water resources.

However, over the past years more than 1,000 glaciers have already disappeared. This, he noted, directly affects food security, access to water and the stability of regional ecosystems, making climate challenges an urgent matter for international cooperation. Tajikistan is actively promoting global initiatives on water and climate and aims to remain one of the key drivers of efforts to find sustainable solutions for the region.

Findings from the new Global Drought Outlook report, prepared under a UN initiative, reinforces Dushanbe’s concerns: Central Asia is identified as a region with rapidly growing climate vulnerability, facing intensifying droughts and shrinking glaciers.

For Tajikistan however, this presents additional risks to both energy and agriculture. More than 90% of the country’s electricity is generated by hydropower, but summer droughts reduce river flows precisely during peak demand. Low water levels following snow-poor winters prevent reservoirs from replenishing, jeopardising energy security.

In agriculture, the dire situation is aggravated by ageing irrigation infrastructure with over half of the country’s 14,000 kilometres of canals requiring major reconstruction.

Despite the scale of the challenges, Tajikistan is already implementing a set of measures to reduce land and water vulnerability.

Under the CACILM-2 programme (the Central Asian Countries Initiative for Land Management), aimed at disseminating advanced sustainable land-management practices and combating desertification, the country’s share amounts to nearly USD 1.5 million.

Across rural areas, fruit and grape nurseries are being established, greenhouses with drip irrigation installed, freshwater storage facilities constructed in drought-prone zones, and remote sensors deployed to monitor water sources in real time.

The country is also testing drought-resistant crops and agroforestry techniques. Since 1997, Tajikistan has been an active participant in the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, seeking to adopt resource-efficient technologies and climate-adaptation solutions.

Officials emphasise that these efforts are designed not only to stabilise the current situation but also to build a foundation for long-term food resilience — a priority that is becoming ever more urgent as climate change accelerates.

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