J.3_IEE_Asia_15-010_Programmatic.pdf

li'iUSAID ~ FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Asia 15-010

PROGRAMMATIC INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION (P

IEE) for Feed the Future Tajikistan Project

Title of Activity:

Objective:

Program/ Activity Title :

Program Area:

Feed the Future (FTF) Tajikistan Project Objective 3 Objective 4/ Economic Growth

FTF Tajikistan Project

3.1. Health

4.5 Agriculture

4.6. Private Sector Competitiveness

Program Elements/sub-elements:

3.1.6. Maternal and Child Health

3.1.7. Family Planning and Reproductive Health

3.1.9. Nutrition

4.5.1. Agricultural Enabling Environment

4.5.2 Agricultural Sector Productivity

4.5.2.8. Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture

4.6.1 Business Enabling Environment

4.6.2 Private Sector Capacity Building

Country/Region: Tajikistan/Central Asia

Funding Period: FY2014 - FY2020 Resource Levels/Amount(s): USD 70, 000, 000.00

Statement Prepared by:

Date:

IEE Amendment? Yes No X

A viva Kutnick, Agriculture Development Officer December 9, 2014

DCN of Original IEE: n/a PERSUAP: Programmatic PERSUAP for Tajikistan approved on May 20, 2011; and Programmatic PERSUAP Update approved on April 6, 2013

Environmental Media and/or Human Health Potentially Impacted (check all that apply):

None o Air~ Water~ Land~ Biodiversity~ Human Health~ Other~

Environmental Action(s) Recommended (check all that apply):

~ Categorical Exclusion(s) ~ Initial Environmental Examination:

Negative Determination: no significant adverse effects expected regarding the proposed activities, which are well defined over life of activity. IEE mho Typewritten Text mho Typewritten Text mho Typewritten Text mho Typewritten Text

mho Typewritten Text mho Typewritten Text mho Typewritten Text mho Typewritten Text mho Typewritten Text mho Typewritten Text mho Typewritten Text prepared:

1Z1 With conditions (special mitigation measures specified to prevent unintended impact) for activities listed in Sections II - VI of Table 2.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ACRONYMS

1.0 BACKGROUND AND PORTFOLIO DESCRIPTION

1.1 The Purpose

1.2 FTF strategy pillars, Project Inputs, Outputs and Activities Description

1.2.1 FTF Logical Framework and Project Description

1.2.2 Prior and On-going USAID Projects in Feed the Future

1.2.3 New Activities

1. 3 Illustrative Agricultural Technologies

2.0 COUNTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION

(BASELINE INFORMATION)

2.1 Locations Affected and Socio-Economic Baseline

2.2 Environmental conditions and problems

2.3 National Environmental and Other Project Related Conventions, Policies, Strategies, Laws, and Procedures

3.0. EVALUATION OF ACTIVITY/PROJECT ISSUES WITH RESPECT TO

ENVIRONlVIENTAL IlVIPACT POTJ!:.NTIAL ........••

3.1 Environmental Analysis of recent, current and future activities

4.0 RECOlVIlVIENDED WTIGATION ACTIONS (INCLUDING SCREENING, REVIEW, lVIONITORING AND EVALUATION)

4.1 Implementing Partner Procedures

5.0 ENVIRONlVIENTAL RECOlVIlVIENDATIONS AND USAID APPROVAL OF ENVIRONlVIENTAL ACTION RECOlVIMENDED

5.1 Resource Allocation, Training and Reporting requirements

5.2 Limitations of the IEE

5.3 Revisions

ANNEXES:

Annex 1. Environmental Review Checklist for Identifying Potential Environmental Impacts of Project Activities and Processes Annex 2. Illustrative Environmental Effects and lVIitigation lVIeasures Annex 3. Standard Conditions for Small-Scale Activities

LIST of ACRONYMS

AISU

AVRDC

BFS

CGIAR

CIP

DCA

DGP

EAS

EGAT

EM

EMMP

ERC

FAST

FEMMP

FFP

FP

FTF

GAIN

GAP

GDA

GH

GHP

GOTI

IDD

IEE

IP

IPM

MCH

MEAS

P-PERSUAP

P-IEE

POP

PPP

ProApt

RH

SUN

TA WON

TDHS

UNFCCC

WUA

WEEP

ZOI

Agricultural Implementation Support Unit The World Vegetable Center, previously known as the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center Bureau for Food Security Global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future International Potato Center Development Credit Authority Development Grants Program Extension and Advisory System Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade Bureau Environmental Manual Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan Environmental Review Checklist Farmer Advisory Services of Tajikistan Framework Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan Family Farming Program Family Planning Feed the Future Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Good Agricultural Practices General Development Authority Global Health Bureau Good handling Practices Government of Tajikistan Iodine Deficiency Disorders Initial Environmental Examination Implementing Partner Integrated Pest Management Maternity and Child Health Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services Programmatic Pesticide Evaluation Report and Safer Use Action Plan Programmatic Initial Environmental Examination Persistent Organic Pollutants Public Private Partnerships Productive Agriculture Project Reproductive Health Scaling-up Nutrition Tajikistan Agriculture and Water to Optimize Nutrition Tajikistan Demographic Health Survey United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Water User Association Women's Entrepreneurship for Empowerment Project FTF Zone oflnfluence

1.0 BACKGROUND AND PORTFOLIO DESCRIPTION

1.1 The Purpose

This Programmatic FTF IEE: a) consolidates all existing FTF activities and recommended threshold determinations; b) provides the first review of the reasonably foreseeable impacts on the environment and human health of new activities under the Feed the Future Project to be implemented in Tajikistan in 2014-2020; and 3) provides supplemental conditions to global IEEs as indicated in Table 1 of Section 3 below.

