Do you remember the good old days (no) at the beginning of the coronavirus, when everyone panicked by the pandemic, we rushed to the supermarket to grab any can of food that came to hand for fear of running out of food? Nostalgic memory reactivated by the President of Tajikistan – and yes, beautiful Kamoulox. The latter called on his population to stock up on food because not of a mischievous pangolin, but of climate change. This poor country in Central Asia is particularly vulnerable to climate change and already plagued by undernourishment.
“Every family should have up to two years of food reserves,” said Emomali Rahmon, during a speech released by the presidential administration on Sunday in honor of a traditional Tajik holiday. “Due to climate change and global warming, the socio-economic situation of the world is deteriorating, the population is increasing, as are food needs,” he continued, calling for everything to be done to “protect the country’s food security.” “.
“Regreen the country” by “working hard”
Despite progress, Tajikistan’s malnutrition rate is the highest in Central Asia, according to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), with 30% of the nearly 9 million people suffering from undernourishment.
Emomali Rahmon, in power continuously since the end of the USSR, also urged his fellow citizens to “green the country”, “work hard”, as well as “use water and land efficiently”. In this mountainous country, with a fragile economy, agriculture is essential. But, as in the rest of Central Asia, soils are deteriorating and water resources are diminishing, particularly under the effect of climate change.
Mountains of fruit as a presidential welcome
In addition, the poorest of the fifteen former Soviet republics depends, according to the World Bank, on imports and remains vulnerable to external shocks, such as the war in Ukraine, while Russia remains Tajikistan’s main economic and military partner.
Despite this, President Rakhmon, who suffers no opposition on the political scene, is regularly greeted by mountains of fruit during his travels across the country, supposed to highlight the dynamism of Tajik agriculture.