Central Asia Project
CAP
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Central Asia Project |
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The countries of Central West Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) have experienced economic stagnation and even regression since they gained independence from the former USSR in 1991. The 10 year period of transition from a centrally planned economy to market oriented economies was also characterized by several droughts, with the latest in the year 2001. These events have a lasting impact on a region where agriculture provides employment for one third of the population and produced 25% of the region's GDP during year 2000. Despite the agricultural potentialof the region, yields and production levels plummeted below those preceding their independence, and well below the world average. Shortages in food supply have become an issue in some of the countries. Collapse of institutional infrastructures and the loss of imports from the former Soviet Union are part of the reasons.
Other factors, like interannual variation of both precipitation and river water levels strongly affect production rates of a region that greatly depends on irrigated agriculture. The political changes triggered the emergence of small farms leading to changes in management requirements and also in land use patterns (from cereal monocultures to more diversified crops), land use intensity and consequently changes in the exploitation of natural resources. Problems triggered by these changes, not necessarily entirely new, such as salinization, waterlogging, soil erosion, and soil degradation in general contribute to a decline in productivity. Focal points of environmental issues depend on the local climate, topography, and the specific type of land use and land use practices.
Together, political changes, economic changes, and climate variations have had, and still have, a strong impact on the reduction of agricultural productivity. Reversing this trend requires an understanding of the controlling mechanisms. Disentangling the contributions of climate variation, changing land use practices, and improper soil and water management is a basic requisite towards an understanding of the mechanisms and for the assessment of agricultural potentials. To understand degradation of the natural resources caused by improper land use requires analysing the changes that occurred from the time of the Soviet Union to the present, considering parameters such as climate, hydrology, and changing land use techniques.
Issues on reduced agricultural productivity, and its triggering factors, become even more alarming against the background of a rapidly growing population that is expected to double by the year 2025. Together with a quickly developing industrial sector, they put an increasing pressure on the natural resources.
| Agriculture | Climate | Political and Demographic Information |
| Central Asia Archive | South West Asia Archive | Primary Archive Page |
| GIS image of the region (945 KB) | GTOPO30 DEM Image (350 KB) | Koppen Climate Map (1.4 MB) |
| Landsat TM Mosaic Data | MODIS Data | Central Asia NDVI Map |
| Fergana Basin ETM+ Image | Changing Vegetation Cycles |
