More than 85% of the territory of Uzbekistan faces desert or semi-desert conditions, including those lands lying in the Kyzylkum, the largest desert of Central Asia. Uzbekistan is perhaps the most vulnerable of the CACs with respect to water resources and irrigated agriculture, because it has the highest irrigated area (4.3 million ha), the biggest rural population (more than 14 million) and the highest population density of 49.6 persons per square kilometer (646 persons in Andijan). Being an arid country but large consumer of water derived from sources lying outside of its borders, Uzbekistan suffers heavily when water shortages occur, especially in drought years, such as 2000–2001. The drying of the Aral Sea and Amu Darya delta led to significant ecosystem damage and is considered to be the greatest human-caused disaster in Uzbekistan and of global significance. Land degradation is widespread everywhere in the country, but the most affected areas are concentrated in the districts of Bukhara, Navoi, and Kashkadarya and the lowlands of the Amudarya River basin, as well as in the Ferghana Valley and the so-called Hungry Steppe of the Syrdarya River basin. The most serious environmental problems threatening the country’s natural resources are incremental soil salinization and water contamination, wind and water erosion, overgrazing, deforestation and loss of biodiversity, and the reduction of productivity of arable lands. Recognized proximate causes of land degradation include inappropriate land use, mainly unsustainable agricultural practices, insufficient maintenance of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, and excessive use of surface and marginal water. During the past 15–20 years, there also has been widespread degradation of pasturelands due to overgrazing, lack of pasture maintenance, and other anthropogenic factors.

Up to 53% of Uzbekistan’s irrigated lands are exposed to varying degrees of salinization. Over 50% of farmland suffers from wind and water erosion, and continued losses of the most fertile topsoil layer are experienced annually. The role of inappropriate irrigation practices by far surpasses natural causes. Likewise, vegetative degradation is caused by livestock overgrazing, cutting of trees and shrubs for firewood, discharge of drainage water into desert depressions, and mismanagement of on-farm irrigation water. The drying of the Aral Sea and subsequent exposure of toxic materials on the former seabed, subsequently disbursed through dust storms, also constitutes a serious ecological and health problem for the country and region. Rainfed farming lands occupy about 4.5 million hectares, of which more than 80% are classified as poor, with total precipitation of only 250–350 mm. Land degradation has been a crucial factor in the decline in rural living standards due to loss of soil fertility and falling crop yields.

Land degradation’s economic costs to the country are imposed at three levels: (i) at the field level, in terms of decline in productivity; (ii) at the national level, in terms of loss of productive capacity of the agricultural land and lower growth of the agricultural GDP and export earnings; and (iii) at the global level, in terms of negative impact on carbon sequestration and climate change, loss of biodiversity, and pollution of transboundary water resource flows. The deterioration of the production base due to a lack of upkeep of irrigation and drainage systems, huge water losses, severe soil salinization and declining crop yields, is estimated by the World Bank to cost the country approximately $1,000,000,000 annually (Source: CACILM Multicountry Partnership Framework Project Document, 2006. ADB).

The major impacts of environmental deterioration, mainly due to land degradation, are summarized in the NPF as: decreased productivity of agricultural crops and a reduction of areas under crops; decreased efficiency of animal industries and fisheries in connection with ecosystem disruption; deterioration of the quality of foodstuffs as a result of the pollution of water and soil; and increased levels of disease of the population, especially from poor water quality and among women of child-bearing age. The program seeks to combat land degradation through the strengthening and mainstreaming of SLM among all land management stakeholders. The activities focus on: building strong institutional and human resource capacity in SLM; establishing a strong policy, regulatory, and economic incentive framework; improving the ecological viability of degraded ecosystems whether agricultural land, pasturelands, forests or critical areas, such as the Aral Sea, with resultant local and global benefits; and increasing the economic productivity of land and enhancing the livelihoods of populations directly dependant on the land.

The project goal is to mitigate the causes and negative impacts of land degradation on the structure and functional integrity of ecosystems through sustainable land management practices as a contribution to improving people’s livelihoods and economic wellbeing. The outcomes are expected to be: (i) sustainable land management through the stabilization of loose sand by vegetative cover and through assisting local people to stop overstressing land by overcoming poverty and providing them with choices as well as greater awareness and information; and (ii) a revival of traditional ways of resource management and sound government policies and planning for integrated land-use planning and management to guide local officials and community leaders.

The objective of this project is to arrest and reverse land degradation and improve the livelihood of farmer households in the project area through the adoption of sustainable land management practices on a significant scale and in a manner that makes it possible for project benefits to accrue beyond the immediate project area. The project’s expected results are (i) a lasting improvement of land productivity on some 162,300 ha in Bukhara, Navoi, and Kashkadarya provinces, and (ii) restoration of normal ecological functioning of these lands resulting in local and wider environmental benefits (Source: Country Pilot Partnerships on Sustainable Land Management. CACILM Multicountry Partnership Framework. Executive Summary).