Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan preparing roadmaps to secure land tenure

Secure tenure of land, fisheries and forests is widely acknowledged as being directly related to agricultural productivity, sustainable management of natural resources, and food security. This is the premise of a new project for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan that FAO is kicking off with a workshop here today.

The project will assist the two countries with implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security.

Adopted in 2012 by the Committee on World Food Security – of which Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are members – the Guidelines promote secure tenure rights and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests as a means of eradicating hunger and poverty, supporting sustainable development and enhancing the environment.

“Tenure is how people gain access to land, fisheries, forests and other natural resources,” said FAO land tenure expert Morten Hartvigsen, in opening the workshop in Bishkek. “Having secure and equitable access to natural resources can allow people to produce food for their own consumption and to increase income.”

In Kyrgyzstan, FAO will work with a nongovernmental organization – the Union of the Water Users Associations of the Kyrgyz Republic.

At today’s workshop, representatives of the Kyrgyz Government, nongovernmental organizations, academia, and national and international experts are expected to participate. They will discuss how people, communities and others can acquire rights, and associated duties, to use and control land, fisheries and forests.

The FAO project, financed by FAO’s Multi-donor Fund, will run through December 2017. In addition to the awareness-raising workshops, a screening methodology will be developed, data collected, consultations held, and a roadmap for implementing the Guidelines prepared for each of the two countries.

21 September 2017, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan