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Republic of TAJIKISTAN

Ministry of Agriculture

Cotton Sector Recovery and Poverty Reduction project

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN REPORT

Main Text

Dushanbe, November 16, 2006

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Contains Acronyms 3Executive Summary 4

I. Country’s and Sector background 6II. Policy, legal, and administrative framework 17(a) Tajikistan’s Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies: 17

(b) World Bank Environmental Policy and Environmental Assessment Requirements 23 III. Project description 24

IV. Baseline Environmental Analysis 27V. Potential Environmental Impact 29VI. Analysis of Alternatives to the Proposed Project 40

VII. Mitigation Measures 40VIII. Monitoring Plan 46IX Stakeholders Analysis and institutional responsibilities 46X. Implementing arrangements 48XI. Capacity building 49XII. Budget 50XIII. Public Consultation 52

Annex 1. Description of project rayon Annex 2. Summary of project potential adverse environmental impacts Annex 3. The results of the environmental auditing of cotton ginning factories Annex 4. Environmental Management Matrix Annex 5. Planning matrix for Pest Management Plan of the Farm Privatization Support Project. Annex 6. Components activities and expected results of the PMP Annex 7. Matrix Environmental impacts of cotton ginning factories and proposed mitigation measures Annex 8. Environmental screening checklist for sub-projects Annex 9. Content of an EIA report Annex 10.Environment Management Guidelines for proposed sub-projects Annex 11. Monitoring Plan Matrix Annex 12 Specific environmental aspects to be monitored Annex 13 Record on consultation meetings Annex 14. References Tables: Table 1. Areas of agricultural lands affected by soil erosion and salinization Table 2. Arable land left outside production from 2000 to 2004 (in ha) Table 3. Selected environment related legislation Table 4. Laws and regulations related to agrochemicals usage in Tajikistan Table 5. Condition of irrigated land, 2000 (‘000 ha) Table 6. List of Cotton Pests and Cotton Diseases in Tajikistan Table 7. Potential pest and implications for pest management under the project Table 8. List of Cotton ginning Factories in Selected Rayons Table 9. Sample of environmental auditing checklists for cotton ginning factories Table 10. Types of potential subprojects Table 11. Mitigation measures for irrigation infrastructure, storehouse and village infrastructure rehabilitation worksTable 12. Budget estimates

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Acronyms ADB Asian Development Bank ATC Agricultural Training Center CAWMP Community Agriculture and Watershed Management Project CPS Country Partnership Strategy DATs Debt Audit Teams DRMU Debt Resolution Management Unit EAP Environmental Action Plan EA Environmental Assessment EMF Environmental Management Framework EMP Environmental Management Plan EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMMP Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan FFS Farmer Field Schools FIAS Farmer Information Advisory Service FPSP Farm Privatization Support Project GBAO Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous oblast GDP Gross Domestic Product GOT Government of Tajikistan ICG International Crisis Group IPM Integrated Pest Management JDCs Jamoat Development Committees LRCSP Land Registration and Cadastre System for Sustainable Agriculture Project MAC Maximum Allowable Concentrations MIGA Micro Investment Government Agency MIWR Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources MOA Ministry of Agriculture MOF Ministry of Finance MOH Ministry of health NGO Non-governmental Organization OP Operational Policy PAU Poverty Assessment Update PIU Project Implementation Unit PMP Pest Management Plan POP Persistent Organic Pollutants RIRP Rural Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project RRS Rayon under Republican Subordination SCEPF State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry SEE State Ecological “Expertise” SCLM State Committee of Land Management SPV Special Payment Vehicle UNDP United Nations Development Program WB World Bank WUA Water User Association WHO World Health Organization

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Executive summary

Introduction

1. Project objective is to improve the livelihood of cotton farmers and create the conditions for sustainable growth of cotton production in selected, low income areas of Tajikistan, through: debt resolution, an improved policy environment, and increased cotton output and profitability. The Project consists of four components. The first two components focus on debt resolution and government capacity to formulate and monitor policy; and the third - on building farmer capacity to engage in processing and marketing activities. Under the third component there will be three separate sub-components – cotton ginnery joint ventures (while the sub-component will not directly finance new ginneries, it will promote foreign direct investment in ginneries in selected districts, and demonstrate the impact of increased competition on producer incentives); cotton seed supply, and farmer support that includes public awareness activities and farm extension services. It is also expected the Bank and the Government will work on getting additional funding for providing to the local farmers matching grants for investment in rehabilitation of physical farming infrastructure. The forth component will provide assistance in project management and monitoring. 2. Project location. Policy reforms will be supported at national level while other project components will be implemented in selected districts of Khatlon region, which accounts for the highest share (60%) of cotton production in Tajikistan and has the highest incidence of rural poverty (75% of rural people below the poverty line) (the description of socio-economic and environmental status in these districts is presented in the Annex 1). The selected districts will represent about thirty percent of the region’s cotton output. Project Environmental Category and Terms of Reference for the EA 3. Project category. The Project, incorporating investments in the increase of farmer participation and ownership of cotton processing, as well as in input supply and associated activities, has received an environmental rating of B, since it involves moderate and mostly indirect environmental impacts that can be managed during implementation of the project. 4. Purpose and Terms of Reference for the Environmental Assessment. The purpose of the environmental assessment (EA) is to identify the significant environmental impacts of the project (both positive and negative) and to specify appropriate preventive actions and mitigation measures (including appropriate monitoring) to prevent, eliminate or minimize any anticipated adverse impacts. As required under World Bank Safeguard Policies and Procedures, an Environmental Assessment (EA) was carried out by an independent local consultant. Based on this study the consultant prepared an Environmental Management Plan (EMP). The EA report was prepared based on the following: (i) analysis of the existing national legal documents, regulations and guidelines; (ii) WB safeguard policies, as well as guiding materials; (iii) results of consultations with the representatives from all interested stakeholders; and (iv) field visits and express auditing of several cotton ginning factories in the project area to identify environmental problems associated with their activities. National and World Bank EA legal and institutional framework

5. Tajikistan Regulatory framework for EA. During the last decade Tajikistan has developed its own EA rules and procedures, which generally are in line with the WB requirements. The main regulatory act in this area, - the Law on Ecological Expertise clearly stipulates the main responsibilities, as well as requirements for conducting environmental impact assessment and review of activities that might have an impact on the environment. The law introduces the concept of state ecological review (literally, state ecological “expertise” – SEE) which seeks to examine the compliance of proposed activities and projects with the requirements of environmental legislation and standards. The SEE precedes decision-making about activities that may have an

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adverse impact on the environment. Financing of programs and projects is allowed only after a positive SEE conclusion has been issued. 6. Institutional framework and capacities to perform safeguards. The Environmental Protection Law states that a SEE should be conducted by the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry, which is designated as a duly authorized state environmental protection body. A small unit in the committee is entrusted with guiding and managing both EIA and SEE. The EA institutional capacity of the borrower was assessed during project preparation and concluded that the Committee has relevant capacities to perform their duties concerning reviewing EA studies and enforcing EMP provisions. At the same time, the project will support additional activities to strengthen capacities of all other involved state institutions and ensure the environmental requirements and EMP provisions will be fully implemented, as well as into design and implementation of the EAs possible for matching grants.

7. The Bank Safeguard Policy. The World Bank requires environmental assessment (EA) of projects proposed for Bank financing to ensure that they are environmentally sound and sustainable, and thus improve decision making (OP 4.01, January 1999). The Bank favors preventive measures over mitigatory or compensatory measures, whenever feasible. Analysis of Environmental Impacts and main feature of the Environmental Management Plan

8. Potential environmental impacts. The Project is expected to produce no significant environmental impact as it will not involve any major construction requiring resettlement or land acquisition, nor invest in the construction of dams, new canals or head-works that would allow increased water abstraction from main sources, enlarge land area under cotton (see Annex 2). The proposed project activities may have both positive and negative environmental impacts. The positive effects might be associated with more efficient water and land usage due to improved irrigation infrastructure and improved access to new agricultural machinery. Secondly, an increase in cotton production may be associated with increased and/or overuse use of water resources, as we11 as with the increased operation of ginning factories and would also involve the increase in use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. The residues of these chemicals may affect wild fauna, and surrounding environment. These chemicals can also cause bodily harm, if farmers are not taught on their proper handling. The operation of ginning factories could expose workers to substance and dust emission as we1l as occupational hazards (see Annex 3 with the results of gins environmental auditing). Similar the proposed rehabilitation of irrigation and village infrastructure, of storehouses might generate environmental impacts due to inappropriate construction activities. Most of these potential environmental impacts are minor and could be easily managed during the project implementation. 9. Environment Management Plan. The project EMP ensures that the proposed prevention/mitigation measures and monitoring activities identified in the EA will be properly undertaken during the project implementation. The EMP also establishes the necessary institutional responsibilities, proposes a timetable for implementing these activities and estimates their costs for that are integrated in the proposed project budget.

10. Mitigation measures. The EMP contains recommendations with regard to mitigation measures for four groups of potential environmental impacts (see Annex 4 that presents the Environmental Management Matrix). a. Increased and/or overuse of water consumption. The recommendations in this area include the following:

• Apply nationally established requirements and norms for cotton production; • Create and train water Users Associations on best practices for cotton production; • Introduce economic incentives for water usage; • Conduct periodical inspection on water usage and protection.

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b. Increased and incorrect use or overuse of agrochemicals. With regard to agrochemicals usage and Pest Management the EMP includes an assessment of:

• Current pest management practices and the extent to which these might be considered as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach,

• Potential impacts and risks associated with current pesticide use; • National regulatory framework for the control of pesticides.

Based on this assessment as well as on the ongoing activities in this area within other WB projects, the EMP recommends measures that ensure better protection of the users, the environment, and provide better and more efficient ways of controlling pests. In this regard the EMP provides: (i) proposals for direct measures to reduce risks associated with use of pesticides, (ii) recommendations for the improving the regulatory framework for pesticide control and; (iii) recommendations for strengthening institutional capacity for promoting and implementation of IPM (see Annex 5 and 6). c. Environmental impacts of cotton ginning factories. The express environmental audit of selected cotton ginning factories that has been carried out under the environmental analysis, proposes the following key measures to address the environmental problems for the existing and/or new factories (see Annex 7):

• Adopt environmental management/action plans for each factory in order to control air emission, treat and dispose the wastes, and protect workers from exposure to harmful substances, heat and dust, malfunctioning equipment;

• Train the staff on environmental as well as on health and safety requirements and measures for mitigating potential harmful impacts;

• Conduct a periodic self and/or state environmental monitoring and enforce the existing national regulations to ensure full compliance of factories with safety requirements, waste disposal and emission standards as well as compliance with the provisions of the EMP;

• Integrate environmental management at factory level with the local environmental action plans, especially, with regard to prevention of air pollution, waste management, handling of hazardous substances (transport, storage, treatment, and disposal), and public awareness.

d. Potential impacts of rehabilitation of physical farming infrastructure. In order to avoid and/or mitigate the possible environmental impacts of construction civil works, the EMP proposes an Environmental Management Framework for such activities, including: (a) a special procedure for screening of proposed activities and their approval by the environmental authorities for identified subprojects that require a separate EMP; (b) Environmental screening checklist (see Annex 8); (c) content for the EIA report (see Annex 9) and (d) Environmental Guidelines that recommend the mitigation measures that should be undertaken while implementing mentioned activities (see Annex 10). 11. Monitoring plan. The EMP includes a Monitoring Plan with measures that will be employed to track the effectiveness of the Mitigation Plan and described the environmental indicators to be monitored, along with the monitoring methods, frequency, costs, as well as the monitoring and reporting procedures, including institutional arrangements for the implementation of this plan (Annex 11). It addresses in particular project need to monitor and mitigate negative impact of any increase in water use, as well as increase in the use of agrochemicals, particularly chemical pesticides by promoting ecological approaches to pest management. It includes also monitoring activities related to operation of cotton ginning factories and activities for implementation of irrigation and village infrastructure rehabilitation works. 12. Capacity building. A full time environmental specialist will be recruited into the PIU to oversee the environmental aspects of project development and implementation. Additionally a training program to develop and expand professional skills and capacity in environmental management issues for staff involved in project implementation as well as for the staff from the involved state institutions will be organized under the project through the PIU.

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Public consultation

13 EA report disclosure and consultation. The Ministry of Agriculture has disseminated the draft summary EMP in its institutions and to other relevant ministries for review and comments, also posting it for wide public on the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry website. After one week time the PIU has conducted a public briefing and consultation on the document. Outside of participants from the interested state institutions in the meeting took part also representatives from environmental and agricultural NGOs, local representatives of the government bodies, such as SCEPF, MoA, MoH, MIWR, SCLA and others. The meeting concluded that the draft EMP document covered practically all potential impacts and possible mitigation measures. The draft EMP was revised after the meeting taking into account inputs from the consultation. The final version of the EMP was provided to the World Bank, and will be used by the government agencies in the project implementation. The details of the consultation process and the main results are presented in Annex 13.