1.2 FTF Strategy Pillars, Project Inputs, Outputs and Activities Description

Strengthening food security in Tajikistan is a high priority for the U.S. Government due to the country's strategic position along Afghanistan's northern border, significant food security needs, and tremendous opportunity to yield results in partnership with reformist leaders, the private sector, and other stakeholders. Using a targeted, whole of government approach, Feed the Future Tajikistan has the potential to impact incomes and nutrition in a particularly sensitive region, while building capacity to roll out reforms nationwide.

The foundation of this FTF Project is the FTF Multi-Year Strategy approved in March 2012 and officially launched in May 2012. FTF Tajikistan improves food security through two objectives: (1) inclusive agriculture sector growth, and (2) improved nutritional status of women and children. In Tajikistan, the initiative targets a 20% reduction in poverty and a 20% reduction in stunting in children under five. FTF Tajikistan integrates agriculture and nutrition interventions to bring smallholder farm households out of poverty while improving the nutritional outcomes of their children and women of reproductive age. The strategy has three pillars:

• Pillar one is assistance to household and small commercial farms to increase income and the production of food for home consumption, and support to improve nutritional and health outcomes.

• Pillar two is building the capacity oflocal institutions and community-based organizations. Feed the Future Tajikistan will support public and private agricultural extension to advise farm families on production techniques, natural resource conservation, food utilization, and the formation of producer groups to facilitate access to markets and inputs. It will also support village organizations to help rural residents tackle local development problems themselves. Finally, it will assist local governments in becoming more active and effective, as well as support and expand community-based health efforts.

• Pillar three is completion of effective agrarian reform in selected districts ofKhatlon Province.

Agrarian reform includes changes in land and water relations and rights, institutions, policies and incentives.

1.2.1 FTF Logical Framework and Project Description

The project goal aligns with RDCS IR 1.2: Enhanced Agricultural Competitiveness and Food Security. Aligned with the Feed the Future multi-year strategy, the project purpose is to sustainability reduce hunger and poverty in the zone of influence (ZOI). To further integrate nutrition and agriculture, the project has two sub-purposes: (1) Improved nutritional status of women ofreproductive age and children under five in the ZOI; and (2) Increased incomes of smallholder farmers in ZOI. Smallholder farmers are defined by the USAID's Bureau for Food Security (BFS) as those with less than five hectares.

US AID anticipates a suite of FTF activities to be funded with FY 2014-2017 monies to implement the inputs outlined in the logical framework below. The Bureau for Food Security and Global Health Bureau periodically fund small activities or field support to enhance Feed the Future implementation in Tajikistan.

Sub-Purpose 1 will decrease the stunting of children under five in the ZOI, as measured by the FEEDBACK population-based survey, by achieving four strategic outputs. This aligns with RDCS Sub IR 1.2.3: Improved nutrition outcomes in target populations.

Output 1.1: Increased consumption of more quality food and micro nutrients Activities will target the immediate causes ofundernutrition by undertaking household, community and facility-based activities to promote good nutritional practices including exclusive breastfeeding for up to six months, increase intake of vitamins and minerals, and promote complementary and supplementary feeding as well as prevention and treatment of acute undernutrition. Building on and complementing FTF's efforts to improve household economics, gardening, food preservation, and livestock management to enhance food availability throughout the year, focus will be given to improving nutrition-related knowledge and practices in relation to the "1,000 day window" of pregnancy through the first two years oflife. In addition, activities will improve longer term maternal and child nutrition by promoting access to essential maternal and child health and family planning interventions to reduce the impact of infectious diseases and the demands of pregnancy and lactation on both mothers and children. In parallel with household food-based activities, FTF will support nutrition education interventions targeting families of children under five years of age.

Inputs include:

1.1.1) Using agricultural extension systems and community health volunteers, build community-level capacity to plan, grow, preserve, and use more and diverse nutritious foods especially for consumption by women of reproductive age and children under five, through community groups, mass media and awareness campaigns, along the lines of (behavior communication & change principles

1.1.2) Assessment of private sector's ability to provide micronutrients and fortified food products.

