About CGIAR

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is an association of public and private members supporting a system of 15 agricultural research Centers. They work in more than 100 countries to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve nutrition and health, and protect the environment in developing countries.

The CGIAR receives support from a wide range of countries and institutional members worldwide. The CGIAR conducts strategic and applied research and its products are international public goods. It focuses its research on problem-solving through inter-disciplinary programs implemented by one or more of its Centers, in collaboration with a full range of partners.

Introduction

Prior to independence and emergence of several republics in Central Asia and the Caucasus (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia, and Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the Caucasus), economies of these republics were inter-dependent within the centrally-managed economic system of the former Soviet bloc. In the then Soviet economic system, each of these republics had been specialized in producing a specific agricultural commodity - a component of the larger system, according to prevailing agro-climatic and biophysical resources. Some produced strategic goods, such as cotton in Uzbekistan, whereas others such as Kazakhstan were the breadbaskets. However, emergence of new geopolitical landscapes has led to disruption of earlier trade arrangements and economic linkages for production and distribution of farm products.

With the collapse of such arrangements, each republic has been left with the major task of developing their own independent economies, where agriculture continues to play an important role. Directly after the independence of the CAC countries from the Soviet Union in 1991, their economies shrank, incomes fell, poverty increased and food security became a major concern to all of these countries. The GNI (Gross National Income) per capita declined by an average of almost 50% between 1991 and 2000, compared with an average increase in other low and middle income countries over the same period. Since then, however, some of the countries have shown remarkable recovery – some due to market liberalization, as in Kazakhstan, but others even in the face of strong government interventions, such as the case of Uzbekistan (which has been dubbed the “Uzbek paradox”). The new challenge is that all the CAC countries are now drifting into different directions, some poor, and some richer, creating new tensions.

Production environments of the farming systems in Central Asia and the Caucasus have also undergone major changes in recent times. These changes have led to breakdown of large-sized “collective farms” into small private farm holdings, requiring a shift in research paradigm towards development of technologies and agricultural machines that are best suited for small farm households and production units.

Some of the major changes in the past that are affecting the agriculture in the region include conversion of cropped lands into virgin lands on 20 million hectares in northern Kazakhstan; introduction of irrigation in over 4 million hectares in the south of Central Asia; conversion of large government farms to small private farms - which made large farm machinery and cropping systems inappropriate, and replacement of alfalfa with winter wheat in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. These changes increased grain production, but resulted in adverse consequences on the system ecology and sustainability of agriculture vis-а-vis future rural livelihoods. The region has witnessed a rapid decline in livestock productivity over the recent decade. Livestock production has always been a flexible source of income for making timely investments for farm capital growth. Recent l ivel ihoods surveys conducted by ICARDA i n Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan indicate that farmers practicing mixed crop-livestock farming adopt the new technologies faster due to their flexibility and higher risk- bearing capacity.

It is observed that both the geo-political situation and the relatively weak information and communication base hinder to some extent the agricultural development in the region. Extension systems are inadequate and resource allocation to agricultural research is highly insufficient. One of the major issues is the long-standing isolation of researchers in Central Asia and the Caucasus from the international scientific community. This has caused a technology lag and prevented scientific exchange and transfer of economically viable and time-tested technologies in the region.

The Region
Countries Involved:	Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
Land Area:	410 million ha (256 m ha rangelands).
Environment:	Low/variable rainfall; extreme temperatures; mountain, desert, steppe landscape.
Attributes:	Diverse agriculture with high growth potential.
Economy:	In structural transition from centrally planned to market-driven with a consequent decline inliving standards.

Program Partners

The partners of the Program are eight National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) of the CAC region and the nine CG Centers, three Advanced Research Institutes (ARIs), donor organizations, NGOs and other international and national research and development institutions (Program Partners).

Program Strategy

The strategy of the CGIAR Centers in assisting agricultural research systems in the CAC region is to:

• Concentrate on high priority problems identified by the CAC-NARS.
• Operate in a collaborative mode.
• Focus on projects producing results that will have rapid impact.
• Strengthen NARS leadership capacity to build self-reliance.
• Strengthen linkages and levels of cooperation between CAC-NARS.
• Policy advocacy for enhanced support to agricultural research for development.

Expected Outputs

• Improved productivity and sustainability of key crop production systems that are critical for food security.
• Diversified of agricultural production systems and integrated feed and livestock production.
• Strengthened national seed production programs.
• Greater water productivity through improved irrigation, drainage, river basin management and on-farm water management strategies.
• Strengthened national plant and animal genetic resources programs, including crop, rangeland and forest resources, and domestic livestock.
• Recommendations for policy options to support national objectives in agrarian reform development during the transition towards market economy.
• Institutional strengthening through the establishment of national agricultural research strategies and program plans, and the necessary organization and management of national research systems.
• Strengthened human resources in the region through the provision of training, workshops, meetings and exchange visits. Capacity building of research organizations.
• Enhanced cooperation among agricultural research and educational institutions at the national and regional level and with other relevant regional and international organizations.