During the past two decades agrarian (‘land and farm’) reforms have been widespread in the transition economies of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA), following earlier ones in Asia (China and Vietnam). However, independent family farms did not become the predominant sector in…

The Emergency Irrigation Rehabilitation Project (EIRP)-UTF/AFG/035/AFG started in April 2004 and concluded in December 2011. The project was funded by the World Bank (WB) through one credit and three grants provided to the Government of Afghanistan (GoA) for implementation through the Ministry…

This issue of Caravan describes the new program, and some of the research innovations it will build on. The issue begins with two ‘opinion pieces’ by scientists from partner organizations in the CRP. They share lessons learnt from past successes (and failures), and ideas that could be applied to…

In this article we investigate the potential for and limitations of land consolidation as a tool for rural development in transitional environments, focusing on the Khorezm region in Uzbekistan, Central Asia. We frame our analysis in a broader evaluation of land consolidation as a tool for…

In the scope of the European Union water initiative for developing countries, the research programme RIVERTWIN (A Regional Model for Integrated Water Management in Twinned River Basins) was initiated for three river basins, Neckar in Germany, Ouémé in Benin Republic and Chirchik in Uzbekistan.…

Attention to land degradation and environmental pollution has increased significantly in the past 25 years, largely due to greater levels of international cooperation and recognition that local changes in land resources have global impacts. As the world’s focus on climate change increases, so,…

In recent years, prices of agricultural land have increased quickly, actually doubling and tripling in many parts of the world. This land value reassessment has been prompted by rising crop prices and perceived land scarcity. But even as the value of land rises, land degradation continues and…

Inefficient irrigation and the excessive use of water on agricultural land in the Aral Sea Basin over several decades have led to saline soils. The main objective of this paper is to identify the environmental predictors to model the spatial distribution of soil salinity in a highly irrigated…

Irrigated agriculture is widespread in the Central Asian drylands and important for food security of the region. However irrigation practices based on rules made for cotton production on large units do not provide adequate guidance for the now widespread small farms that produce cotton wheat and…

An intensive process of land deterioration of some regions in Uzbekistan including the Aral Sea basin has led to a significant increase in soil salinity levels and consequently to a considerable reduction of total fertile soil area, as these lands are of little use for plant growth. The area is…

Salinization of irrigated agricultural land threatens ecological sustainability and livelihoods of people. Salinization is especially severe in the dry lowlands world-wide and in Central Asia where large amounts of salts accumulated in the soil profile, originating from shallow saline…

Land degradation of agricultural areas in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, specifically due to soil salinization, has resulted in significant declines in agricultural productivity. This study builds upon previous limited work on 'Bright Spots' by focusing on specific farming enterprises in…