Based on assessment results, support to the private sector to enable fortification and/or access to nutrient dense foods through PPPs, GDAs, cost-sharing, and/or TA; and Purchase micronutrient supplements to be distributed by the public sector to chronically malnourished children under two

1.1.3) Promote consumption of iodized salt

Output 1.2: Women and children benefit from quality health and nutrition services Khatlon is still one of the most underserved areas of Tajikistan in terms of basic health care. The health system and facilities are greatly challenged by the lack of doctors, staff, training in new and standard protocols, and lack of equipment and supplies. Extremely low knowledge and practice levels regarding preventative health behaviors and adequate nutrition practices make the population vulnerable to illnesses and poor nutritional status. USAID will increase access and uptake of contraceptive methods by women of child bearing age and men to quality family planning services. This will be achieved by increasing the number of competency based trained family planning providers and improving easy access to all modern contraceptive methods including long acting reversible contraception and permanent methods of contraception via static services or through mobile outreach of contraceptive services. USAID funded the first ever Tajikistan Demographic Health Survey (TDHS) in Tajikistan in 2012. The quality and quantity of data was welcomed by the Tajik government. If funding allows, USAID will fund the DHS in 2017, which will help identify GOTI progress on several key health indicators. Inputs include:

1.1. l) Provide supplies, including micronutrients to pregnant women and children under 2 years of age 1.2.2) Develop and implement behavior change communication activities on the community level, building community-level capacity to prevent maternal and child health issues, recognize danger signs, and plan emergency transportation. These activities will be conducted through community groups, mass media and awareness campaigns 1.2.3) Increase awareness on family planning issues among women, men, and youth. Increase access to and use of quality family planning services by women and men of reproductive age 1.2.4) Conduct a Demographic and Health Survey in 2017

Output 1.3: Improved hygiene behaviors and increased access to improved sanitation While Tajikistan continues to benefit from the heavy infrastructure investments and near-universal latrine or toilet coverage from the Soviet period, much of this infrastructure is now decaying, and an estimated 40-60% of the population does not have access to safe drinking water. In Khatlon, the TDHS reported that 30% of the population uses surface water for drinking. Surface water is the most susceptible to pollution and most likely to have poor water quality. The USAID MCH Project 2013 baseline study in the ZOI reported only 9% of households with a child under two had a clean and functional latrine, and only 4% of mothers of children under two reported washing their hands at the four critical times to interrupt fecal-oral transmission of pathogens. The most strategic investments to support improved nutrition will be to promote consumption of boiled water for pregnant women and children under five. Boiling water is already a well-established practice according to the TDHS and does not require the development of a new supply chain to deliver products to the rural areas. Promotion of hand washing with soap has potential for a Public Private Partnership, but the behavior should be promoted through every available channel of communication at the mass media, community, and household level. Constructing, upgrading, or rehabilitating the pit latrines in the rural areas will require the most effort, and FTF will need to facilitate and promote both the supply side and demand side for improved sanitation. Inputs include:

1.3.1) Using agricultural extension systems, community health volunteers, and mass media, educate families about improved household drinking water use and storage practices 1.3.2) Using agricultural extension systems, community health volunteers, and mass media, educate and create demand for improved handwashing and sanitation in households, crafting and targeting messages to different elements of the household (men, mothers in law, mothers, children) 1.3.3) Work with Women's Savings Groups, Water User Associations (WUAs), hashar, mahallah/jamoat, and village health points to facilitate supply chain in construction, marketing, or promotion of improved latrines and handwashing stations 1.3.4) Encourage investment ofremittances and increased incomes in sanitation (latrines) and hygiene improvements (handwashing stations) as part of household improvements -potentially work with banks and wire transfer locations to develop savings products and to target people for investments as they are receiving their money 1.3.5) Participate actively in the Tajikistan Water Supply and Sanitation network, which is the platform for bringing the rural population's voice to the on-going water and sanitation sector reforms

Output 1.4: Nutrition policies reformed Various vitamin and mineral deficiencies are denying Tajiks' right to health and economic prosperity.

Due to iron deficiencies alone, it is estimated that approximately 40% to 60% of the nation's 6-to-24 month-old children are at risk of disrupted brain development. According to the latest national Micronutrient Status Survey in Tajikistan, the overall prevalence of anemia among women was 41 % and 38% among children 6 to 59 months old. Folate deficiencies are a particular concern with over 300 severe birth defects annually. Vitamin A deficiencies are also high and adversely affecting the population. Over 500 children die each year from increased susceptibility to infection and approximately 18% of Tajikistan's children are growing up with lowered immunity, leading to frequent ill health and poor growth. The Tajik Government's commitment to fighting malnutrition through the Scaling-up nutrition (SUN) Movement complement the USG's Feed the Future initiative. With support from the ADB project, a draft law requiring fortification of all domestically produced and imported wheat flour was signed by the president of Tajikistan and submitted during its 2007-2008 session to the lower chamber of parliament which failed to act on the legislation due to concerns over sharply rising food prices. Unfortunately the fortification law was submitted during a time of the global food price crisis. Since the ADB project was closed by the MOH in 2008, and funding ran out, there have been no further attempts to revive the legislation or to bring forth new mandatory wheat flour fortification legislation. Given increased purchasing of milled flour by target beneficiaries and the recent commitment of the Tajik Government to

SUN, now is the time to reinitiate flour fortification legislation. To reform and implement key nutrition policies, USAID will engage in dialogue with the Government of Tajikistan to promote new policies and policy enforcement to fortify imported and domestic wheat flour and other relevant food products.