I. Country’s and sector background

General overview. 14. Tajikistan is a small, mountainous, landlocked country with a territory of 143,1 thousand km2. Population of the country, according to the census conducted in 2000, numbers 6 million 127,5 thousand people. Of the total area of 14,3 million hectares (ha) 4,6 million ha is agriculture land. With rural population of 4,6 million, this means a very limited land availability of about 0.16 ha/capita1 of rural population.

15. The country is considered the poorest of the former Soviet Union countries. In 2003, 64 percent of the population was poor (defined as living on less than USD 2.15 per day at purchasing power parity). Almost three quarters of Tajikistan’s poor people, but only 65 percent of the population, live in two regions, Khatlon and Sugd2. However, a poverty rate of 64 percent in 2003 represents a considerable improvement over 2000, when 83 percent of the residents lived below the official poverty line.

16. The country’s economy deeply suffered from both the disintegration of the Former Soviet Union in 1991 and the bitter Civil War that began in 1992. Impoverished by sudden shortages of fuel, income, and food, the population has reverted to subsistence practices, which put an extra burden on the natural resources and the environment of the country.

17. The socio-political and economic shocks of this last decade have directly affected the environment causing degradation especially in a few major areas: (i) natural disasters; (ii) land degradation; (iii) limited access to safe drinking water supply; (iv) threatened wildlife and protected areas, (v) air pollution in urban areas; and (vi) water pollution and wastes management3.

18. The country has four administrative regions: (i) Khatlon (includes Kurgan-Tube and Kulyab), which is an agricultural area with most of country’s cotton growing districts; (ii) the Rayons of Republican Subordination (RRS) with the massive aluminum smelter (TADAZ) in the west and agricultural valleys in the east predominantly growing crops other than cotton; (iii) Sugd, which is the most industrialized region but also involved in cotton growing; and (iv) Gorno-Badakhshan Administrative Oblast (GBAO), which is mountainous, remote and sparsely populated.

1 ADB. Memorandum of Understanding. Fact Finding Mission. Proposed Sustainable Subsector Project for the Republic of Tajikistan. 3-26 October 2005.

2 World Bank Tajikistan Poverty Assessment Update (PAU), 2004. 3 National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) of the Republic of Tajikistan. Governmental Decision No. from June , 2006

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Land resources. 19. About 4.1 million ha of the country territory is agricultural land; most of this land is pasture (more than 3 million ha). The area of arable and irrigated land per capita is lower in Tajikistan than in other Central Asian countries. This is a bottleneck in the development of the country’s economy, in particular in view of the rapid increase of the population. Of Tajikistan’s total 851,000 ha of arable land, 719,000 ha are irrigated. Most of the irrigated land, 83%, is found in the Khatlon and Sughd oblasts.

20. The country’s land resources are affected by various forms of degradation, including soil erosion, landslides, pollution, salinization.

The table 1 below present general data about most important land degradation processes occurred on the existing agricultural lands4.

Table. 1. Areas of agricultural lands affected by soil erosion and salinization Eroded land of total land resources (%) 82.3

• of which affected by water erosion (%) 58.8 • of which affected by wind erosion (%) 23.5

Irrigated land affected by salinization 132,007 (ha) • of which light salinization 93,920 • of which moderate salinization 21,737 • of which severe and very severe salinization 16,350

21. Soil erosion on irrigated lands. Irrigation of the sloping land accelerates erosion and causing landslides and gully formation. In Karategin Valley, from 200 to 1,800 hectares of lands are exposed to intensive gully formation, this process being intensified by forest cuttings and overgrazing. Gully formation processes also actively develop on newly irrigated lands in Dangara, Yavan, Vose and Parhar regions; this type of erosion covers nearly 50 thousand ha in the country.

22. Salinization and waterlogging. Poor water management practices, missing infrastructure to control water releases and to drain wastewaters, and a lack of incentives and know-how are all factors causing salinization and waterlogging of irrigated land. These processes affect approximately 16 percent of Tajikistan’s irrigated lands, especially in the Khatlon and Sughd regions. Almost 40,000 ha of arable land are severely or moderately damaged by salinization, and more than 40,000 ha are waterlogged. In 2004 8,491 ha of arable land (including 4,628 ha of irrigated land) were abandoned because of increased salinization, water logging and reduced soil fertility5 (see table 2)

Table 2. Arable land left outside production from 2000 to 2004 (in ha) Years

Name of 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

4 United Nations Economic and Social Council. Environmental Performance Review of Tajikistan. First Review, 2004. (see: www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/Tajikistan/welcome.htm)

5 Asian Development Bank. Sustainable Cotton Sub-Sector Project Environmental Review. 2006, March, conducted by N.Nadiradze

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Region Total Incl. irrigat

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Total Incl. irrigat

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Total Incl. irrigated

Total Incl. irrigated

Total Incl. irrigated

Sugd 17,334 32,610 21,033 5,343 48,632 4,342 5,305 2,194 4,059 1,438Khatlon 17,34

88,732 26,233 11,438 11,744 5,789 8,155 3,119 3,546 2,358

GBAO 5,028 4,890 5,022 4,929 4,613 4,613 4,427 4,384 871 828RRS 1,541 208 8,397 1,235 5,340 5,350 3,916 152 15 4Total in the republic

41,25146,440

60,685 22,945 70,339 15,862

21,803 9,849 8,491 4,628

Source: State Land Management Committee of the Republic of Tajikistan

23. Deforestation. In the last 50 years about 300,000 hectares of the forest lands have been converted into agricultural fields, including tugai, pistachio, almond, and broadleaved forests. This massive change in land use and vegetation, often followed by farming without good soil management, has degraded the fertility and disrupted the hydrology of the land. In many areas where forests and shrubs were cut to harvest the wood, subsequent livestock grazing has prevented any forest regeneration and the consequent degradation has led to landslides, fires, pests and flooding. It is estimated that illegal wood cutting, grazing, and natural disasters continue to destroy approximately 5,000 to 10,000 m3 of forests each year, which is about 1.5 to 3 times more than the natural forest renewal6.

24. Pasture Degradation. Some 3 million ha (out of 3. 6 million ha) , i.e. about 83 percent of the total area of pastures, are degraded as seasonal use of high elevation pastures is being replaced by a year-round use of lower lying lands7. Complex interactions involving grazing pressure and productivity of pastures are yet to be properly evaluated but there is little doubt about the generally worsening situation.

Water resources 25. Tajikistan is very rich in freshwaters. On average 50.9 billion m3 of water is formed annually on its territory8. These resources stem from precipitation and melting glaciers, which, along with snowfields, constitute a huge reserve of water (estimated at 845 billion m3, covering 8% of the territory). These waters drain to the Aral Sea basin, where they represent 55% of the total basin flow. They flow to the Amu Darya river (50.2 billion m3) and the Syr-Darya river (0.7 billion m3), through Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. There are 1300 lakes containing 46 billion m3 of water, and 9 water reservoirs (overall capacity 15.3 billion m3, individual capacity from 0.028 to 10.5 billion m3). The latter are mainly used to produce electricity, to irrigate crops and to protect from mudflows. 26. Significant reserves of groundwater are found in all major river basins. Total water reserves are estimated at 123 billion m3. Potential groundwater reserves are estimated about 18.7 billion m3/year, with 6 billion approved for use, but only 2-2.8 billion are currently exploited. Accessible water reserves are mainly located under the large river valleys (Syr-Darya, Kafirnigan, Vakhsh, Kysylsu and Yakhsu) and intermountain

6 United Nations Economic and Social Council. Environmental Performance Review of Tajikistan. First Review, 2004. (see: www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/Tajikistan/welcome.htm)

7 Ibidem 8 State of the Environment: Republic of Tajikistan. GRID Arendale, 2002 (see State of the Environment: Republic of Tajikistan.

GRID Arendale, 2002 (see: http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/tadjik/soe2001/eng/

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depressions. Originally the quality of groundwater was high, with groundwater in the north highly mineralized due to salinization. Biodiversity

27. Tajikistan is home to unique species of flora and fauna. There are 4 nature reserves (zapovedniks), 14 nature refuges (zakazniks) and 2 National Parks – most of them established during the Soviet times. Nature reserves exist along the Vakhsh river delta (Tigrovaya Balka), in Southern Tajikistan, characterized by tugai forests along the Vakhsh and Panj rivers; in Dashtijum, where populations of markhor, snow leopard and Siberian ibex live; and in Zorkul, which includes the protected areas of Zorkul lake islands, where bar-headed goose and argali are nesting. Despite these figures, nearly 80 percent of Tajik unique ecosystems are located outside protected areas. 28. The flora and fauna of the country consists of more than 23,000 species of which about 1,900 are endemic. Rare and endangered animals include the sheep Marco Polo, snow leopard, peregrine, paradise flycatcher, mountain goose, marmot, gray lizard, and Siberian ibex. The Red Data Book also lists the Bukhara red deer, the Persian gazelle, and the koodoo markhur as vulnerable fauna. A number of birds are equally endangered, for example a number of species of waders, birds of pray, pheasants, cranes, plovers, pigeons, and swifts. Nearly half of the species of the mid-mountain forest ecosystems are considered endangered because of reduced habitat. Cutting trees, overgrazing, as well as poaching represent serious threats to the preservation of wildlife in the country. In addition, lack of environmental education contributes to a poor use of biological resources. For example, more than 60 species of wild medicinal factories that grow in Tajik forests are used by people in the country without necessarily knowing weather the specie is endangered or not. Forests 29. There are 1,941,000 ha of forest lands in the country which constitute only about 3% of its territory. The closed forest of 40% crown coverage or more is estimated at 401,000 ha. Satellite images show that 694,000 ha are forest or areas covered with trees and shrubs. Since forests secure water, prevent erosion and protect soils, logging is prohibited except for sanitary tree-cuttings and restoration works. Clear-cutting is not allowed, only selective cutting. The forests productivity is poor with only about 10% with the higher growth classes. The total timber volume in natural forests is estimated to just above 5 million m3. This is less than 13 m3 per ha of closed forest, a very low figure. 30. The main types of country’s forests are: maples and other hardwoods, juniper, walnut, birch and pistachio forests. It is possible to find also a large variety of wild fruit trees, such as apricots and mulberries, which grow at middle altitudes. The only other significant forests are Tugai forests, which can be found between 300 and 450 m of altitude. Despite that all forests in Tajikistan are under strict protection, illegal logging increased considerably during the 1990s. As with pasture degradation and often in association with it, deforestation is followed by soil erosion. Besides the loss of mountain forest areas, since 1950s more than 300,000 ha of native tugai (Populus pruinosa, Elaeagnus angustifolia) forests have been converted to farming or destroyed in the lower elevations of Kulyab zone, Vakhsh valley and along the banks of Syr Darya in Sugd leaving only islands of such vegetation in places such as Tigrovaya Balka zapovednik. Pesticides and fertilizers usage

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31. Fertilizers consumption has been reduced to 25% of what it was in 1990; of the 40,000 to 100,000 tons of mineral fertilizers still used each year9. Currently the use of fertilizers on cereals is estimated to be 10-15% of recommended levels. Pesticide use was high in the 1970s and 1980s, especially for cotton production. In 1985, pesticide deliveries exceeded 18,800 tons. Organochlorinated compounds could at that time be detected on a considerable proportion of the acreage, and it is claimed that traces of these compounds are still found in the environment. In the 1990s pesticide use declined dramatically and currently the annual use is at the, less than 2,000 tons per year. The lack of both training and of information for farmers hampers the good selection and proper use of pesticides. Cheap but inefficient pesticides are often applied. Moreover, pesticide sprayers are outdated and, if at all available, do not lend them to an even distribution of the active substance. The same applies to fertilizers. The farmers spraying pesticides do not use any protective equipment. The conditions for the storage, transport and application of the chemicals, are inadequate and cause pollution. Nitrate contamination in the Syr Darya from the cotton-growing districts is still considerable. The lack of monitoring makes difficult to define the magnitude of the problem. 32. The earlier uncontrolled application of pesticides in agriculture has led to significant contamination of soil, water and other environmental media. The concentration of pesticides in food products during the 1970s and 1980s was 7 to 10 times the MAC10. There are still stockpiles of many highly toxic pesticides in agricultural enterprises. They represent an immediate threat to the environment. Currently there are only two depositories for toxafen, DDT, endrin and other pesticides, in Sogdyiskaja oblast and in Hatlonskaja oblast.Some studies on pesticides exposure have shown an increased incidence of respiratory diseases, rheumatic diseases, malignant neoplasms of the digestive system, nephritis, gastric ulcers and nervous diseases in areas with high pesticide concentrations11.Agriculture

33. The agricultural sector represents the basis for the national economy, - in 2003, it represented about 26 percent of the country’s GDP and two thirds of its labor force was employed in this sector. Along with cotton (the main crop in Tajikistan’s agriculture), the country cultivates rice, cereals, tobacco, potatoes, vegetables, and vineyards. Livestock breeding (cattle, sheep and goats) is second to cotton growing in for the economic value generated. The structure of production changed considerably after independence, as the share of production devoted to basic foodstuffs such as grain and potatoes has increased. However, cotton remains the dominating cash crop.

