Resource information
Land degradation is a major challenge for agricultural and rural development
in Uzbekistan. Our research findings indicate that the costs of land
degradation in Uzbekistan are substantial; reaching about 0.85 billion USD annually
resulting from the loss of valuable land ecosystem services due to land use and
land cover changes alone between 2001 and 2009. On the other hand, economic
simulations also show that the returns from actions to address land degradation can
be four times higher their costs over a 30-year planning horizon, i.e. every dollar
invested into land rehabilitation can yield 4 dollars of returns over this period. The priority geographic locations for actions against land degradation are suggested to
be Karakalpakstan, Buhoro and Syrdaryo provinces of Uzbekistan, where the
returns from actions are the biggest. The econometric analysis of a nationally
representative survey of agricultural producers shows that national policies could
enhance the uptake of sustainable land management practices by increasing crop
diversification, securing land tenure and creating non-farm jobs in rural areas.