USAID will support the SUN agenda and provide assistance to create demand for iodized salt while increasing enforcement of the universal salt iodization policy. Inputs include:

1.4.1) Support Tajikistan's SUN policy agenda

1.4.2) TA to the public and private sectors to demand and enforce salt iodization

1.4.3) TA to the public and private sectors to demand and enforce flour and other food fortification

Sub-Purpose 2 will increase incomes of smallholder farmers in the ZOI. This sub-purpose aligns directly with RDCS I.R 1.2.1: Increase agricultural productivity in target populations. Select activities under this sub-purpose also align with Sub-IR 1.2.2: Expanded agri-business value chains. Increased household income combined with improved decision making about food utilization will result in improved food security. High-value fruits and vegetables are the most profitable crops to grow in lowland cotton growing areas. Small farmers, especially women, have a comparative advantage in producing high value fruits and vegetables for which there is a high return on the investment of hand labor. Feed the Future will also improve agricultural productivity targeting key populations by supporting the completion of the Tajik Government's agrarian reform package. This will include changes in the relationships between producer and consumer, marketization, land tenure, water management, as well as all of agriculture technology from field to fork. Ground-level implementation will transform Tajikistan's Khatlon region, demonstrate the benefits of the changes, and develop procedures that the GOTI can use to replicate the transformation elsewhere.

Output 2.1: Establishment of sustainable extension advisory system that supports smallholder farmers (male and female) The Tajik Extension and Advisory System (EAS) is weak, fragmented and limited in scale and scope. It consists of a patchwork of organizations and activities. This reflects the state of very slow reform and evolution from the former Soviet-era command and control economic system. The Tajik government is unable to provide the range of services needed in the sector and the private sector has not grown sufficiently to provide these through markets for services.

Small commercial farms and household farms receive limited services from a variety of private EAS providers. Most are NGOs and projects funded by donors, including USAID (i.e., Family Farming Project, Productive Agriculture Project, etc.), that provide time-limited services oflimited scale. USAID will establish an EAS that may be partially or entirely scaled up by the Tajik Government. The EAS will work with public and private sectors to improve productivity of smallholder female and male farmers by improving their knowledge and skills allowing them to adopt better agricultural inputs, technologies, services, and methods to increase their incomes and household food security. The EAS will also be a means of disseminating USAID scalable technologies to target beneficiaries. USAID will also increase the responsiveness of local government to community needs in agriculture. Outputs 1 and 2 are closely linked.

Inputs include:

2.1.1) Support for community/village level extension advisory system that disseminates nutritious crop production knowledge and technology to male and female farmers and works closely with community health volunteers

2.1.2) Train and build capacity in public sector for extension advisory system

2.1.3) Train and build capacity in the private sector for extension services

2.1.4) Communications and mass media for and to support agriculture extension and advisory system

2.1.5) Monitoring and evaluation for agriculture extension and advisory system

Output 2.2 Smallholder farm productivity increased

Tajikistan's household plots and small commercial farms produce most of the agricultural sector's output by value. Yet they are far from achieving their potential for increasing income or production. Most citizens of Tajikistan are dependent on these holdings for their livelihood.

To use land effectively farmers need a market demand for the product and access to the inputs to produce them. As smallholder farmers have less capital available for purchasing inputs and need smaller volumes of inputs, USAID will work with stakeholders to develop appropriately sized and priced input packaging that is available for local purchase. Those inputs addressed will align with the FTF Scaling Plan. USAID will continue to build the capacity ofWUAs and water user federations. Currently local governments, not WUAs, manage the water that flows through villages and that is used for household gardening, and households either do not or rarely pay for this water. However, since previous research indicates that family farming and homestead production accounts for 50-60% of household food, improving water services for household gardens should have a significant impact on food security. Inputs include:

2.2.1) Organization of smallholder farmers, both male and female and including youth, into groups to benefit from agriculture extension advisory system training

2.2.2) Training of farmer groups to use new agricultural technologies including productive inputs to increase yields of profitable, nutritious crops and livestock products

2.2.3) Increase availability of appropriately packaged productive inputs for smallholder farmers in each Jamoat by providing the private sector incentives to work in villages with farmers with less than five hectares

2.2.4) Increase access of irrigation water to smallholder farmers through water users association strengthening, provision of infrastructure to WU As, and increased WUA membership by smallholder farmers

2.2.5) Increase awareness and protection ofland use rights through support to legal aid centers and activists

2.2.6) Strengthen the capacity of smallholder farmers to capitalize on land reform through increased issuance land use rights certificates to smallholder farmers, especially to women

2.2.7) Research, test, obtain, and scale-up technologies through agricultural extension systems and the private sector to improve the production and productivity of nutritious food crops and livestock