34. In 2004, agricultural land extended over 4.2 million ha, or about 30 percent of the country’s total land area (14.2 million ha.). The vast majority of agricultural land is pasture, 3.4 million ha, or 81 percent. Most of pastures in the country are summer pastures at high altitude. Summer pastures, though, are not used intensely which, in turn, creates more pressure on winter pastures with negative consequences for production and land degradation. Arable lands (irrigated and non-irrigated) account for 800 thousand. Irrigated agricultural land represents only about 17 percent of all agricultural land, but it generates about 80 percent of agricultural production, and 85 percent of water use for irrigation. About 83 percent of irrigated land is located in the Khatlon and Sugd regions.

35. Tajikistan’s agriculture has gone through many changes since the country acquired independence in 1991. Agricultural output dropped sharply and only very timid reforms have been undertaken to boost agricultural

9 State of the Environment: Republic of Tajikistan. GRID Arendale, 2002 (see State of the Environment: Republic of Tajikistan. GRID Arendale, 2002 (see: http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/tadjik/soe2001/eng/

10United Nations Economic and Social Council. Environmental Performance Review of Tajikistan. First Review, 2004. (see: www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/Tajikistan/welcome.htm)

11 United Nations Economic and Social Council. Environmental Performance Review of Tajikistan. First Review, 2004. (see: www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/Tajikistan/welcome.htm)

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production. The country had begun the land privatization process in the mid 1990s but with the civil war and entrenched vested interests, the process lacked transparency and legitimacy. However, the process of handing over to dehkan farmers the right to use agricultural land is ongoing and private dehkan farms now cultivate much of the agricultural land including pastures. The formal marketing and supply chains have collapsed especially in cotton production which is the main foreign currency earner for Tajikistan. 36. Land privatization seems to be having a positive effect on production, but new dehkan farmers are facing a number of difficulties due to first of all lack of financial resources and machinery. There is also a need to develop cooperation among new family dehkan farms on practical aspects such as the cooperative use of machinery, transport, processing and sale of products, and maintenance of irrigation and drainage schemes. Water user associations (WUAs) are being established, but this process will take some time. In addition, it should be noted that very often new dehkan farmers lack knowledge on basic land, crop, water, fertilizer, and pesticide management practices. The rural population relies on subsistence production on household plots, providing an estimated 50% of total household income in kind and in cash. Nearly all households have access to a small plot (0.1-0.3 ha). In 1996-1998, 75,000 ha were distributed in small plots according to a presidential decree. Total acreage of household plots is 125,000 ha, 60% of which are being irrigated. 37. In March 2004 there were 20,743 private, dekhkan farms with 923,000 shareholders covering 53% of the land. Some State farms (for research, seed production, and animal breeding) are excluded from privatization, but otherwise the aim is to privatize agricultural production before the end of 2005. There are three kinds of private farms: farms of individual entrepreneurs, family farms and cooperative (“company”) farms, this last category being in some cases only cosmetic transformations of former kolkhozes and sovkhozes. Central and local authorities tend to favour larger farms in an effort to promote cotton production. The “individual farms” and “family farms” are generally very small and may in the longer term be difficult to run efficiently. A typical family farm is 1- 4 ha. 38. Tajikistan has approximately 718,049 ha of irrigated land incorporating almost 6,000 km of main irrigation canals and about 12,000 km of drainage infrastructure. A significant share of this infrastructure is no longer fully operational. Estimates of land area that is still able to grow irrigated crops, even at low productivity levels, vary considerably but seem to converge around a figure of 630,000 ha, implying that about 88,000 ha of land are not irrigated because of malfunctioning irrigation infrastructure. In addition, approximately 116,000 ha of the irrigated land are affected by various degree of salinization.12 Thus, in reality the irrigated land unaffected by adverse factors is around 514,000 ha. Half of the irrigated land is in Khatlon, 35 percent in Sugd and 14 percent in RRS. Cotton is the overwhelmingly dominant cash crop, accounting for almost 30 percent of the country’s export earnings13. Three quarters of Tajikistan’s farmland and a similar share of farm households are dedicated to growing cotton, although other crops (wheat, vegetables and etc.) are taking an increasing share.

Cotton production

39. Tajikistan has a tradition and the natural conditions (water, climate) for producing high-quality cotton. Cotton is the principal cash crop in Tajikistan, accounting for about 45 percent of irrigated lands and it employs one third of the farming population in the country. Cotton is also the main input used in the light and textile industries. Although cotton is one of the country’s most valuable export commodity, profitability of cotton cultivation is low and depends on a wide variety of factors including: availability of major inputs; the presence of local, as well as export monopolies that have kept very low the prices paid to farmers for raw cotton; low world market prices; and susceptibility to weather conditions. In addition, cotton cultivation has

12 The World Bank. Rural Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project. 2000 13 World Bank Tajikistan Poverty Assessment Update (PAU), 2004.

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some serious negative environmental impacts especially on soil quality since pesticides and fertilizers are used in large quantities.

40. Due to a series of factors (inadequate access to fertilizers, pesticides, high quality seeds and new technologies; a breakdown in the crop rotation system, which reduces soil fertility; and lack of maintenance of irrigation and particularly drainage infrastructure, which leads to water logging and/or increases land salinity) the cotton crops productivity has decreased from 3,500 kg/ha to 1,600-1,800 kg/ha in Vose district, from 2,700 kg/ha to 1,200-1,500 kg/ha in Vakhsh district, from 2,500 kg/ha to 1,500-1,700 kg/ha in Sugd region14

41. Although the Government of Tajikistan favors cotton production, the crop is not currently profitable for dehkan farmers. There are two principal reasons for this. First, yields dropped from more than three tones per hectare in Soviet times to less than two in 2003 (see point 36). Second, in practice the ginnery system works heavily to the disadvantage of dehkan farmers. Gins control the prices that dehkan farmers receive for cotton and largely control the quality of inputs and timing of input delivery. The country’s 38 gins are privately owned, and each is a monopolist purchaser of cotton in a designated area of the country. Dehkan farmers cannot sell their crop elsewhere. Managers of cotton dehkan farms enter into future contracts with the gin or investment intermediary. In return for crop financing (in the form of inputs delivered by the gin at a price, quality and timing of its convenience), dehkan farms will deliver a fixed amount of cotton. If dehkan farmers deliver less than the agreed amount, their accounts are debited, which has led to significant debts for many cotton dehkan farms. In addition, ginning machinery is outdated, making processing inefficient and damaging to the product, and gins are also able to charge dehkan farmers interest until the cotton has been ginned and is ready for export. Ginning in Tajikistan takes up to 200 days compared to 90 days in other countries. It causes raw cotton to deteriorate due to extended storage. In addition, this reduces payments to Tajik dehkan farmers by a country-wide average of USD 5 million15 every year and also means that dehkan farmers do not have the proceeds from the previous year’s crop in time to buy inputs for the following year but are obliged to borrow (or, more usually, to accept inputs in kind in return for a futures contract). 42. As a result of these distortions, cotton dehkan farmers are considerably worse off than those who grow other crops. This is remarkable, as one would expect small family dehkan farms to earn considerably less than dehkan farms growing the country’s main cash crop. According to a report prepared by an International Crisis Group (ICG), Tajik dehkan farmers who grow other crops receive from eight to thirteen times what their cotton-growing counterparts make.16 The World Bank Poverty Assessment Update (PAU) supports this finding by stating that the main cotton area of Khatlon is home to 30 percent of the population and 50 percent of the extremely poor.17

Related donors’ projects 43. Starting from the end of 90th, Tajikistan implemented and is implementing a series of projects related to support and promote various reforms in agriculture. Within these projects there where implemented different activities aimed at promoting land privatizations, improvements in micro crediting, of existing irrigation infrastructure, improvements in the inputs supply chain. Furthermore, all these projects provided and will provide support in implementing environmental protection activities in agriculture, including on promoting Integrated Pest Management System. In order to avoid duplication of proposed within this EMP activities the consultant has analyzed these projects and proposed new activities taking into account what was and/or what will be done within these projects.

14 State of the Environment: Republic of Tajikistan. GRID Arendale, 2002 (see State of the Environment: Republic of Tajikistan. GRID Arendale, 2002 (see: http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/tadjik/soe2001/eng/

15 World Bank Tajikistan Poverty Assessment Update (PAU), 2004. 16 International Crisis Group. The Curse of Cotton. Central Asia’s Destructive Monoculture, 2005. 17 World Bank Tajikistan Poverty Assessment Update (PAU), 2004.

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44. In 1999, the WB Farm Privatization Support Project (FPSP) started to develop a model for the transfer of state or collective farms into private dehkan farms and farmer associations. Under the pilot scheme, ten farms in three provinces were privatized. The project also included measures to build capacity for carrying out rural information and advisory services with the goal of developing private extension services, and a National Agricultural Training Center was founded. 45. The Rural Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project (RIRP), which was approved in 2000, helped increase the water supply and efficiency in the irrigation channels supplying the newly privatized as well as adjoining farms, and established users groups for both irrigation and drinking water. The project has an environmental management plan that described the environmental problems related to the irrigation subsector and proposed a number of mitigating measures, among which was the hiring of a local environmental expert by the Project Management Unit (PMU) who would regularly monitor and assess the quality of irrigation and drainage water. 46. The WB Community Agriculture and Watershed Management Project (CAWMP, 2005-2010) seeks to build productive assets of rural communities in four selected mountain watersheds, and protect globally important ecosystems by mainstreaming sustainable land use and biodiversity conservation. The project expects farm productivity improvements would lead to an increase in pesticide use and therefore a separate Pest Management Plan (PMP) was developed to address the project’s need to monitor and mitigate negative environmental impacts18. The plan aimed to provide a framework for the development of IPM programs for field crops and livestock in the project watersheds to identify, understand and manage pest problems of community agriculture, reduce human and environmental health risks associated with pesticide use, and protect the ecosystem by conserving beneficial organisms such as natural enemies of pests and pollinators to increase productivity. Collaboration and synergies between this and other projects, regional and international research system and NGOs would be explored and awareness would be raised for a national IPM policy. The plan proposed to hire a national research institution with necessary expertise in field crop/horticultural crop IPM and veterinary entomology capabilities. Based on the research and technical support needs of the project communities, the national institution would develop IPM packages for economically important crop (and livestock) systems, develop and deliver a training program with the aid of demonstrations, adaptive research trials and experiential learning in the farmer fields. This institution would also train the trainers and project specialists and assist the PMU in designing a monitoring and evaluation program to assist in the coordination of IPM implementation. 47. In the new WB Land Registration and Cadastre System for Sustainable Agriculture Project (LRCSP 2005-2011), some 300 state or collective farms in 36 rayons and covering different cropping systems will be privatized into 75,000 family farms following the earlier developed model. In addition to farm privatization and land registration, the project aims to enable rural people to become independent farm management decision takers responding to market forces. This will be done through providing training courses and publications to farmers and supporting water user associations. The project environmental assessment also comprised a Pest Management Plan since pesticide use was expected to grow as agricultural income increases. The project plans to further develop the PMP developed for the CAWMP by developing more environmentally acceptable pest control methods for agriculture throughout the country, i.e. also in areas not covered by the CAWMP. It proposes to use farmer field schools (FFS) for the training of farmers and to support the Farmer Information Advisory Service (FIAS) and the National Agricultural Training Center (ATC) to develop the capacity of farmers and others for implementing IPM. The plan included lists of pesticides that were not permissible in the project and those that were permissible generally and under IPM specifically. Furthermore, it is planned to inform least 3,600 farmers within the project areas about IPM through exposure to 36 demonstration plots and 36 field level training sessions on IPM.

