IFPRI CA NEWS DIGEST (APRIL 18, 2017 – APRIL 25, 2017)

News
Power station’s heat allows unique fish farm in Karaganda

(19 April 2017 Astana Times) Natur Produkt farm has been culturing rainbow trout at the Topar Lake 40 kilometers from Karaganda since last year. Close proximity to the Karaganda GRES 2 power station creates unique conditions for fish culturists; thermal release from the power station’s maintains ideal temperatures at a one-hectare pond at no cost to the farm.

 Profit of agricultural producers surge in Kazakhstan
(20 April 2017 Trend) The profits of Kazakhstan’s agricultural producers surged sharply to 84.6 billion tenges (before taxation) in 2016. This is more that the total profit of agricultural enterprises over a four-year period (2012-2015) - 66.1 billion tenges in total. The revenues of agricultural producers increased by 26 percent to 871.8 billion tenges in 2016 compared to 2015.

Four new poultry farms should be operational by the end of the year in Tajikistan
(21 April 2017 Avesta) Tajikistan plans to increase its production of eggs and chicken this year to 400 million eggs and 3.6 thousand tons of chicken, compared to the 357 million eggs and 2.2 thousand tons of chicken produced in 2015. However, this quarter over 100 million eggs were produced, which is 5 million fewer that were produced in the same period last year.

Kyrgyzstan’s parliament considers challenges facing agricultural sector
(23 April 2017 Times of Central Asia) The Kyrgyz parliament is considering a 40 million euro Polish loan for agricultural producers in Kyrgyzstan. The state would receive the loan at 0.5% per year for 25 years with a five-year grace period, while Kyrgyz farmers would get the money at 9% per annum. The parliament has also approved the third reading of amendments to the Law "On the Development of Agriculture", which would provide preferential loans to agricultural producers on terms not exceeding 7% per annum.

Laboratories not to solve problem of export of agricultural products
(24 April 2017 24.kg) First Vice Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Mukhametkaly Abulgaziev admitted at a joint meeting of parliamentary committees on the budget and finance and economic and fiscal policy that the construction of new laboratories won’t solve the problem of export of agricultural products. He said, “Our agriculture is not ready for export. We often say that if the laboratories are built, the export volumes will increase. But that’s not the case. We need new technologies. Only then exports will grow.”

Analysis
Turkmenistan: might and happiness, but few eggs
(18 April 2017 EurasiaNet) Consumers in Turkmenistan are experiencing shortages for several food items according to this report. Eggs, sugar, and cooking oil have been in short supply, which could be partially explained by the country’s ongoing currency problem and inadequate domestic production. The article points to Turkmenistan’s continued emphasis on import substitution in certain sectors as an ineffective strategy to address the current situation. Moreover, officials have signaled that prices for goods will be permitted to rise in the near future.

Tajikistan’s Economy: Any Light at the End of the Tunnel?
(21 April 2017 EurasiaNet) Food prices in Tajikistan have been rising rapidly. Fluctuations in prices for groceries are, on one hand, a seasonal trend contingent on the availability of particular goods, but this particular surge is also linked to performance of the national currency, the somoni. At the start of the year, the somoni was trading around 7.9 to the dollar, but that had risen to 8.5 somoni by mid-April. Additionally, the external support many people could normally count upon has weakened. Where in 2013, Tajik labor migrants based in Russia had sent home around $4 billion, that figure had dropped to $2 billion by 2016.

Other Information
Innovative Project to Stop Sexual Violence in the Kyrgyz Republic Wins World Bank Group, SVRI Funding
(18 April 2017 World Bank) The World Bank Group and Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) today awarded researchers from the American University of Central Asia for a project to combat sexual violence prevailing in some communities in this Central Asian nation. The project aims to make visible the largely invisible issue of sexual abuse occurring in early forced marriage through teaching, research, inter-institutional cooperation and the use of technology.

ADB Approves $80 Million for Uzbekistan Railway Electrification
(24 April 2017 ADB) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved an $80 million loan for the electrification of 145 kilometers (km) of railway in Uzbekistan, linking the cities of Pap, Namangan, and Andijan. The electrified track is part of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Corridor 2, a critical transport link in the region.

EBRD updates Kazakh strategy to reflect green economy transition
(25 April 2017 Astana Times) The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is updating its Kazakhstan strategy to reflect the country’s Green Economy Transition. The new Kazakhstan Country Strategy is expected to be approved in July 2017 and to run for a four-year period from 2017 until 2021.

Publications
Monthly Macro Overview: March 2017
Eurasian Development Bank.

World Economic Outlook, April 2017: Gaining Momentum?
International Monetary Fund.

Soft budgets and elastic debt: farm liabilities in the agrarian political economy of post-Soviet Tajikistan
Irna Hofman. The Journal of Peasant Studies.

Can Water Abundance Compensate for Weak Water Governance? Determining and Comparing Dimensions of Irrigation Water Security in Tajikistan
Frederike Klümper, Thomas Herzfeld, and Insa Theesfeld. Water.

Events and Calls for papers
2017 Regional Summer School for Young Economists
June 12-23, 2017, Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Currently accepting applications for participation; the deadline for submission is May 8, 2017.

Tropentag 2017: Future Agriculture - Social-ecological transitions and bio-cultural shifts
September 20-22, 2017, University of Bonn and the Centre for Development Research, Bonn, Germany. The call for papers and preliminary conference information is now available; the deadline for submission of abstract(s) is May 15, 2017.

Archived issues of the news digest can be found on the Central Asia page under the ReSAKSS Asia website: http://resakss-asia.org/regions/central-asia.  A link to the newsletter can be found under Blog Posts.

The articles included in this news digest have been generated from online sources. Any opinions stated herein are not representative of, or endorsed by, the International Food Policy Research Institute or its partners.