Output 2.3 Smallholder farmers linked to domestic and export markets Better access to markets drives a desire to increase production. So long as markets are not glutted, increased marketable production will increase producers' incomes. As marketing systems become better organized, households will want, and can be helped, to increase production of fruits and vegetables for sale. Domestic demand for fresh fruits and vegetables is also on the rise. Women typically lack market knowledge. To the extent that information is power, women are disadvantaged. Tajik women are characterized by a high level of isolation. Traditions and religious taboos do not encourage women's networking and exchange of information. In general, access to information is extremely difficult. The costs and impediments, both formal and informal, connected to market participation are obstacles to women's economic opportunities. USAID will enable produce marketers to organize for undertaking market research and accessing technical assistance to build their ability to meet market demand. USAID will promote linkages to foreign partners. Inputs include:

2.3.1) Establish or strengthen smallholder farmers' links to target value chains by increasing viable aggregators and processors to through technical assistance, cost share, incentives, linkages to financing and grants to CSOs, commercial farms, and agribusinesses 2.3.2) Provide product consolidation and marketing training to smallholder farmer groups through agriculture extension advisory system 2.3.3) Facilitate an information communications technology program to provide smallholder farmers with market and other information

Output 2.4 Agriculture policies reformed

Sound agricultural policy is necessary for any progress in the agricultural and food sector. Enhanced policy capacity will provide the institutional memory, strategic concepts, and clear explanations of the costs and benefits of proposed policies to produce sustainable results. Providing government decision makers with quality policy analyses and improved interface with development partners will improve policy making and implementation. Major near-term policy priorities include freedom to farm, land reform, and water sector reform. These policies support the GOTI agrarian reform agenda and the DCC Tajik government Food Security and Nutrition Initiative.

USAID will assist the GOTI to develop and finalize a strategy and implementation plan to guide the further progress in rural land reform and market development. USAID will work closely with the State Land Committee, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Justice, Presidential Office and DCC-government coordinating bodies on farm restructuring and land reform as well as other government entities on amending existing or creating new, laws and implementing regulations. USAID will help develop a land policy guiding unified governance of tenure and land administration; a land reform strategy and implementation plan; amendments to existing land and farm restructuring laws; and implementing regulations for land-related laws.

Following significant investment in water users associations (WUAs) by the USG through both USAID and The World Bank, it is imperative to ensure the WUA operating environment is conducive to sustaining WUA establishment, growth, and maintenance. USAID will join development partners in pushing the Water Code, a key component of Agrarian Reform, to fruition. US AID will support targeted reforms to support WUA sustainment, facilitate basin-level water management, and improve advocacy of farmers in water management. Inputs include:

2.4.1) Ongoing analysis of impacts of Freedom to farm, land, and water reform to inform technical assistance to the government 2.4.2) Provide technical assistance to GOTI to draft laws and build capacity to make evidence-based decisions on agriculture policy, especially policy affecting smallholder farmers, youth, and/or women 2.4.3) Develop land policy, legislative :framework, and implementing regulations to advance land reform implementation 2.4.4) Promote adoption of policies that facilitate basin-level water management and improve advocacy of farmers in water management

Output 2.5 Smallholders benefit from on-going agricultural reforms including land, water, extension, and decentralization Agrarian reform is a complex process that requires balancing considerations of economic efficiency and social equity, political power, and administrative possibility. Without access to land, water and capital, and without belief that their investments and most of their returns will be protected, farmers cannot and will not develop their farms. USAID will support the organization and operation of an Agricultural Implementation Support Unit (AISU). Although a relatively small effort, the AISU will help to guarantee the success and sustainability of Feed the Future. It will work closely with and under the general direction of Deputy Prime Minister for the Agricultural Sector, who has become the primary champion of agrarian reform in the GOTI.

A similar AISU will be established at the regional/oblast level in Qurghonteppa, Khatlon. The regional AISU will link national-level policy reforms to on-the-ground implementation, bringing agrarian reform implementation to the local level. In addition to monitoring the progress of agrarian reform at the farmer level, the regional AISU will communicate farmer needs to the national level to inform further policy decision making. Inputs include:

2.5.1) Establish an agrarian reform implementation unit at the national level that analyzes evidence, informs policy-makers, monitors implementation, and links national-level reforms to on-the-ground implementation 2.5.2) Establish an agrarian reform implementation unit at the regional (oblast) level to monitor implementation and inform national-level authorities

2.5.3) Increase smallholder farmer awareness of how agrarian reform benefits small farmers. 2.5.4) Provide agrarian reform implementation and service provision technical assistance and tools to district and regional-level government employees to advance agrarian reform implementation within their areas of responsibility.

1.2.2 Prior and On-going USAID Feed The Future Projects

1.2.2.1 USAID/Central Asia activities:

• Productive Agriculture (ProApt - closed in September 2014). The project has helped farmers to increase production and processing of agricultural products in the Feed the Future geographic focus area. It supported access to better quality inputs; supported processing, packaging, warehousing, transport, and marketing of agricultural products for local and regional markets; expanded the use of quality standards and certifications; increased access to finance for farmers, support service providers, and processors; and strengthened market linkages between farmers and consumers.

