The Socio-Economic Causes and Consequences of Desertification in Central Asia

This paper examines the linkage between desertification and security, focusing on Central Asia. The first part of the paper discusses the theoretical background and the second half concentrates on the situation in Central Asia. The paper concludes with recommendations for policy options to prevent desertification induced threats to security in the region.

The UN Convention to Combat Desertification was one of the key conventions emerging from the 1992 Conference on Environment and Development. At this meeting, inter-governmental organisations, NGOs and scientists agreed that desertification and land degradation are ‘major economic, social and environmental problems in all regions of the world’ and that they ‘should be addressed through a United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’ (Chapter 12, Agenda 21; UNCCD, 1994). This chapter outlines the early stages of a novel research project that aims to explore the links between this global environmental discourse on desertification and the practical, local socio-economic impacts and responses to land degradation in the Central Asia region. It first explores the changing role of science in combating desertification. Second, it provides some background to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, highlighting three key features of its approach: decentralisation, participation and the importance of local knowledge in anti-desertification activities. It then reviews the historical links between the environmental, social, political and economic dimensions of land degradation and desertification in Central Asia. A programme of activities is presented next, which is designed to investigate how the international approaches outlined in the UN Convention to Combat Desertification may impact upon national and local projects and policies to reduce land degradation and improve rural livelihoods. The paper concludes that there is a growing need for detailed, empirical case study research which reflects more intently on the tensions between international and local discourses of desertification. This is paramount in order to better understand the local challenges posed by the desertification issue, as well as contributing towards the creation of more appropriate and effective mitigation strategies at a regional level.

Agriculture in Central Asia was mismanaged for decades under a centralized command economy. The continuing legacy of this period is severe land degradation in the form of soil salinization and erosion, elevated groundwater levels caused by poorly managed irrigation systems, the drying of the Aral sea, and the chemical and nuclear pollution of water and soil. This paper provides an overview of how these failures occurred and describes some of their negative social and economic impacts.

Pastoral ecosystems in Central Asia have been undergoing many changes, with important implications for their sustainability. Pastoralists traditionally moved over large distances, either following regular migrations between seasonal pastures or opportunistically following forage; however, the ranges of pastoral movements have been reduced. Remote sensing methods were used to assess 1) whether these changes in pastoral land use have promoted or reversed affected rangeland degradation, and 2) how spatial and temporal variations in forage biomass might affect livestock movements and productivity. The remote sensing approach involved measurements of an index of plant productivity, the NDVI, over broad geographic areas. The relationships of plant production to precipitation over time and space were examined in order to differentiate the potential effects of precipitation from the potential effects of livestock grazing on rangeland condition. This was accomplished by assessing “rain use efficiency” or “RUE”, which is an index of the amount of plant production per unit of precipitation. Four study sites or regions were assessed; two in Turkmenistan and two in Kazakstan. Each of the four case studies revealed a different situation with respect to the distribution of resources, the importance of movement, the degree to which movements have been altered, and the consequences for rangeland condition. The analyses revealed spatio-temporal patterns of precipitation, forage, water, and topography which necessitate movement and adaptability. Although traditional regional scale migrations have been lost, the analyses suggested that smaller scale movements, coupled with appropriate stocking rates, can partially avert the negative consequences of complete sedentarization for pastoral production and rangeland condition. To maintain or improve pastoral productivity and sustainability in Central Asia, it will be essential to integrate the spatial distributions of forage, water, climate, and the effects of alternative livestock movements on the condition of the livestock as well as the condition of the rangelands.

This paper documents the impact of grazing on pastures and soil composition at study sites in southern and central Kazakhstan following decollectivization. Uncontrolled grazing and high stocking rates around settlements have produced both environmental degradation and diminished livestock performance despite overall declines in sheep numbers in the post-socialist period.

Kazakh pastoralists formerly followed long-distance migratory routes each season. This was continued with state farm support during the Soviet period. After the collapse of state farms in the mid 1990s, most pastoralists were constrained to graze their animals in circuits around villages, as they could not afford to undertake seasonal migrations. Pasture degradation has resulted. Small-scale village-based livestock owners rely on their animals mainly for subsistence. Compared to large-scale owners, they gain higher rates of economic returns per head of animal owned. Large-scale owners have returned to moving their animals to distant pastures, and their animals are heavier as a consequence. These types of owners can achieve economies of scale, but they have high actual costs of moving animals.

The ideal free distribution is a biological model that explains the abundance of predators relative to their prey. This analysis reapplies this theory to examine the distribution of domestic livestock relative to the availability of water and forage along a 150km. transect in the Karakum Desert of Turkmenistan. In this arid environment, the location, quality and quantity of stock water are as important as forage in determining stock movements. Livestock also appear to shift seasonally between preferring high quality or high volumes of forage. This analysis is part of a wider effort to understand why herd owners maintain animal numbers and distributions that promote or retard desertification.

This paper examines the impact of land reform on agricultural productivity in Tajikistan. Recent legislation allows farmers to obtain access to heritable land shares for private use, but reform has been geographically uneven. The break-up of state farms has occurred in some areas where agriculture has little to offer but, where high value crops are grown, land reform has hardly begun. In cases where collectivized farming persists and land has not been distributed, productivity remains low and individual households benefit little from farming. Where distribution has occurred some households have prospered, yet many have been left landless or with insecure tenure. Unsustainable use of soils is most likely to occur amongst these groups, the poorest in rural Tajikistan, as they farm the most marginal land and are the least able to access fertiliser. Pastures are still accessed by all households and usually managed as communal property; the legislation favours privatization, but the implementation of this is only just beginning.

Since over 60% of Israel is occupied by the Negev desert, measures to combat desertification were initiated at an early stage of the country’s development and have intensified. In the agricultural sector, substantial savings have been achieved through technological improvements in irrigation methods, increasing the efficient use of water and effluents, promoting water recycling, minimizing pesticide use, advancing organic and greenhouse agricultures, and the development of new crops and innovative machinery. Scarcity of water, limited land resources, and lack of natural resources have led Israel to base its economy on technological advances that have considerably reduced the risk of desertification.

Atmospheric metal contamination, especially lead, responds to both the environmental factors and global warming parameters as a function of altitude. Seasonal fluctuations in the lead concentrations of foliar parts of alpine plants have been recorded with values higher in winter and early spring months than in summer months. The larger the snow-free catchment area and the warmer conditions will be in the mountains, the larger and earlier dispersal of lead to the surrounding sub-mountain regions may occur. Pb and Al concentrations in the alpine plants and vertebrates must be of concern in acidified habitats.

The incidence of communicative and tropical diseases is high in the Aral Sea region of Central Asia, effecting 60–300 per 10,000 people. High levels of chlorides in drinking water, the high incidence of heart disease, and increased levels of Ca and Mg leading to biliary and renal calculosis are all problems. Morbidity rates for biliary calculosis have increased ten fold, rates for chronic gastritis four fold, renal diseases eight fold and arthrosis and arthritis by five and seven times. The incidence of acute respiratory diseases in Karakalpakistan varies from 46% to 52%, with the incidence of tuberculosis having doubled in the last ten years so that it is now three times the rate elsewhere in Uzbekistan. Complications in pregnancy affect roughly two thirds of all women who are exposed to pesticides, with increases in pregnancy induced hypertension, gestational anemia, spontaneous abortions and preterm deliveries.