18 Starting up IPM in Tajikistan. WB Report. G.Walter-Echols. November, 2005

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48. The proposed Asian Development Bank “Sustainable Cotton Subsector Project for the Republic of Tajikistan” targets establishment of a sustainable cotton sub-sector in Tajikistan. The Project outcomes are the confirmation of sustainable debt loads on selected cotton growing dehkan farms, establishment of a viable alternative crop financing schemes, and increase of cotton export prices for Tajikistan’s cotton. To achieve these outcomes the Project will support the resolution of cotton debt for participating dehkan farms in designated areas (about four rayons or districts), provide alternative agricultural credit source for crop financing to restructured dehkan farms in pilot rayons, support the establishment and implementation of universal cotton standards, provide improved pricing systems for cotton exports, and facilitate an enabling environment for the establishment of bonded warehouses. The Project is expected to produce no environmental impact as it will not involve any major construction requiring resettlement or land acquisition, nor invest in the construction of dams, new canals or head-works that would allow increased water abstraction from main sources, enlarge land area under cotton, or increase use of pesticides. It is proposed the possible indirect negative impacts on environment will be mitigated be mitigated by a number of activities19: (a) Awareness program(s) on sustainable water, pesticides and IPM, and land use practices; (b) Experience sharing between the Project target farms with dehkan farms, members of successful Water User Associations (WUAs), to demonstrate modem irrigation and drainage systems, technologies of on-farm water and land management (such as crop rotation, fertility and productivity of land); (c) Support to the POPs unit within the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry and other relevant government agencies with the development of relevant regulations to enforce proper labeling, sales, handling and safe disposal of agricultural chemicals; and (d) Request that commercial banks put in place procedures that ensure proper consideration and review of possible environmental consequences of proposed activities (Agricultural financing innovation component). II. Policy, legal, and administrative framework.

(a) Tajikistan’s Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies: Legal framework for environmental protection 49. Overview. Tajikistan has developed during last decade most of the needed environmental laws and regulations (see table 3). Table 3: Selected environment-related legislation

Air quality • Law on Air Protection • Law on Hydrometeorological Activity

Mineral resources • Law on Mineral Waters • Water Code

Land management • Land Code • Law on Land Administration • Law on Land Valuation

Forests • Forestry Code

Animals and factories • Law on Protection and Use of Animals

19 Asian Development Bank. Sustainable Cotton Sub-Sector Project Environmental Review. 2006, March, conducted by N.Nadiradze

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• Law on Protection and Use of Factories • Law on Factories Quarantine

Health and safety • Law on Securing Sanitary and Epidemiological Safety of the Population • Law on Veterinary Medicine • Law on Salt Iodization • Law on Quality and Safety of Food • Law on Industrial Safety of Hazardous Installations • Law on Radiation Safety

Waste and chemicals management • Law on Production and Consumption Waste • Law on Production and Safe Handling of Pesticides and Agrochemicals

These laws along with the Regulations approved by the GoT create a favorable legal framework for environmental protection in the country as well as for usage and protection of its natural resources. 50. Framework environment law. The framework environment law - Law on Nature Protection was adopted in 1993 and amended in 1996. The Law stipulates that Tajikistan’s environmental policy should give priority to environmental actions based on scientifically proven principles to combine economic and other activities that have an impact on the environment with nature preservation and the sustainable use of resources. The Law defines the applicable legal principles, the protected objects, the competencies and roles of the Government, the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry, the local authorities, public organizations and individuals. The Law stipulates also measures to secure public and individual rights to a safe and healthy environment and requires a combined system of ecological expertise and environmental impact assessment of any decision on an activity that could have a negative impact on the environment. The Law also defines environmental emergencies and ecological disasters and prescribes the order of actions in such situations, defines the obligations of officials and enterprises to prevent and eliminate the consequences, as well as the liabilities of the persons or organizations that caused damage to the environment or otherwise violated the Law. The Law establishes several types of controls over compliance with environmental legislation: State control, ministerial control, enterprise control and public control. State control is affected by the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry, the Sanitary Inspectorate of the Ministry of Health, the Inspectorate for Industrial Safety and the Mining Inspectorate. Public control is carried out by public organizations or trade unions and can be exercised with respect to any governmental body, enterprise, entity or individual. The Law has also several articles related to agriculture. They regulate, for instance, the use of fertilizers and pesticides, the use of biological and chemical substances and protection against such contamination in food, soil protection and the rational use of land, and protection against pollution from livestock farms.

51. Water Code. The Water Code (2000) stipulates the policies on water management, permitting, dispute resolution, usage planning and cadastre. It promotes rational use and protection of water resources exercised by all beneficiaries and defines the types of water use rights, authority and roles of regional and local governments for water allocations among various users, collection of fees, water use planning, water use rights and dispute resolution. The Code delegates Water User Associations to operate and maintain on-farm irrigation and drainage infrastructure. 52. Land Code. The current Land Code (1992) defines the types of land use rights, the authority and the role of regional and local governments for land allocation, collection of land taxes, land use planning, land use right mortgaging and settlement of land disputes. It defines the rights of land users and lease holders, and also defines the use of a special land fund for the purpose of land privatization and farm restructuring. The law

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does not provide for purchase or sale of allotted land. The Land Code regulates land relations and it is directed at the rational “use and protection of land and fertility of the soil…20 .” The land may be used in a rational manner only and the Code allows local authorities to decide what constitutes “rational” land use. It includes also mechanisms that make it possible to take the land-use permit away from farmers, including in situations where land use causes land degradation. This decision is taken by the raion administration. 53. Land Administration (2001). The Law obliges the authorities to map and monitor the quality of land, including soil contamination, erosion and waterlogging. 54. Regulation of agrochemicals usage. Pesticides and fertilizers handling, use, transportation and storage are regulated by a number of legal documents (see table 4). Table 4. Laws and regulations related to agrochemicals usage in Tajikistan

• Law on Nature Protection (1993); • Law on Ecological Expertise (2003); • Law on the Factories Quarantine Law (N5, 12.05.2001), of 2001, revised in 2003. • Law on Production and Safety Implications of Pesticides and Agro-chemicals law

dated April 22, 2003. • The Decree on Factory Quarantine (N38, 4.02.2002) concerning creation of the

Government Inspection (service) on factories quarantine of 2002.

55. The Law on Nature Protection indicates the necessity of applying the minimum permissible standards of agro-chemicals in agriculture and forestry to ensure compliance with the minimum permissible amounts in food, soil and water. The specially adopted law in the domain (Law on Production and Safety Implications of Pesticides and Agro-chemicals) prohibits use of biologically and environmentally persistent pesticides and products known to be carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, embrio- and gonadotoxic in compliance with the International List of potentially toxic chemicals of the UN Environmental Program. This law also regulates distribution, use, and disposal of pesticides.

56. The Law on Ecological Expertise (2003) and the Resolution on the Establishment of the Commission for Chemical Safety (2003) set up the legal framework for the registration and use of pesticides and other chemicals. These substances and compounds should undergo mandatory State testing in laboratories and production (field) facilities to assess their biological, toxicological and environmental characteristics. If the testing results are positive, the substance or compound must be registered with the Commission for Chemical Safety and included in the List of Chemical Substances and Biological Compounds that are permitted for Use. The Commission manages the system of registration, testing and control of pesticides21. It is chaired by a deputy Prime Minister and includes representatives of, among others: the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture. A working group prepares the meetings of the Commission. The Commission approves a list of pesticides upon application from producers or distributors. A new list of chemicals is being prepared. 57. Quarantine22. In 2001, a technical review workshop on Union of Independent Governments (countries of former Soviet Union) and Baltic’s countries published data about quarantine and phytosanitary conditions in the countries of the former Soviet Union. The agreement about coordination in field of factories quarantine for indicated above countries was signed on November 13, 1992 in Moscow. In 1997 during the 6th Conference countries agreed to accept a unified list of pests to be quarantined, to common quarantine rules for import, export and transit of goods, and provide information data about distribution of pests on countries

20 Land Code (1992) 21UN Economic Commission for Europe: Tajikistan Environmental Performance review, 2004

http://www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/Tajikistan/welcome.htm 22 WB Tajikistan Community Agriculture and Watershed Management Project. (CAWMP), Pest Management Plan. 2004.

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territory. Not much changed since then. In 2001 Government of Tajikistan enacted a Factories Quarantine Law (N5, 12.05.2001), and in 2002 – a decree on measures on factory quarantine (N38, 4.02.2002) – for Government Inspection (service) on factories quarantine. 58. The qualifying requirements for physical and legal entities of the Republic of Tajikistan operating with application of the pesticides by aerosol and fumigation methods are23:

• Application and handling are regulated in terms of the availability of special machinery and equipment for the pesticides application ensuring the safety and quality of chemical treatment;

• the availability of special storages for the pesticides complying with the sanitary and epidemiologic rules and norms,

• construction norms and rules,

• requirements of fire safety;

• compliance with environmental requirements,

• sanitary and epidemiologic rules and norms,

• safety and labor protection; individual protective facilities,

• fire extinguishing equipment;

• qualified staff with corresponding education and training having experience of practical work on the pesticides application by aerosol and fumigation methods.

59. For storage and disposal, special landfills are used to dispose expired and banned pesticides and their packaging. The state environmental control authority is responsible for issuing the permit to construct the landfills and neutralize the pesticides. Neutralization of the pesticides procured at the expense of the state budget is the responsibility of the MoA and local state authority (local budget). Legal and physical entities the activities of which are linked with the state phytosanitary control objects are obliged to neutralize the pesticides. However in Tajikistan there are only 2 sites formally approved by the State Committee for Environmental protection for storage or disposal of unused pesticides or their packaging in Vahksh and Konibodom.

60. International environmental treaties to which Tajikistan is a party. Tajikistan became party to a series of international treaties and in particular:

• Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure on September 28, 1998, ratification pending;

• Signatory of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants on May 21, 2002, ratification pending;

• Convention on Biological Diversity on 29 October 1997 and to its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety on 12 May 2004;

• Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1992); • The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (1997); • The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1998); • The Ramsar Convention (2000); and • The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (2001).

23 WB Tajikistan Farm Privatization Support Project (FPSP) Integrated Pest Management Plan, 2005

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Taking into consideration international treaties have the superiority under the national legislation, mentioned above Conventions constitute also a legal basis in the relevant areas of environmental protection in the country. Legal framework for EA, environmental licensing and permitting. 61. Basic EA Laws. There are two laws in the country that stipulate all aspects of the EA: (a) Law on Nature Protection; and (b) Law on Ecological Expertise. The Chapter V, Articles 33-37 of the Law on Nature Protection (1993), introduces the concept of state ecological review (literally, state ecological “expertise” – SEE) which seeks to examine the compliance of proposed activities and projects with the requirements of environmental legislation and standards and ecological security of the society. The mentioned laws stipulate the mandatory cross-sectoral nature of SEE, which shall be scientifically justified, comprehensive, and objective and which shall lead to conclusions in accordance with the law. SEE precedes decision-making about activities that may have a negative impact on the environment. Financing of programs and projects is allowed only after a positive SEE finding, or conclusion, has been issued. The following activities and projects subject to state ecological review: a) draft state programs, pre-planning, pre-project, and design documentation for economic development; b) regional and sectoral development programs; c) spatial and urban planning, development, and design; d) environmental programs and projects; e) construction and reconstruction of various types of facilities irrespective of their ownership; f) draft environmental quality standards and other normative, technology, and methodological documentation that regulates economic activities; g) existing enterprises and economic entities, etc. The laws stipulate that all types of economic and other activities shall be implemented in accordance with existing environmental standards and norms and shall have sufficient environmental protection and mitigation measures to prevent and avoid pollution and enhance environmental quality. The EA studies analyzing the short- and long-term environmental, genetic, economic, and demographic impacts and consequences shall be evaluated prior to making decisions on the siting, construction, or reconstruction of facilities, irrespective of their ownership. If these requirements are violated, construction will be terminated until necessary improvements are made, as prescribed by the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry and/or other duly authorized control bodies, such as sanitary, geological, and public safety agencies.

62. Environmental Impact Assessment. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a component of the State Ecological Expertise, as set out in the 2002 amendments to the Environmental Protection Law and in the Law on the State Ecological Expertise (2003). The EIA is the responsibility of the project proponent. The State Ecological Expertise for all investment projects is the responsibility of the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry and its regional offices. Furthermore, according to the 2003 Law on the State Ecological Expertise, all civil works, including rehabilitation, should be assessed for their environmental impacts and the proposed mitigation measures reviewed and monitored by the SCEPF.

63. Types of Ecological Expertise. According to the 2003 Law on Ecological Expertise, ecological expertise is intended to prevent negative impacts on the environment as a result of a proposed activity, forecast impacts from activities that are not considered as necessarily damaging to the environment and create databases on the state of the environment and knowledge about human impact on the environment. This Law and the Law on Nature Protection envisage two types of ecological expertise – State ecological expertise and public ecological expertise, which are not given equal importance. While State ecological expertise is a prerequisite for beginning any activity that may have an adverse environmental impact, public ecological expertise becomes binding only after its results have been approved by a State ecological expertise body. The State Ecological Expertise is authorized to invite leading scientists and qualified outside specialists to participate in the review. Approval should be issued within 45 days, unless the project developer agrees to an extension, and remains valid for two years, if the decision is positive. 64. Environmental auditing. Currently in the country doesn’t exist any regulatory act for such activity.