• Family Farming Program (FFP- 9/30/2010 - 2/27/2015). The FFP works with smallholder and household farmers to increase agricultural production and improve irrigation water management in the Feed the Future geographic focus area.It improves water provision for agricultural production by establishing and strengthening water users associations (WUAs) and providing grants to improve physical infrastructure of irrigation systems. In addition, the project adapts and disseminates agricultural technologies to small holder farmers; improves household budgeting and planning; and supports policy reforms that enhance food security.

• Farmer Advisory Services of Tajikistan (FAST- 7118/2013 - 4/17/2017). This activity has two components 1) agriculture extension development and 2) agriculture policy support. The first component will build capacity for an agriculture extension advisory system in the Feed the Future geographic focus area. The extension system model will assist smallholder and household farmers to increase agricultural production for sale to market and for home consumption. The second component will assist and build government capacity at the national and Khatlon regional level to implement agricultural reform policies in land distribution, irrigation water management, agriculture regulation, tax regulation, and other aspects of agrarian reform. FAST will integrate its experiences with Feed the Future and support a follow-on expansion to the FTF zone of influence.

• Land Reform and Farm Restructuring Project (LRFR -10/1/2013-9/30/2016). This project supports continued restructuring of dekhan farms and the recognition of property rights. It creates the foundation for a land-use rights market. The activity has three components: a) strengthening government capacity to develop progressive market-oriented land policy and to effectively monitor and implement the land reform process; b) expanding awareness of land-use rights among rural government and citizen stakeholders; and c) protecting farmers' land use rights and facilitating acquisition of land-use certificates by individual and family dekhan farms.

• Maternal and Child Health (MCH) (9/30/2008-9/30/2016). The project improves the health and nutrition status of women and children under five and engages local communities, especially pregnant women, mothers of children under five, and their mother-in-laws and husbands in health and nutrition discussions and links them with maternal and child services; trains the Health Department to improve delivery of quality maternal and child health services; helps plan and evaluate activities; and teaches schoolchildren health, hygiene and nutrition skills.

1.2.3.1 USAID/Washington activities:

• CGIAR/CIP Potato Production Support and Research to Improve Food Security in Khatlon, Tajikistan (10/01/2014-12/30/2015, USAID/CAR buy-in). The two year objectives (goals) of the project are to improve the welfare of poor small holder potato farmers in Khatlon province through increased income and food security; and build capacities among local advisors and potato growers of Khatlon province so as to improve quality potato production for the fresh market, thus incrementing food availability. The project's specific purpose is to improve the competitiveness of potato farmers targeted by USAID through the introduction of adapted technologies.

• USAID umbrella grant to UNICEF (May 2013-May 2016). Project aims to increase access to micronutrient supplementation in the 12 targeted districts of Khatlon province to contribute to improved health and nutritional status of children up to two years of age. UNICEF works closely with Ministry of Health and Social Protection and Mercy Corps to ensure micronutrient supplements will be procured, distributed and utilized correctly for all the targeted children and pregnant women, and at the same time to improve maternal and child feeding and dietary practices and health behaviors in general. UNICEF also aims at sustainable elimination oflodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) through expanding the ongoing universal salt iodization (USI) activities funded by USAID/GAIN in Khatlon to the national scale. The project complements and strengthens the efforts made toward USI by the lead government organizations (Ministries of Industry, Health, Trade and Economic Development, Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance (SES), and Standard agency (Tajikstandard)) and other agencies.

• USAID-GAIN Food Fortification Collaboration (1/10/ 2014- 30/09/2016). USAID Tajikistan commissioned Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to assess the wheat sector in Tajikistan and identify opportunities for strengthening flour fortification with micronutrients. This new project funded by USAID will allow GAIN to work with partners to establish a sustainable national wheat flour fortification program starting in Khatlon Province and expanding nationally throughout Tajikistan.

e Farmer-to-Farmer ( 10/01/2013-09/30/2018). The activity pairs local farmers with international volunteers to establish economically viable farming. Volunteers provide short-term technical assistance in such areas as agribusiness, financial management, marketing, cooperative development, agricultural production, and post-harvest and processing technologies.

1.2.3 New Activities

The new Agriculture, Health, and Private Sector Competitiveness Program Area activities will combine types of activities that USAID has been implementing so far and new activities normally included in Feed the Future programs.

1.2.3.1 USAID/Central Asia activities:

Tajikistan Agriculture and Water to Optimize Nutrition (TA WON, dates TBD). This agricultural and water project is a key component in USAID Tajikistan's overall Feed the Future program to improve nutrition of women of reproductive age and children under the age of two. USAID TA WON will directly support FTF objectives by assisting smallholder farmers to increase, diversify, and add value to their agricultural production to address dietary deficiencies and market surplus production. USAID TA WON will place special emphasis on engaging women in all activities. USAID TA WON' s agricultural interventions will be coupled with a robust portfolio of non-agricultural activities implemented through separate mechanisms to address sanitation, hygiene, behavior change, iodized salt, drinking water, and wheat fortification. The four-year USAID TA WON is consistent with the Feed the Future Multi-Year Strategy for Tajikistan. The strategy consists of three pillars and this project will address pillars One and Two of the three. TA WON has the following components: Agriculture Extension Service Development;

Extended Season Vegetable Production, Orchard Production; Dairy Production; and Water.

