Tajikistan Projects

Community Development In Tajikistan

The Global Partners Tajikistan Disaster Management Team is also involved in community development. During the Mill Project of 2005 we encountered a village in the Romit valley that had constructed a small hydro power station. They needed heavy electric cable to complete the project and were unable to purchase it themselves. The DMT met with the village and helped them obtain the cable they needed, providing the village with electricity for the first time in over 15 years. The team followed up by working on electricity safety education in the village to help them (and especially children) handle this new power in a responsible manner.

Global Partner’s office in Gharm specializes in agricultural development and medical training. 2010’s projects included:
• True Potato Seed: 20 Farmers participated in the Rasht District. This $15K TPS project is designed to grow seed potatoes over a three month process starting from botanical potato seed or true potato seed. The project is meeting a vital need for locally produced seed potatoes.
• Wheat Seed: 13 farmers participated in the seminars in the village of Safed Hok. The wheat seed project was designed to test varieties of wheat in the Rasht district and determine which variety has the biggest yield.
• Soil Testing: We finished up testing and reporting on 800 soil tests for the Rasht District. These soil tests are utilized by local farmers to properly apply commercial fertilizers to increase their crop yields.
• Moth Eradication Project: Five subdistricts: Tagoba, Kalai Surg, Boqui Rahim Zoda, Askalan, and Khoit. Pesticides were used to kill a particular moth that appeared in the Rasht District. This moth causes severe rashes and asthma attacks among young children.
• Community Health Projects: Over 250 children attended summer health camps that taught basic hygiene and polio awareness. 50 children benefited from school health screenings which focused on the general health of the children in the sub district of Askalan. Over 50 women participated in health seminars in homes around the village of Gharm. 50 Pregnancy Health Calendars were distributed to health professionals in the Rasht and Tojikibod districts. Almost 400 families benefited from health equipment donated to two local clinics in villages of Jafr and Kalanak. The entire region benefited from updated X-ray equipment and diabetes equipment that GP provided for the main regional hospital.

Facts About Tajikistan

  • Area: 143,100 sq. km.
  • Borders: Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
  • Arable Land: 6.52%
  • Natural Hazards: Earthquakes, Flooding, Landslides
  • Population: 7,627,200 (July 2011 est.)
  • Urban Population: 26% of total population (2010)
  • Infant Mortality Rate: 38.54 deaths / 1,000 live births (#65 in world)
  • Life Expectancy at Birth: 66.03 years
  • Literacy (age 15+ can read and write): 28.1% (Male: 43.1%; Female: 12.6%)
  • GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,000 USD (2010 est.)

More About Tajikistan:

The statue of the emperor Ismoili Somoni stands tall as the focal point of downtown Dushanbe. Erected in 1999 in the wake of communist rule and civil war, the statue represents an attempt for the Tajik people to recover their identity, unity, and history. Tajik history is a story of division and subjugation. The Somonian Dynasty of 1100 years ago is the last time in history that the Tajiks were unified as one people under one ruler. Conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, by the Arabs in the 7th century, and later on by the Turks and Mongols, the Tajik people have constantly been divided and conquered throughout history. The culmination of this pattern was when under Soviet rule the historical and cultural cities of Bukhara and Samarkand were placed in the Republic of Uzbekistan in order to divide the Tajiks and undermine any threat of ethnically-based nationalism.

Independence brought inner-divisions to the forefront in a five-year civil war. A peace accord in 1997 brought a conclusion to the fighting, but the divisions still remained. However, despite the difficulties, Tajikistan is using the years of peace to slowly rebuild its economy and infrastructure. Many obstacles yet remain, but with help from their global neighbors, Tajikistan is moving forward.