Dilya Zoirova, Communications Associate in the World Bank Tajikistan Office, offers this story.
In rural Tajikistan, where most people earn very little, there is a growing cohort of farmers who have both secure land tenure and higher incomes. Nasrullo Sangov from Nurobod District and his family are among that cohort, earning enough from their thriving orchard to have much higher living standards than in the past without having to migrate abroad for seasonal work.
Sangov is proud of his orchard and the farm on which it sits, and for which he has a land use certificate. Nurobod District has a beautiful mountainous landscape and a favorable climate to grow fruits such as pears and apples. Thanks to the diligence and hard work of Sangov and his two sons, this land produces the most delicious pears in the entire country, according to locals. The land certificate made Sangov master of his land and enabled him to plant what he wanted instead of taking direction from outside authorities. That independence and his hard work increased his productivity and profit.
Nasrullo Sangov"Our so-called family business is on the rise as we not only sell our produce at a local market but also export it abroad. After a working day, we get back home to enjoy my wife's wonderful dinner and chat on what's new in our village. I am happy that our family is together and we now have money to buy what we want," says Sangov.
The land alone could not have been as productive without proper irrigation, which has been recently restored and has helped to improve yields.
The World Bank-funded Land Registration and Cadastre System Project aims to restructure farmland to enable more rural people to become private farmers, and allow them to take management decisions in response to market forces. The project covers selected districts in all Tajik regions.
Sangov is one of more than 34,000 farmers in the country who have received land use certificates and can now use their land to their advantage. The project also provides farming advice and it facilitates the creation of Water User Associations that organize themselves according to new land use patterns and then receive grants for rehabilitation of their on-farm irrigation systems.
As with any major change, the farm restructuring process was not an easy one. Back in 2007, when the project started, farmers were much less aware than now of their legal rights to land and their freedom to farm the crops they find profitable. The past system was less transparent and farmers often could not make decisions independently. The project provided farmers with secure land use rights distributed transparently and fairly.
New, modern technology and transparent geodetic systems installed as part of the project allows for a more accurate demarcation of borders between farms. That has brought the number of land disputes down. In addition, a number of government specialists were trained in environmentally-friendly land management. To encourage more sustainable land management among farmers, the project has also held a 'Best Land Management Practice' competition.
All these efforts help provide incentives for the growth of agriculture and the increase of food security as well as more sustainable management of agricultural land. It also helps rural populations to climb out of poverty. And, by putting farmers and their interests at the center of land reforms, the project helps Sangov and others like him working small plots of land to earn more and contribute to the country's overall agricultural output, while becoming better stewards of the land.