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65. Screening categories. The laws on Nature Protection and EE stipulate the Government will approve a list of activities for which the full Environmental Impact Assessment is mandatory. Currently there is no EIA categorization system in place and environmental impacts of mostly construction activities are reviewed on a case by case basis. According to the existing laws, the Project should not be required to prepare any EIA, however, as soon as the Project is approved, it will be necessary to consult with the SCEPF experts and receive further guidance on the SEE compliance requirements. 66. EA administrative framework. The Environmental Protection Law states that a SEE should be conducted by the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry, which is designated as a duly authorized state environmental protection body. A small unit in the ministry is entrusted with guiding and managing both EIA and SEE. EIA preparation is the responsibility of the proponents of public- and private-sector projects, who, in addition to complying with various environmental standards, procedures, and norms, shall meet the standards of other sectors and environmental media line agencies, such as sanitary-epidemiological, geological, water, etc.

67. Public participation. Article 10 of the Nature Protection Law proclaims the right of citizens to live in a favorable environment and to be protected from negative environmental impacts. Citizens also have the right to environmental information (Article 12), as well as to participate in developing, adopting, and implementing decisions related to environmental impacts (Article 13). The latter is assured by public discussion of drafts of environmentally important decisions and public ecological reviews. Public representative bodies have an obligation to take into consideration citizens’ comments and suggestions. The Law on the EE also provides the rights to the citizens to conduct a Public Environmental Expertise (art. 21). On 17 July 2001 Tajikistan acceded to the 1998 Aarhus Convention, the provisions of which have priority over domestic law which also stipulates the rights for Public EE.

68. Licenses. Licenses are legal instruments to regulate certain potentially hazardous activities where minimal qualifications and strict adherence to rules are required to ensure that they are carried out efficiently, safely and do not result in potentially very significant and irreparable damage to the environment and human health24. In particular, licenses are required for handling hazardous waste; for activities in industrial safety, sources of ionizing radiation, production and handling of pesticides and other agrochemicals. They are issued by the relevant industry regulator (ministry or committee) or an entity to which it has delegated such right. Licensing is also used to ensure the most efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. For example, licenses are required for prospecting, collecting or extracting mineral resources, or for constructing underground facilities not related to mining. 69. Environmental permits. Permits are meant to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources. There are two types of permits: (a) permits to use natural resources; and, (b) permits for emissions or discharges. The natural resources use permits allow their holders to take a certain number or amount of a particular natural resource within a defined territory and time period. They are issued both to individuals (e.g. to hunt a particular species of animal or harvest particular factories) and to organizations (e.g. permits to extract ground or surface water for a particular use). By law, permits are needed for any commercial use of any resource. The authority that issues the permit and the legislation (government resolution) that applies depend on the resource. Permits to discharge polluted matter are issued by the relevant inspectorate (e.g. State Water Inspectorate or State Air Inspectorate) of the State Committee’s local environmental protection committees to industrial or agricultural enterprises and municipal utilities that release by-products into the environment. The permits allow releasing a certain amount of polluted matter (gases, liquids, solid waste) into the environment.

24 United Nations Economic and Social Council. Environmental Performance Review of Tajikistan. First Review, 2004. (see: www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/Tajikistan/welcome.htm)

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The permits are normally granted for one year and indicate the maximum allowed concentration of the pollutants in the released matter, the maximum volume of the polluted matter and the pollutants allowed. 70. Environmental norms and standards. Norms are set for air and water pollution, noise, vibration, magnetic fields and other physical factors, as well as residual traces of chemicals and biologically harmful microbes in food. The exceeding of their thresholds results in administrative action, including financial sanctions. Several ministries determine environmental quality standards, each in its field of responsibility. For example, admissible levels of noise, vibration, magnetic fields and other physical factors have been set by the Ministry of Health.

71. Implementation and compliance. A number of legal acts establish liability for violations of environmental laws, which can be enforced by several State bodies. In particular, the 1998 Code of Administrative Violations establishes administrative liability for organizations, their officers and individuals for a range of violations, from the careless treatment of land to violation of the rules for water use or water protection or failure to comply with a State ecological expertise. The administrative sanctions for environment related violations can be imposed by the administrative commissions of hukumats, courts, the State Committee’s inspectors, the Veterinary Inspectors of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the State Committee for Land Administration. The most common administrative sanction is a fine of up to 10 minimal monthly salaries for individuals and up to 15 minimal salaries to officers of organizations. The 1998 Criminal Code covers crimes against ecological safety and the environment, such as violations of ecological safety at work, poaching, and spoiling land, violation of rules for the protection and use of underground resources. The maximum fine is up to 2,000 minimal monthly salaries and the maximum sentence is up to eight years in prison. (b) World Bank Environmental Policy and Environmental Assessment Requirements 72. The World Bank requires environmental assessment (EA) of projects proposed for Bank financing to help ensure that they are environmentally sound and sustainable, and thus improve decision making (OP 4.01, January 1999). EA is a process whose breadth, depth, and type of analysis depend on the nature, scale, and potential environmental impact of the proposed project. EA evaluates a project's potential environmental risks and impacts in its area of influence; examines project alternatives; identifies ways of improving project selection, siting, planning, design, and implementation by preventing, minimizing, mitigating, or compensating for adverse environmental impacts and enhancing positive impacts; and includes the process of mitigating and managing adverse environmental impacts throughout project implementation. The Bank favors preventive measures over mitigatory or compensatory measures, whenever feasible. 73. The World Bank Safeguard Policy OP 4.09 on Pest Management stipulates that “in assisting borrowers to manage pests that affect either agriculture or public health, the Bank supports a strategy that promotes the use of biological or environmental control methods and reduces reliance on synthetic chemical pesticides”, and “in appraising a project that will involve pest management, the Bank assesses the capacity of the country's regulatory framework and institutions to promote and support safe, effective, and environmentally sound pest management. As necessary, the Bank and the borrower incorporate in the project components to strengthen such capacity”. Furthermore, “The Bank does not finance formulated products that fall in WHO classes IA and IB, or formulations of products in Class II, if (i) the country lacks restrictions on their distribution and use; or (ii) they are likely to be used by, or be accessible to, lay personnel, farmers, or others without training, equipment, and facilities to handle, store, and apply these products properly”. Pest management issues in the proposed project have been considered in detail and a PMP has been developed within the context of this environmental assessment. The PMP is attached as Volume II to this EA report. 74. EA takes into account the natural environment (air, water, and land); human health and safety; social aspects (involuntary resettlement, indigenous peoples, and cultural property); and trans-boundary and global environmental aspects. It also takes into account the variations in project and country conditions; the findings

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of country environmental studies; national environmental action plans; the country’s overall policy framework, national legislation, and institutional capabilities related to the environment and social aspects; and obligations of the country, pertaining to project activities, under relevant international environmental treaties and agreements. The Bank does not finance project activities that would contravene such country obligations, as identified during the EA. 75. The Project has been assigned World Bank environmental category B, since it involves moderate indirect environmental impacts that can be managed during implementation of the project. The EA process for the project is addressed through this EMP. Key considerations and methodology are taken into account during the EA process includes:

• Generic initial screening to determine appropriate environmental assessment; • Compliance with existing environmental regulations in Tajikistan; • Taking into consideration the economic and social evaluations (in the light of their linkage to the

environmental concerns); • Analysis of significant expected impacts, balancing positive and negative effects and assessment of

realistic alternatives; • Public participation and consultation with affected people, organisations and stakeholders; and • Disclosure of information.

III. Project description 76. The primary development objective of the project is to improve the livelihood of cotton farmers and create the conditions for sustainable growth of cotton production in selected, low income areas of Tajikistan, through: debt resolution, an improved policy environment, and increased cotton output and profitability. Due the detailed issues and problems currently faced within the Tajik cotton sector, the Project will need to operate on 2 levels simultaneously – nationally and within the project districts themselves. Specifically, the debt conversion and policy reform components will operate at the national level. The debt resolution will be undertaken within the project districts and on the national level. Other components will be specifically undertaken at the project district level. It should be noted that the project districts are situated in Khatlon region, which accounts for the highest share of cotton production in Tajikistan (60%) and has the highest incidence of rural poverty (75% of rural people below the poverty line). The selected districts will represent at least thirty percent of the region’s cotton output. 77. Component A. Debt Resolution/Debt Conversion A1 – Debt Resolution. The first phase of debt resolution consists of the undertaking of cotton debt audits of each individual farm based on their data and the debt data of their investors. This will be undertaken by Debt Audit Teams (DATs) in the project districts and nationally. The structure of the DATs and their methods of operation require standardization and transparency. Final operational details will be based on the lessons learnt from trial debt audits being undertaken at preparation. The second phase is the analysis of the raw data, identification of anomalies (such as overcharging and under payments for outputs) and creation of a “debt case file”. This will be performed at the regional level in central offices staffed for this purpose and for management of the DATs. The third stage is the confirmation of the analysis and voluntary negotiation between debtor and creditor based on the results of the audits. This will be carried out at the national level by a centralized Debt Resolution Management Unit (DRMU). The DATs will also be responsible for the collection of actual total farm data on income and expenditures for a given period of time. This factual data will then be used in the process of assessing the ability to repay negotiated debts on a district, as opposed to individual farm basis.

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A2 – Debt Conversion. Debt conversion concerns two main issues – firstly de-linking debtors from their creditors (they are currently tied by production agreements until the debt has been satisfied), secondly converting the currently viewed short term debt into a medium term repayment for creditors and long term repayment for debtors. Achievement of this conversion will be achieved through the establishment of Special Payment Vehicle (SPV) which will be managed by an independent Government agency (created for the purpose). The government will act as a facilitator, therefore, in the process of debt conversion. They will not be assuming what is considered to be private sector financial liabilities themselves. Their role will be to act as a broker between the 2 sides of the debt situation. Their involvement will enable creditors to accept medium term repayment terms and cessation of their production ties over their debtors. Equally, the existence of such an SPV will enable debtors to receive secure land tenure, be able to manage their inputs and outputs in a free manner and extend their repayment terms to ones which they are able to service. 78. Component B. Support for Policy Reform. The project’s impact at national level will depend heavily on the capacity of government to act decisively in the areas of debt resolution, competition, land use and local government activity. In response to this need the project will appoint a senior policy adviser to work with designated counterparts in the Independent Commission and the President’s Office, to strengthen policy analysis and to advice on policy reform. This input has been directly requested by the President.

To further strengthen capacity and guide reform, this component will conduct an annual analysis of the impact of policy decisions and project activity on farm productivity, farm incomes and cotton processing efficiency. Data for this analysis will be drawn from annual surveys of producers and processors in the three districts chosen for project activity, plus two other districts with similar characteristics. 79. Component C. Cotton Supply Chain Development. This component will build capacity of the farmers to enable them to benefit from opportunities emanating from improved policy environment and producer incentives. To this end, project investment will be conditional on local government agreement to allow producers to use their land as they choose, and to choose the enterprises with whom they contract for ginning and input supply. In addition to greater choice, farmers will also benefit from more transparent business and contractual relationships, fair prices for inputs and output, and more efficient input supply. Producers will be provided with the financial resources and knowledge needed to engage directly and actively in the cotton supply chain. C1 – Join Producer-Processor Cotton Ginneries. While the sub-component will not directly finance new ginneries, it will promote foreign direct investment in ginneries in selected districts, and demonstrate the impact of increased competition on producer incentives. Foreign direct investment will be conditional on local government agreement to allow producers to use their land as they choose, and to choose the enterprises with whom they contract for ginning and input supply. Farmers will benefit from more transparent business and contractual relationships, more efficient processing, and fairer prices for inputs and output. International cotton processing and trading companies will be encouraged to finance cotton gins in 4 project districts, together with IFC who will take a minority shareholding. Foreign investors will benefit from a project credit line and a MIGA guarantee against any losses incurred as a result of political instability. IFC’s involvement as a minority shareholder will improve the transparency of input and output pricing, and facilitate trust with producers. C2 Cotton Seed Supply. The project will offer loans to finance modern seed processing equipment, up to US$250-300,000 per investment. Preference will be given to enterprises with ready access to raw seed (a current ginnery for example). Both Tajik and foreign enterprises will be eligible for funding, including the foreign investors in sub-component C-1. This sub-component will be linked to the SIDA Seed Industry Development Project, which is supporting the development of a modern seed industry in Tajikistan through institutional strengthening of seed production, quality control and certification.

