IFPRI CA NEWS DIGEST (JANUARY 3 – JANUARY 9, 2018)
News
Kazakhstan set to increase agricultural exports
The Kazakh agricultural ministry plans to increase agricultural exports in 2018, following 11 percent growth between 2016 and 2017. Kazakh producers exported $1.75 billion worth of goods in 2017, aided by expansion into new markets in the Middle East and China. Kazakhstan has begun exporting livestock products and live cattle to the Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE and signed agreements to export an unprecedented variety of various agricultural products to China. – AzerNews
Uzbekistan: president announces fence-mending visit to Tajikistan
The president of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced that he is preparing to visit Tajikistan, telling lawmakers that he plans to sign transport and energy agreements on the trip. Tajikistan will be the last of Uzbekistan’s four Central Asian neighbors that Mirziyoyev will visit and its proposed Rogun Dam is a source of dispute for the two countries. Although Rogun was not specifically mentioned as an agenda point for the upcoming trip, the current Uzbek president has generally been less vocal about his opposition toward the project than his predecessor. – EurasiaNet
Uzbekistan to purchase 5,778 units of agromachinery
Uzbekistan’s Agrobank will provide loans for purchasing 5,778 units of agricultural machinery in the first half of 2018. The Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources and agrotech holding company Uzagrotekhsanoatholding jointly determined the scale of the demand. – Tashkent Times
Analysis & Other Information
The feminized farm: labor migration and women's roles in Tajikistan's rural communities
This article in The Diplomat summarizes a paper that was featured in last week’s digest and can be found here on the effects of male labor emigration on rural gender inequality. Labor migration in Tajikistan is an overwhelmingly male phenomenon – according to the article, 85.9 percent of seasonal migrants in 2012 were men – and many of their rural responsibilities have been assumed by women. – The Diplomat
Turkish aid agency trains 3,000 women in Kyrgyzstan
Turkey’s state aid body Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) provided 3,000 women with a joint vocational training course in Kyrgyzstan in 2017, according to the head of Kyrgyzstan’s Women’s Congress. Among other subject areas, the 3,000 participants received training related to computers, sewing, entrepreneurship, and languages. – Anadolu News Agency
Taking the temperature of Turkmenistan's economic meltdown
This EurasiaNet analysis attempts to counter Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov’s claims of economic prosperity. It points to the IMF’s carefully-worded statement on Turkmenistan’s economic situation and widespread anecdotal evidence of hardships faced by Turkmen citizens. Moreover, the article also notes Turkmenistan’s failure to settle a gas export dispute with Iran and mystery over the nature of its agreement with China, the sole remaining buyer of Turkmen gas. – EurasiaNet
Publications & Reports
Adapting agricultural water use to climate change in a post-Soviet context: challenges and opportunities in southeast Kazakhstan
T. Barrett, G. Feola, M. Khusnitdinova, V. Krylova (2017). Human Ecology, 45(6), pp. 747-762.
Oil shock in the Caspian basin: diversification policy and subsidized economies
V. Bayramov, G. Abbas (2017). Resources Policy, 54, pp. 149-156.
Post-socialist transition and intergenerational educational mobility in Kyrgyzstan
T. Bruck, D. Esenaliev (2018). Economics of Transition, 26(1), pp. 61-89.
Agri-food sector potential in the chosen CIS countries
J. Drozdz, N. Jurkenaite (2017). Problems of Agricultural Economics, 3(352), pp. 103-115.
Impact of economic regulation through monetary policy: impact analysis of monetary policy tools on economic stability in Uzbekistan
U. Duskobilov (2017). International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, 3(5), pp. 65-69.
Reducing the energy intensity of lift irrigation schemes of Northern Tajikistan - potential options
A.K. Karimov, V. Smakhtin, A.A. Karimov, K. Khodjiev, S. Yakubov, A. Platonov, M. Avliyakulov (2018). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 81(2), pp. 2967-2975.
Analysis of the spatio-temporal patterns of dry and wet conditions in Central Asia
Z. Ta, R. Yu, X. Chen, G. Mu, Y.Guo (2018). Atmosphere, 9(1).
Archived issues of the news digest can be found on the Central Asia page under the ReSAKSS Asia website: http://resakss-asia.org/regions/central-asia. A link to the newsletter can be found under Blog Posts.
The articles included in this news digest have been generated from online sources. Any opinions stated herein are not representative of, or endorsed by, the International Food Policy Research Institute or its partners.