• Agricultural Extension can best be defined as the transfer of current agricultural knowledge to farmers through individual consultations, train the trainer, group training, or mass media as appropriate and economically feasible. Feed the Future Tajikistan will build a modern agriculture extension and advisory system.

• Extended season vegetable production under plastic should be the primary focus of efforts to increase the consumption of vegetables in Tajikistan, especially in the off season when vegetable consumption falls to very low levels, primarily due to cost and availability. Khatlon enjoys some relative advantage in a milder and earlier climate than the rest of Tajikistan or Central Asia and has historically grown extended season vegetables in limited quantity.

• In the last three to five years the government of Tajikistan has promoted the establishment of orchards in the ZOI. These plantings are approximately 50% in apricots and the remainder in stone fruit and nut crops. Because these areas are non-traditional production areas, the farmers are unfamiliar with the production of these fruits. Currently over 90% of the trees remain unpruned at age of three to five years and almost no trees have been properly pruned. To boost yields, a robust program of pruning, insect control, chemical weed control, and fertilization is needed to ensure a desirable crop.

• The current milk production of these animals is extremely low and offers a tremendous opportunity to scale new technologies to develop better feed stocks. Increased consumption of dairy products would help address deficiencies in Vitamin A, zinc, and animal protein in the local diet. An incredible 96% of all dairy cows are on the household plots in the ZOI. These cows can be divided into the typical single cow owned by the family and small herds of 3-4 cows owned by smallholders who sell milk within their neighborhoods. Very few commercial herds of more than I 0 cows exist. Generally women farmers manage backyard dairy cows. These cows are kept for subsistence dairy production and as an important asset and store of wealth. Dairy products consist primarily of fluid milk, yogurt, and other fermented dairy products for family consumption or sale to neighbors.

• Water is essential to Tajikistan especially in the agriculture sector. However, water infrastructure, whether for drinking water supply and sanitation or for irrigation and flood protection is in deplorable condition. As a consequence, only 72 percent of the irrigable land can be used for agricultural production, 12 percent has been abandoned and 16 percent has been lost to salinization. Agriculture consumes the largest percentage of water resources available to Tajikistan but distribution efficiency for irrigation is only 50 percent as a result of the current disrepair of the country's irrigation infrastructure.

Women's Entrepreneurship for Empowerment Project (WEEP) (10/1114- 9/27/17). FTF identified gender equality as an important focus of its program, and WEEP strategically addresses gender issues and targets women's empowerment. Society pressures women to stay at home, and as a result, they tend to work in smallholding agriculture and other low value-added sectors. Most women in the FTF ZOI are impoverished smallholder farmers, but they have the potential to become more economically active and get access to value chains and markets in fruits, vegetables, and other foods, and therefore get more money from their products.

In line with FTF objectives, this activity will use focus groups, workshops, seminars, vocational and business trainings and facilitate business linkages to:

• Empower economically inactive women to start their own businesses;

• Enable women lead/owned microenterprises to move up to higher value areas of the fruit and vegetable value chains, get greater access to new markets, customers, and business services; and

• Positively influence attitudes of the society to women's entrepreneurship.

Integrated Maternal and Child Health/Nutrition and WASH project in FTF ZOI (2015- 2019, TBD)

• Project will train health providers to deliver better quality MCH, FP and nutrition services and provide basic equipment for conducting safe motherhood services, and preventing and treating childhood illness and malnutrition. In the Water/Sanitation area project will identify potential public-private partnerships to improve household and community water/sanitation infrastructure.

• At the community level project will train women ofreproductive age, family decision-makers, care-givers and community leaders basic knowledge of maternal and child health, danger signs of pregnancy and child illnesses, breastfeeding, preventing malnutrition and introducing good weaning practices, water and sanitation.

• At the National/Policy level when possible project will contribute to and provide evidence and guidance for national MCH, FP, Nutrition, WASH guidelines through support to USAID via the DCC and SUN.

1.2.3.2 USAID /Washington activities (Tajikistan buy-in).

The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC) project (2014 -2016, TBD). This 24-month project with A VRDC is aimed at increase of the production and consumption of improved vegetable varieties high in Vitamin A, iron, and/or zinc in the Feed the Future Zone of Influence. It will improve nutrition outcomes by introducing new production methods including greenhouses for extended season vegetable production, containerized seedling production, and introducing new nutritious vegetable varieties. These technologies go hand-in-hand. Greenhouses are the cornerstone of extended season production allowing for earlier and later production of vegetables in the ZOI in Tajikistan. To maximize potential vegetable production, greenhouse interventions must be implemented in combination with containerized seedling production and the use of new certified seed varieties, which were recently approved in Tajikistan.

1.6. Illustrative List of Agricultural Technologies

For environmental analysis, the above summary of activities needs to be complemented by a description of the agricultural technologies to be implemented by participating farmers. The following illustrative list of agricultural technologies was provided by implementing partners includes:

• Land preparation: Proper on-farm drainage in existing irrigation areas (not affecting wetlands with natural vegetation); small-scale leveling of field and preparation of liming (less than 10 ha);

soil liming.