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C3 Producer Support. This sub-component would include three groups of activities: Regional Public Awareness Program. Current awareness and knowledge of legal rights in general, and land rights in particular is very low among rural people – especially among rural women. Producers thus have little motivation to make the transition from being farm workers on collective and state farms, to owners and managers of their own farms. A Khatlon wide program will be implemented to raise public awareness of: the legal rights of rural people to obtain their own land, to use this land as they choose, to engage in marketing and loan contracts, and to choose with whom they transact for marketing and processing. Community Outreach Programs will be mounted in the six project districts to ensure that these messages are translated into action. This will include support to restructure farms and obtain land certificates, to negotiate contracts, and to implement debt resolution; and a monitoring and complaints facility to allow on-going assessment of progress and local government compliance with policy reform. Farmer Extension Programs. Crop husbandry is poor and very few farmers know even the rudiments of farm financial management. An extension program will be implemented to meet these needs, with a focus on improving the management of cotton and related crops, and farm budgeting and bookkeeping. This will be implemented in the 4 project districts where new gins are operating. Delivery of these programs will be contracted to local NGOs or other organizations, with a demonstrated track record of working with rural communities. Jamoat Development Councils (JDCs) will be used as the entry point for program delivery but care will be taken to ensure that all beneficiaries are actively involved, with particular attention to maximizing the participation of rural women. 80. D. Project Management Unit. A Project Management Unit (PMU) will be set up in the Office of the President, to facilitate interaction with the State Advisor on Economic Policy who has been appointed as the project counterpart. The PMU will be responsible for project management, including procurement and financial management. The core team will include a project manager, a coordinator for debt resolution, and a coordinator for the regional activities. These staff will be recruited locally.

IY Baseline Environmental Analysis25

81. Project geographic location. Khatlon region including the selected rayons (Farkhor, Bohtar, Kumsangir, Kubodyn, Yavan, Vaksh, Shaartuz) is located in South Tajikistan and is one of the most populated region of the country. It has a territory of 24.8 thous. sq.km and covers two agro-climatic areas – Vakhsh and Kulyab, which are characterized by high temperatures and long-term frost-free period. The amount of annual precipitation varies from 400 to 600 mm per year. Average air temperature in July is + 30-320 , the maximum is up to +480 . Average month temperature in January is positive. The frost-free period lasts here about 250-260 days per year. 82. Land resources. Total area of Khatlon oblast is 24,8 thousand km2. This is the prime cotton area of Tajikistan, producing a third of its production as highly valued long fiber cotton. Horticultural crops include a large variety of garden vegetables, okra pumpkin, maize, tomato, potato, onions, beans, peas, persimmon, lemon, date, and pomegranate trees, as well as some pear and apple trees in the higher elevations. Livestock is prevalent throughout the area, in the form of ruminants (mostly cows and sheep) and small-scale poultry. There is no real fodder production, animals graze randomly along canals, roads, and meadows and live off

25 This section contains a general description of environmental and social and economic situation in the Khatlon region while the detailed description of the project rayons is provided in Annex 1.

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crop residues in late fall/winter/early spring. Total area of irrigated lands in Khatlon oblast is 13582 ha and the cotton area is 9983,17 ha. Soils are presented mainly by grey-brown serozems (gray soils), typical serozems and salted soils. 83. Land degradation. Due to deforestation, improper irrigation and excessive use of agricultural lands combined with unregulated chemical inputs the region’s land resources are affected by several environmental problems. (a). Salinization. One of the biggest problems in Khatlon region is exhaustion and degradation of irrigated lands due to poor water and other management practices in agriculture. In Khatlon, about 50 percent of the area is gravity-fed and the remaining areas are dependent upon lift irrigation systems (pumping water up to 200 m high), particularly in Yavan. These areas depend upon water which is pumped from weirs off the Kumsangir, Vaksh and Yavansu rivers. Most of the principal irrigation and drainage infrastructure is in danger of collapse. The system now manifests a rapid deterioration in operating efficiency of pumping stations, increased losses in the main canals and low water use efficiency at the field level. The lack of adequate drainage has exacerbated the problem of rising water table and secondary salinization necessitating expensive emergency interventions. According to Table 2 (see above), in Khatlon region in 2004 3,546 ha of arable land (including 2,358 ha of irrigated land) were abandoned because of increased salinization, water logging and reduced soil fertility. MIWR 2000 data on the extent of salinity and water logging are given in Table 5

Table 5. Condition of irrigated land, 2000 (’000 ha)

Oblast/zones Condition of irrigated land Unsatisfactory by cause Oblast/Rayon Good Satis-

factory Unsatis-factory

High ground water

Salinity Both

Khatlon Qurghonteppa 50 21.9 7.4 6.2 0.9 0.3 Kulob 149.1 44.2 44.2 25.0 15.1 4.1 a

Monitoring for these data was carried out on irrigated fields (furrows, etc.) and excludes house plots. The area monitored was about 690,000ha out of a total of 720,000ha. Source: MWRLR, ASAP.2001

(b) Wind/water erosion. Large areas of agricultural lands in the region are affected y soil erosion. Because of strong winds Khatlon region belongs to areas with a high degree of wind erosion (especially in Shahrituz , Kumsangir rayons) and, water erosion(Yavan rayon)26. About 30 thousand ha of arable lands in Khatlon region were destroyed (washed up) because of erosion, silting of river bed and as consequences the destructions of dams. More than 8 thousand affected ha of Yavan valley provides an almost textbook example of the power of erosion caused by poor design of the system and non-observance of irrigation rules. Inappropriate irrigation ditches, poor techniques of water distribution, application of too much water resulting in filtration losses and land slips are among the observed outcomes.

(c). Water logging. Poor water management and an under performing drainage infrastructure causes water logging problems. The region also faces problems caused by over watering and its impact on soil fertility. Currently, collection and drainage networks cover less than half of the total irrigated land. As a result, about 15 percent of irrigated lands are over-saturated every year. It concentrates salts, drawn up from lower in the soil profile, in the factories’ rooting zone.

26 Atlas of Tajik SSR, 1968

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84. Water resources. There are several river basins in the Khatlon region, the main of them are Vakhsh river basin and Pyandj river basin. Vakhsh river water-collecting area is 39100 km2. Its length is 690 km, and water discharge can be more then 3600 m3/sec. The average annual runoff is 22,1 3. Water resources quality in Khatlon region is regularly and considerably affected by floods, mudslides and slope denudation processes (soil erosion). The total volume of water resources used in Khatlon oblast was 5513,7 mln.m3/year (2005), the 4035,1 mln. m3/year - for agriculture purposes. Actually there were used 4052,8 mln.m3/year on Vakhsh river basin, and 1460,9 mln.m3/year – on Pyandj river basin.

85. Biodiversity. In the region there are several protected areas. In particular one nature reserve is placed along the Vakhsh river delta (Tigrovaya Balka), in Southern Tajikistan and characterized by tugai forests along the Vakhsh and Panj rivers. The second nature reserve (Dashtijum) also placed along the Panj river, has populations of markhor, snow leopard and Siberian ibex, fauna representatives included in the country’s Red Book. The nature reserve “Karatau” located in Farkhor rayon was founded in 1972 and occupies 14.4 thousand hectares. Its territory includes west slope and watershed of Karatau mountain ridge from 700 to 1500 m altitude above sea level. The main task of the reserve is to preserve ecosystems of ephemeral factories and natural almond and pistachio sparse growth of trees. Xerophyte’s sparse growth of trees of Karatau is a unique one in the republic because many of trees here are older than 600 years and the height of the trees reaches 7 meters, at that the trees still bear fruit well. The pistachio forests of Karatau are typical places for rare kinds of wild animals such as striped hyena, gazelles and urial.

86. Forests. Since 1950s in the country more than 300,000 ha of native tugai (Populus pruinosa, Elaeagnus angustifolia) forests have been converted to farming or destroyed mostly in the lower elevations of Kulyab zone, Vakhsh valley and along the banks of Syr Darya in Sugd leaving only islands of such vegetation in places such as Tigrovaya Balka zapovednik (protected area). Pressures on forests come from cattle grazing, farming, and uncontrolled logging to meet domestic wood consumption. Forest resources comprise such species as Salix turanica, Hippophae rhamnoides, Populus tadshinistaca and some species of Betula. There are many animal species of tugai complex are represented in Khatlon region as gazelle, Servus bucharica,Phasianus colchicus, Ammoperadix griseogularis, Milvus korshun, Coturnix coturnix, Alectornis graeca,several species of jerboa, and others. 87. Environmental pollution. Outside of the major environmental problems described above, the region suffers also from inadequate industrial and domestic solid waste collection and dumping infrastructure, and contaminated drinking water27. The results of recent water quality analysis show an alarming level of chemical and bacteriological contaminants (47.3 percent and 54.7 percent, respectively) in samples of water used for drinking and irrigation28. The heavy dependence on agriculture in Khatlon, and the subsequent exposure to chemicals involved in farming, has a negative impact on health in the region. In addition, the incidence of disease is significantly higher in areas of irrigated agriculture where water consumption for the local population comes primarily from ditches in the village.

88. Fertilizers and pesticide usage; pollution of drainage waters. Before independence (1991), use of pesticides was rather intensive, with a mean annual application of 24.1 kg per ha, mostly on cotton fields. The highest levels of pesticide application have been recorded in Vakhsh Valley where it reached 48 kg per ha. But due to the collapse of the Soviet agriculture system and the civil war there was drastic reduction in the use of pesticides in Khatlon oblast as in the entire country. Furthermore, there is a shortage of institutional capacity to collect and maintain statistics of pesticide use. The total mineralization on dranage waters was higher than MAC.

27 National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) of the Republic of Tajikistan. Governmental Decision No. from June , 2006 Ibidem. 28 National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) of the Republic of Tajikistan. Governmental Decision No. from June , 2006

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89. Population and socio-economic conditions. Khatlon region has a population of 2.3 million people, or about one third of the national figure. The vast majority of its residents live in rural areas, about 1.9 million people versus about 400 thousand urban settlers. Even if one excludes the capital city Dushanbe, population density is the highest in the country, 92.5 people/sq km. The region also has the largest portion of irrigated lands in the country, approximately 45 percent, of which 34 percent are located in the area surrounding the regional administrative capital of Kurgan Tube, and 11 percent are in the Kulyab zone. The region’s industry is presented by 165 enterprises. The district’s production ratio is 25.8% of the total industrial production of the republic. The Khatlon region hosts a few large industrial complexes: the Vakhsh Azot Fertilizer factory, the Yavan chemical enterprise, as well as a complex for chemical herbicide entombment.

Y. Potential environmental impacts. 90. Activities under the project are not expected to generate significant adverse environmental effects as they are focusing largely on cotton sector reforms, capacity building in debt resolution and improved access to financial resources and knowledge needed to engage directly in the ownership and management of cotton ginning and farm input supply. The project will not involve any major construction requiring resettlement or land acquisition, nor invest in the construction of dams, new canals or head works that would allow increased water abstraction from main sources. These activities are expected to have both positive and negative environmental impacts. 91. Positive impacts. The positive effects might be associated with more efficient water and land usage due to increased awareness on more environmentally sound agricultural practices, improved irrigation infrastructure (sediment removal and repairs or replacement of turnout gates; replacement and reparation of canal linings; flushing and repairing of existing drainage system), as well as due to better access to new agricultural machinery. The reduction in losses and improved irrigation distribution will, besides the equity amongst farmers, reduce seepage losses from main canal and over-supply of irrigation, with a beneficial effect for the area: a lower water table, a lower risk of salinity, and less stagnant water pools in the village causing health problems. Rural infrastructure rehabilitation/improvements activities and especially those related to potable water supply (construction of tube-wells with submersible pumps; rehabilitation of the pump unit in the existing water supply pump station and construction of a new pump station as well as laying the main water delivery pipelines) would reduce waterborne disease incidences and improve villagers’ health. The renovation of village infrastructure (schools and clinics, roads, bridges, water supplies) will improve the socioeconomic conditions of the rural populations and contribute to reducing rural poverty. The project’s emphasis on capacity building for local management and administration, including local screening of projects for environmental impacts, incorporation of mitigation measures into project design and monitoring of implementation, will also contribute to improving the capacity of local authorities for environmental monitoring and management overall. 92. Adverse environmental impacts. Secondly, an increase in cotton production due to improving financial situation of dekhans and promoting policy reforms in the sector and implementation of the proposed irrigation and village infrastructure activities might have a series of negative indirect impacts generated by: (a) potential increase in use/overuse of waters, (b) increase of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals use; (c) increase in operation of ginning factories and associated occupational hazards; and (d) dumping of excavated sediments and other materials from irrigation and drainage canals, structures as well as from construction works, as well as other construction activities. The increased water usage might provoke further salinization, irrigation erosion, and water logging, while the residues of the chemicals may affect wild fauna, and surrounding environment. These chemicals can also cause bodily harm, if farmers are not taught on their proper handling. Similarly, the operation of ginning factories could expose workers to substance and dust emission as we11 as occupational hazards. At the same time, the construction activities may cause various environmental problems associated with the environmental pollution, noise, degradation of

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vegetative cover. This imply that all civil works including the rehabilitation of irrigation systems and village infrastructure, would have to be assessed on the ecological impact and mitigation and have to be reviewed and monitored by the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry (SCEPF). For investments in village infrastructure, most potential impacts can be avoided by adherence to good practices in construction and renovation methods that are well defined within the existing building codes and regulatory norms promulgated by sectoral agencies (e.g. health, agriculture, environment, water). If project-financed mitigation is included in sub-project design as intended, the cumulative and residual impacts will be negligible. 93. Summary impact matrix for the project activities, which includes (i) main issues; (ii) anticipated/potential environmental and social (health) impacts, (iii) their effect on the environment and human health; and (iv) the scale of the impacts is presented in the Annex 2.

