New book about Central Asian development
11.03.2015
“Agroforestry for Landscape Restoration and Livelihood Development in Central Asia,” a publication by the University of Central Asia and the World Agroforestry Centre, discusses how the adoption of agroforestry for ecosystem and livelihood improvement in Central Asian countries can be enhanced. First, it describes how previous and current developments led to changing environmental conditions, and how these changing conditions consequently affected the welfare of people.
Environmental issues on a global level, such as climate change, also threaten people’s livelihoods. Using examples from different Central Asian countries, and relying on interdisciplinary methods, the case for agroforestry is made as an option to rehabilitate and create environmental and social resilience.
Written by Dr Utkur Djanibekov, Klara Dzhakypbekova, Dr James Chamberlain Dr Horst Weyerhaeuser, Dr Robert Zomer, Dr Grace B. Villamor and Dr Jianchu Xu, the paper demonstrates that various agroforestry systems are suitable for various agro-ecological and socio-economic areas in the region. Finally, by identifying current constraints and revealing opportunities, it aims to inform and provide recommendations for policy and decision makers and researchers about the potential of applying agroforestry in Central Asia.
Central Asia consists of five landlocked countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – spanning an area of 4.0 million square km that include a wide variety of steppe vegetation, lake and river systems, alpine mountains and deserts. The region is home to over 59 million people whose socio-cultural adaptation to grassland and alpine ecosystem involving spatial arrangement of animal, crops, fodders, trees and water constitutes a highly specialized body of knowledge. Mobile herding is an important element of food-producing economies and steppe grassland management. Different groups often dispersed across the diverse agro-ecological zones for food, fodders and water, which resulted in the diversity in subsistence production for more than 2 000 years.
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Photo: Rob Brooks and Mariusz Kluzniak
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