In Tajikistan, a local association is helping communities, with the help of researchers, to come up with solutions to climate change threats by adapting wheat growing.
Tajikistan has lost many varieties of cereals, beans and fruits in recent decades. To revive these agricultural products and renovate the seeds, in 2018 the Environmental Consultancy organization established the biocultural heritage territory “Pamir Wheat Park” in the Bartang Valley in the Pamir Mountains. Rural communities here practice traditional agricultural methods and are famed for their cultivation of many ancient varieties of wheat.
Tradition and research
Building on this legacy, the Agrobiodiversity Academy was established with the unique in the nature of its research agenda, where local communities’ members coming together and design their research in partnership with visiting scientists and students, taking community prioritization, needs and knowledge into consideration in decisions to release the research results. It will enable them to develop both community-based strategies in response to climate change adaptation, and support for their means of livelihood. Their knowledge will also be documented and made available to the public.
In this region vulnerable to natural disasters, community seed banks have been created to preserve crop variety.
A newly established Mountain Seed Bank will become the lead institute in the region to catalyze the preservation of seeds to adapt to the climate changes. It will help to achieve food security, provide a secure storage facility and link community seed banks to facilitate exchange at national level. It also aims to provide support, training and advocacy for community seed bank managers.
Would you like to support this project?
Source : Unesco