(a) Environmental impacts of water use/overuse in cotton production 94. Expected positive impacts. Farm debt resolution/conversion activities and policy reforms are expected to improve water management practices because dehkan farmers may become sensitive to how much water they use for different crops and thus the amount of irrigation water required to be supplied from the source is expected to decrease29. Average irrigation efficiencies at the farm level are currently stands at 28 percent. Demonstrations have shown that water application times can be reduced to at least a third of current levels and actual amounts of water lowered from sometimes as high as 15,000 m3 to nearly 5,000 m3. This change will require introduction of improved irrigation and low cost land leveling technologies. Reduction of seepage losses from main canals and over-supply of irrigation will have a beneficial effect for dehkan farmers through: a lower water table, a lower risk of salinity, and fewer stagnant water pools in settlements causing health problems. Furthermore the project activities aimed at creating Water Users Associations and their training and support would also contribute to more sustainable water and land use. 95. Potential negative impacts. At the same time, it is necessary to emphasize cotton production requires an efficient irrigation and drainage infrastructure that might prevent negative effects on environment and soil fertility. In the opposite case it may lead to land degradation, through mainly water logging, salinization, and erosion. It is know about 142 settlements in 18 districts of the country (most of them placed in Khatlon region) suffer from permanent water-logging; while 490 settlements face this problem during the irrigation season. This provokes significant economic and environmental consequences. The Ministry of Water Resources and Land Reclamation estimates that due to various form of salinization that affected about 16 percent of the total irrigated land in the country the cotton production is depressed annually by about 100,000 tons. It is also estimated that erosion affects 60 percent of the irrigated land. One extreme example is the Yavan valley (Khatlon) irrigation system. One fifth of this 6,000-ha irrigation system that was developed in the 1960s cannot be used because of erosion.30

(b) Environmental impacts of increase agrochemicals use31

96. Scale of cotton affectation and types of cotton pests. Annually about 40-50 %or more of cotton growing areas in the country are affected by various pests that produce huge economic damages. In 2005, 289,000 hectares of cotton were factored from which the areas reported to have been infested ranged from 36% for

29 Asian Development Bank. Sustainable Cotton Sub-Sector Project Environmental Review. 2006, March, conducted by N.Nadiradze

30 United Nations Economic and Social Council. Environmental Performance Reviews of Tajikistan. First Review, 2004. 31 This section was prepared mostly by using the results of the EAs done within the WB FPSP and ADB Sustainable Sub-Sector

projects

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aphids and thrips to 15% for cotton worm32. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, there are over 50 polyphagous and over 100 specialized pests, more than 70 diseases and approximately 120 species of weeds considered hazardous and harmful for Tajikistan’s agriculture33. Table 6 provides a list of main cotton pests and diseases.

Table 6 List of Cotton Pests and Cotton Diseases in Tajikistan

Pests Diseases

Cotton Bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella) Spider Mite (Tetranychus lundi) Whitefly* (Bemesia tabaci Gaennadius) Cotton Jassids (Amarasca bigutulla) Cotton Aphid (Aphis gossyppi, A. crassivora) Cotton (onion) Thrips (Thrips tabaci) Busky Cotton Bug (Oxycarenus lactus)

Leaf spots (Helmenthosporum gossypii & Alternaria Spp.)

Anthracnose (Glomerell gossypii & Colletotricum spp.)

Bacterial blight or angular leaf spots (Xanthomonas malvecearum)

96. As mentioned above, the project activities might have indirect effects on the pest management in the country. Potential pest and pest management implications of the project are presented in Table 7.

Table 7 Potential pest and implications for pest management under the project

Project Objective/Output Implications for Pest and Pesticide Management

1. Increase in cotton productivity while conserving natural resource base

Increased use and reliance on chemical pesticides

2. Cotton production intensification Change in pest control practices and reliance on pesticides

3. Training/support in improved farm technologies

Curriculum may have a strong pesticide use bias Neglect of IPM capacity/awareness/implementation

4. Agricultural education, research and extension

Lack of attention to IPM/ecological control method

5. Training in cotton production intensification

Inclusion of IPM methods in training curriculum

32 Starting up IPM in Tajikistan. WB Report. G.Walter-Echols. November, 2005 33 Asian Development Bank. Sustainable Cotton Sub-Sector Project Environmental Review. 2006, March, conducted by N.Nadiradze

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97. A detailed analysis of the current pest management practices for cotton pests in Tajikistan conducted under the FPSP project pointed to several inadequacies that would continue to constrain sustainable production of cotton. These inadequacies are identified as follows34:

• Absence of a Government policy on IPM to provide the framework and environment for promoting the development and implementation of integrated pest management strategies for cotton;

• Domination of the current pest management system by over-reliance on chemical pesticides for control of cotton pests;

• Weak practical knowledge and understanding by farmers, field crop protection agents and extension workers of the local agro-ecology of the cotton production system, integrated factory nutrient management, of pests and their natural enemies and their interactions. And of the role of natural enemies in the natural regulation of pest populations;

• Absence of field training of farmers on the safe handling, storage and use of chemical pesticides; • Inappropriate arrangements for the delivery of training to farmers in the proper methods of spraying

cotton fields with chemical pesticides and in the maintenance of application equipment; • Lack of supply and distribution of appropriate protective gear to protect farmers from the hazards of

pesticides while spraying their cotton fields as well as lack of appropriate field training and effective dissemination of information on the use of protective gear and absence of a coordinated system of providing technical advice to the cotton farming community on the handling and proper maintenance of protective gear;

• Inadequate field training and information dissemination to the user community of the hazards associated with improper handling, use and storage of chemical pesticides;

• Weak pesticide regulatory mechanisms such as quality control facilities, residue analysis, and poor capacities to enforce pesticide regulations.

98. Existing pest management practices. Currently, dehkan farmers use a number of cultural methods to control insect pests including35:

• Tillage practices, including deep tillage to bury straw and vegetation to deprive pests from sites of over-wintering /hibernation. • Burning straw and crop waste to deny pests over-wintering sites, and convert

straw into organic matter. • Manual weeding of crop fields in most dehkan farms. • Cutting and burning of diseased or egg/insect infected leaves. • Use of lure boxes to collect worms and caterpillars, e.g., pheromone traps for

bollworms in cotton. • Handpicking of eggs, caterpillars and larvae during periods of high infestation. 99. Used Chemical Control Methods. Although Tajikistan was one of the leaders of biological crop pest control during the Soviet era, today most of the pest control is undertaken through chemical means, mostly because of unavailability of beneficial insects from bio-control facilities. Studies and field visits have indicated heavy reliance on chemical control methods, especially in the lower valleys with cotton mono-culture. The main issues in using chemical control methods are the following36:

• Use of WHO Class 1 and unregistered chemicals purchased on the black market;

• Inappropriate handling – storage, use, and safety in pesticides application;

34 WB Farm Privatization Support Project. Environmental Assessment, vol. II Integrated Pest Management Manual, pag. 35 WB Farm Privatization Support Project. Environmental Assessment, vol. II Integrated Pest Management Manual pag. 36 Idem

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• Improper disposal of waste and chemical packaging;

• Inadequate enforcement of laws and regulations on labelling and sales of agricultural chemicals;

• Low level of awareness amongst officials, farmers, and chemical resellers/traders of IPM;

• General lack of awareness of environmental and health implications of improper use of pesticide.

100. Current use of pesticides. As was mentioned above (see point 27-28) during the 1970s and early 1980s pesticide use especially for cotton production was extremely intensive with an average of annual application of 24.1 kg per ha, on cotton fields. The highest levels of pesticide application have been recorded in Vakhsh Valley where it reached 48 kg per ha. The list of used pesticides included 74 brand names, 25 percent of which are highly toxic and 38 percent of a medium toxicity. The highly toxic pesticides included butifos, nitrofen, tiodan and fosalon37. During the 1990s pesticide use was low due to the collapse of the Soviet agriculture system and the civil war and stands at approximately 6 to 10 percent of the level before independence.

101. Types of pesticides applied to control cotton pests. The Chemical Security Commission of Tajikistan issued a list of agro-chemicals permitted on the territory of Tajikistan. Among them the following pesticides are currently used on cotton: (a) Karate – “ICI” (Zeneka), [insecticide]; (b) Omite – Crompton, [insecticide]; (c) Sumi-Alfa (esfenbalerat); (d) “Sumimoto”, [insecticide]; (e) Sumithion “Sumimoto Chemical”, [insecticide]; (f) Folicur (tebuconazole)—Bayer [fungicide]; (g) Talstar 10% (bifentrin), FMS, SMA [Insecticide]38. Other pesticides, mainly imported by different investors, are distributed directly to dehkan farmers39. Many of used pesticides are locally packaged using obsolete pesticides from the two Soviet era agro-chemical depositories now abandoned and located in Khatlon and Sugd, that are officially banned, such as DDT40.

102. Pesticides production and/or import. Tajikistan does not produce pesticides. As mentioned in points 51-52 the Chemical Security Commission manages the system of registration, testing and control of pesticides. The Commission approves new pesticides upon application from producers or distributors. Lack of funding for enforcement agencies and a black market for agricultural chemicals combined with a rather weak control over imported substances (largely because of remoteness of border check-points and insufficient training provided to customs inspectors) make control of imported agro-chemicals largely inefficient. In addition, matters are made worse by corruption - making possible import and use of banned and expired agro-chemicals with serious environmental and health consequences.

103. Obsolete pesticides. In the last decade most of agrochemicals warehouses were either privatized or demolished. Bricks and wood remaining after demolition of such warehouses were often used as construction material by neighboring communities41. The new owners of those warehouses use these buildings to store goods or leave them empty. While officially there are no stockpiles of obsolete pesticides in the country, different experts consider that such stockpiles of highly toxic pesticides are left in warehouses all over the country42. They represent an immediate threat to the environment and possibly human health. There are two officially known depositories for obsolete toxafen, DDT, endrin and other pesticides located in Sugd and in Khatlon (see point 105).

37 United Nations Economic and Social Council. Environmental Performance Reviews of Tajikistan. First Review, 2004. 38 Asian Development Bank. Sustainable Cotton Sub-Sector Project Environmental Review. 2006, March, conducted by N.Nadiradze 39 Interview with Saimurod Bakridinov Ministry of Agriculture. 40 Mr. M. Amonov, Deputy Chief, State Factory Quarantine 41 Mr. K. Ganiev, Deputy Director, State Enterprise for Factory Protection and agriculture chemicals usage 42 Asian Development Bank. Sustainable Cotton Sub-Sector Project Environmental Review. 2006, March, conducted by N.Nadiradze

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104. Pesticide management at the farmer level. Currently, the majority of dehkan farmers do not have special facilities to store pesticides and other agro-chemicals. Therefore, dehkan farmers usually store their pesticides in the basements of their houses or in small tool sheds in their yards.43 The majority of dehkan farmers cannot afford to buy high quality pesticides, sprayers or protective clothing. Although, some dehkan farmers have pesticide sprayers, these sprayers are outdated and cannot be safely used. No protective clothing/equipment (gloves, glasses, masks, boots or robes) is used by dehkan farmers when they spray cotton or other crops with pesticides. Containers and packaging, especially from locally (illegal) or regionally manufactured (Uzbekistan, China) products are insufficiently labeled sometimes with labels in unfamiliar languages especially on products smuggled by local traders. Therefore, basic safety precautions for handling, application and disposal are often illegible and/or overlooked.

105. Integrated pest management. Currently there is no in place a Government policy on IPM to provide the framework and environment for promoting the development and implementation of integrated pest management strategies for cotton sector. As it was mentioned in the FPSP project EA only about 1 million Somoni out of the republican budget is annually allocated for the phytosanitary assessment, substantiation of protective measures performance and search for the most effective measures and methods for pest management (including IPM). Consequently at present, there is a complete lack of governmental support with regard to development and implementation of alternative methods for pest management especially because of lack of budgetary resources.