• Crop rotation, crop selection.

• Planting: Planning planting density (row distance, spacing) for different crops; protected agriculture (small-scale greenhouses, protection of crops against cold or insects using plastic or vegetable barriers, others); planting density and spacing for different crops; use and access to quality seeds; seed selection to keep seeds for next planting (non-hybrid varieties); use of hybrid seeds.; seed production, multiplication, processing (chemical and non-chemical) and storage.

• On-farm water control (timing, delivery, slope of ditches, use of tubing, small-scale drip or sprinklers).

• Identification of pests, diseases, weeds; control of pests and diseases; use of synthetic pesticides (following amended PERSUAP); safer preparation and use of synthetic pesticides, personal protection; weed control.

• Methods to improve soil fertility and soil structure: mineral (or synthetic) fertilizers, liming, green manure, nitrogen fixing plants, compost, animal manure, crop rotation, other traditional;

safer use of mineral (synthetic) fertilizers and lime.

• Using plant growth regulators for breaking potato seed dormancy and using them as seed.

• Fruit drying using solar driers

• Erosion control, mechanical barriers, vegetation barriers, cover crops, other methods no requiring mechanized earth moving or construction.

• Unmechanized harvest techniques; selection of product and recognition of quality issues for human consumption; selection of seed and recognition of disease issues for seed.

• Storage, underground storage, cold storage, potato storage

• Basic animal health; basic veterinary care.

• Cooperative canning and processing technologies; milk processing.

• Access to market.

2.0 COUNTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE INFORMATION

2.1 Locations Affected and Socio-Economic Baseline

The FTF ZOI consists of the western 12 districts in Tajikistan's Khatlon Province. These 12 districts are:

Bokhtar, Jomi, Jilikul, Khuroson, Nosiri Khisrav, Qabodiyon, Qumsangir, Rumi, Sarband, Shahritus, Vakhsh, and Y ovon, which comprise the lower Kafarnigan and V akhsh river basins. There is a concentration of donor resources in Khatlon that the U.S. Government can leverage to achieve demonstrable results. Given Khatlon's location along the Afghan border, improvements there directly support broader U.S. efforts to stabilize the region. Khatlon's irrigated watersheds and cotton-dominated agricultural production are also suitable places to demonstrate the effect of water and land reforms, with a particularly strong impact on women and children. Significant opportunities exist to diversify away from cotton production into more profitable, nutritious agricultural crops.

Southwest Tajikistan, including the FTF Project ZOI, is at a lower altitude than the mountainous provinces to the east and north. It is arid and semi-arid, but is transected by the Vakhsh and Kofarnikhon Rivers, two major tributaries of the Amu Darya, with broad, relatively flat valley bottoms. The population is overwhelmingly rural (75 percent) and is engaged predominantly in primary agriculture, with less than three percent of the population is employed in the industrial sector. There is little or no capital formation and the production base is, for the most part, aging and decaying. According to the World Bank's 2009 Living Standards Measurement Study, Khatlon has become the poorest region in the country with a 54 percent poverty rate. Being the largest region in the country (36 percent of the total population), Khatlon has a higher rate of population growth than the national average with average size of the household is at

8.5 people. This region has the highest rates ofundemutrition and the largest number of people living below the national poverty line in Tajikistan. Khatlon Province also has the highest total fertility rate (4.2 children) and one of the lowest contraceptive prevalence rates in Tajikistan (24%). As per the most 2012 Tajikistan DHS, the desired fertility level is 3.6 children. The unmet need for family planning is 21.8% where more women have the desire to limit their childbearing (12.2%) rather than to space the next pregnancy (9.6%).

All farming in the project area is irrigated. Agriculture is dominated by large-scale irrigation in the valleys to grow cotton, with seasonal pastures on the hills. The main food crop is wheat, and potato is a secondary crop. The large scale agriculture had environmental issues related to dominance of a monocrop, pesticide misuse and human health issues. Now the irrigation and drainage systems are deteriorating. Long transmission canals are leaking, reducing the water that gets to distant areas, and drainage canals are not cleaned often enough, so that some land has become waterlogged or salinized.

Reduced cropping area, salinization of soils and high water table have led to loss of income and out migration as men go to Russia to secure work, while women and children stay put. Agriculture input use has declined, a positive development because of previous misuse, but with mixed results as production diminishes and the remaining tractors plough deeper.

Throughout the Khatlon zone people in their backyard gardens grow crops for basic family survival:

potato, corn, tomato, cucumber, garlic. Size of a backyard garden is commonly 600 to 800 square meters, and many are smaller. Land preparation is generally manual, with occasional use of a tractor that normally works in larger, commercial fields. There is no fallow period, though land may be planted with alfalfa for two seasons.

The home gardens use little or no synthetic inputs. Production is mostly for home consumption. Some households produce a small surplus for market, and a few have started growing market gardens, often under plastic in the initial months to extend the growing season.