106. Impacts of pesticides on soil and groundwater contamination and on the health of farmers. Some existing studies on pesticides exposure have shown an increased incidence of respiratory diseases, rheumatism, malignant neoplasm of the digestive system, nephritis, gastric ulcers and nervous diseases in the areas with high pesticide concentrations presumably located near depositories.44 However, there is no reliable data to support this statement.45 It is considered that excessive and uncontrolled application of pesticides in agriculture during the Soviet era has led to significant contamination of soil, water and other environmental media. According to some documents, concentration of pesticides in food products during the 1970s and 1980s was 7 to 10 times the Maximum Allowable Concentration (MAC)46. There is no reliable information on the current levels of soil/ground water contamination by pesticides used on cotton crops. Similarly there are no evidences and data about the pesticides health impacts. It is widely considered that dehkan farmers cannot afford to buy pesticides on their own and thus such impacts are minimal. Even when dehkan farmers have access to pesticides, i.e. supplied by investors; the concentrations the dehkan farmers apply are usually lower than required47. At the same time, everybody agrees that there are instances when dehkan farmers apply cheap but ineffective or obsolete pesticides that do not eliminate pests but damage micro-flora of the topsoil. Since there is no reliable information on soil/groundwater contamination, health impacts, it is possible to assume that inadequate transportation, storage, and application of pesticides can potentially cause soil and groundwater contamination as well as the health o farmers.

(c) Environmental impacts of the cotton ginning factories 107. Environmental Audit of the Cotton Gin Factories. Environmental Assessment of the cotton ginning factories in the selected rayons consisted in conducting an express environmental audit. The study was to: (i) assess the compliance with environmental regulations, (ii) assess past and current contamination, as well as

43 The POPs project team. According to Mr. Juraev, in the fall Khujand police arrested a man and confiscated 500 tons of smuggled pesticides from Uzbekistan. Saks with pesticides were stored in the man’s basement.

44 United Nations Economic and Social Council. Environmental Performance Reviews of Tajikistan. First Review, 2004. 45 POPs project unit has not received the results of soil sample tests taken on the territories of those depositories 46 United Nations Economic and Social Council. Environmental Performance Reviews of Tajikistan. First Review, 2004. 47 Asian Development Bank. Sustainable Cotton Sub-Sector Project Environmental Review. 2006, March, conducted by N.Nadiradze

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pollution risks, and (iii) recommend measures required to improve compliance with national regulations. The objective is to provide environmental information and requirements that would be included in the bidding documents for the rehabilitation/construction of the plans, in order to integrate the costs of the required environmental restoration/protection measures into the planned investments. The environmental audit is structured around the following issues: (i) scope of the audit, (ii) methods/criteria used, (iii) results, and (iv) proposed measures.

108. Scope of the audit. The environmental audit covers the ginning factories owned and operated by private owners. Out of 14 ginning factories (see table 8) in the project rayons there were randomly selected and audited half of them. Table 8. List of cotton ginning factories in selected rayons.

N Name of the ginning factory Bohtar raion

1 Ginning factory named by Saidov 2 Bahtiyor” 3 Ginning factory named by Nuriddinov

Vakhsh raion 4 «Elite” 5 Safary Cotton Invest 6 “Moskva”

Kumsangir raion 7 “Dusti

Kabodiyon rayon 8 Ginning factory named by N.Husravi 9 “Oriono”

Shahrituz raion 10 “Pahtai Shahrituz”

Yavan raion 11 Ginning factory named by Kobilov 12 “Anahit”

Farhor raion 13 “Nekruz” 14 “Ziyoratshoh

The audit sought to identify the past, current, and future environmental and social problems associated with the activities of the ginning factories. The issues examined include the following:

• Emissions to air; • Releases to water; • Waste generation; • Contamination of land; • Compliance with existing standards; and • Occupational and safety hazards.

109. Methods and Criteria Used. Major used criteria in assessing the past, current, and future environmental impacts of the ginning factories are: (i) existence of internal procedures and practices pertaining to business environmental systems and compliance with such procedures; (ii) efficiency and safety of production processes; and (iii) overall environmental performance of the factories. To perform these tasks a special auditing questionnaire/checklist was prepared for visiting cotton ginning factories (see table 9) the checklist

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was discussed with representatives of relevant State inspections of the SCEPF (for air, water pollution control, land degradation and waste treatment, ecological expertise), representatives of Cotton Product Treatment Department (Ministry of Agriculture), rayon’s environmental committee specialists, and representatives of relevant departments in Khatlon hukumat. Table 9. Sample of environmental auditing checklists for cotton ginning factories

Environmental impacts Yes No Measures conducted Comments 1. Air emissions a) emissions from cyclone devices, filters

b) from other sources 2. Solid wastes a) from production process

b) hazardous wastes c) other type of wastes 3. Wastewater discharge

4. Health and safety techniques

5. Information dissemination, environmental reporting

6. Transport means 7. Existence of action plans for reduction of emissions

8. Monitoring systems 9. Environmental enforcement

110. Results of the Audit .The results of the audit for each factory are presented in the annex 3. Overall, the environmental performance of the ginning factories is low. This unsatisfactory performance is due to: (i) nonexistence of clear and written environmental management procedures, (ii) lack of specific and agreed upon environmental management targets, and (iii) lack of capacity to deal effectively with environmental issues related to factory operations. The following areas are those where significant improvement would be needed:

111. Air pollution (indoor and outdoor): Cotton ginning generates dust both within and beyond the factory. Some practices and dust control-equipment are in place, but do not seem to be effective. Dust concentration inside the factories are not known, but both factory workers and the neighboring populations may be exposed to ambient air characterized by relatively high concentration of dust, especially in the immediate surroundings of the factories. In some locations, the level of cotton dust concentration is so high that it impedes the growth of the trees that have been factored to reduce human and property exposure. In some neighboring communities, eye infections have been mentioned are the consequence of air pollution by the factories. In general, these factories do not comply with existing regulations on air pollution. 112. Wastewater discharge and solid and liquid wastes wastewater, grease, and solid wastes are not properly managed on factory sites. As a result, these wastes clogged the drains and get mixed with storm water. The potential for soil and water pollution is real and could result in severe to moderate adverse impact on the

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natural resources and human populations located near the factories. When waste is disposed of, this is not done appropriately, that is, sanitary procedures including treatment and site selection are not followed. 113. Emergency preparedness and response capacity: emergency plans for fire accident exist, but there are no written procedures, and the teams supposed to activate the plans are not trained. The factories rely on power generators for energy supply.

114. Hazardous materials: The handling of hazardous waste including pesticides, paint, and medical waste could be improved. Additional precaution is needed particularly with the transportation and storage of products (safety related to location, verification of containers, disposal of empty containers). Usually the damaged seed and other waste materials are distributed among farmers and used as fertilizer in fields, which as a place for insect diapause/overwintering and it can cause higher pest infestation in the next season. Such wastes should be burnt or other type of sanitation (fumigation, sterilization and incineration). 115. Occupational hazards: Cases of bodily injuries including severe harm, amputation, and at least one loss of life have been reported. These accidents occur both during factory operations and routine maintenance of equipment, but record keeping in this area is poor. Also there could be illness due to pollution (dust/particulate matter, cotton lint, etc.); long hours and rough working environment; and physical injury due to the many very fast moving parts (e.g. saws, etc), hazardous machinery, electric shocks from faulty wiring, burning from burners etc. No proper guidelines were available. 116. Internal monitoring and auditing procedures. Before privatization ginning factories had own laboratories for air emissions measurements and a special environment expert in their staff. The internal monitoring and auditing procedures have strongly weakened currently. The main relevant environment documentation should contain permissions on waste disposal, use of natural resources, air emissions reporting and normative of maximum allowable discharge and maximum allowable emissions, expertise conclusions and etc which they should submit to rayon environmental committee, Statistical divisions and hukumats. According to the data of Board meeting of the SCEPF48 (Ministry on nature protection that time) only few of them have mentioned documentation. Hukumats develop annual plan, where such auditing and monitoring are foreseen once per year. 117. Enforcement of the existing environmental legislation. While carrying out State control functions, officials of SCEPF may: • Access any enterprise or other object and review any relevant documents and test the

operation of purification equipment and facilities and measuring equipment; • Verify compliance with environmental standards and performance of plans of nature

protection activities; • Issue mandatory orders to enterprises to mitigate environmental violations; • Impose administrative sanctions and request the law enforcement bodies to initiate

criminal proceedings against offenders and to sue offenders for damages in civil courts; and • Suspend or terminate activities harmful to the environment or human health. The inspectorates can act independently within the powers expressly defined by law (e.g. Code of Administrative Violations, Law on Nature Protection). Each oblast and town environmental committee has a department or a specialist from each of the inspectorates, the Analytical Control Service and Ecological Expertise or (less frequent) one inspector for all types of inspections. Each of the five special State

48 Board Decision materials of the Ministry of nature protection (currently SCEPF) “About implementation of State Ecological Program of the Republic of Tajikistan in ginning factories”, 27 December, 2004

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inspectorates is responsible for the prevention and prosecution of violations in respect of a specific resource. Some of rayon committee inspectors make regular annual visits to the ginning factories to check the environmental status their. But some of visited ginning factories were not checked during more then 1,5 year. The objective and subjective circumstances are the reason for that. It was decided to improve the monitoring work of rayon committee environmental specialists, and relevant SCEPF state inspections in coordination with now are trying to conduct more regular visiting and control of environmental status during ginning factory activity at least one-two times per year.

(d) Environmental impacts of the proposed rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage canals, storehouses and village infrastructure 118. The proposed project activities will have positive impacts since they will strengthen capacities for sustainable development of the irrigation sector and village infrastructure rehabilitation involving technologies, policies and actions directed at the integration of environmental protection. Improvements of the irrigation systems would increase cotton production, prevent the risk of decreased productivity of irrigated land, protect natural “assets”, and prevent the degradation of soil fertility. As it was mentioned above, the reduction in losses and improved irrigation distribution will, besides the equity amongst farmers, reduce seepage losses from main canal and over-supply of irrigation, with a beneficial effect for the area: a lower water table, a lower risk of salinity, and less stagnant water pools in the village causing health problems. Provision of clean potable water in the problem villages would reduce waterborne disease incidences and improve villagers’ health.

119. At the same time, poor design and implementation could result in irrigation infrastructure rehabilitation/maintenance potential negative environmental impacts, such as water logging and salinization; soil erosion and degradation of adjacent natural habitats and factory species; improper and indiscriminate use of on-farm irrigation water such as resorting to flood irrigation by the farm owners; dumping of excavated sediments and other materials from irrigation and drainage canals, structures; etc. Temporary environmental damages caused by improper construction activities (dust, minor soil loss) can be also expected during storehouses and village infrastructure rehabilitation works and other construction activities.

YI Analysis of Alternatives to the Proposed Project.

120. The project team has analyzed several alternatives in the project design, including “Zero alternative”. It was concluded that the impact of not carrying out the project is the continuous degradation of the irrigated lands and irrigation as well as village infrastructure of Tajikistan. This would lead to the following negative results: (a) A continuation in the trend of decreasing water availability at the water user level; (b) Land degradation an decrease in land productivity; (c) Increased water logging in some locations; (d) Increased soil salinization in some locations; (e) Increased water and soil pollution due to inappropriate use of agrochemicals; (f) Environmental pollution by cotton ginning factories operation and inadequate labor safety; and (g) Increased poverty of rural population and migrations from rural areas. 121. Different approaches to cotton supply chain development were considered, including input supply cooperatives and direct processor financing, both of which operate in countries producing cotton in similar conditions. Viable input supply cooperatives must be built slowly, especially in an environment such as Tajikistan where local institutions are very weak. Hence, this option did not offer an immediate solution to the underlying problems. Direct processor financing offers a more immediate means to improve input supply, but it is prone to the abuses evident in the current system, and does not facilitate producer involvement in this activity. A hybrid approach was thus chosen, in which responsibility for input supply will be gradually transferred from processors to producer-based input supply centers, as the capacity of the centers improves.

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122. With regard to proposed mitigation measures it was decided that they should be based on a series of activities comprising not only concrete activities on the ground but should be combined with a large public awareness campaign, information dissemination activities as well as demonstrational activities at the national, regional and local levels. Thus, the EMP contains capacity building and training activities in all sectors that might be affected by the project activities. YII Mitigation Measures 123. Mitigation of environmental impact. Annex 4 present the Environmental Management Matrix which stipulates the summary of the main potential impacts on the environment and on the health of dekhan/population, along with the proposed mitigation measures. Most of them are oriented to capacity building since most of the potential impacts are indirect and could be prevented and/or mitigated by strengthening institutional and human capacities, by applying best agricultural practices in cotton production. (a) Mitigation of potential impacts of water overuse and/or irrational use

124. Water-logging, salinization and irrigation erosion caused by ineffective use of irrigation water and improper operation of drainage schemes, - will be addressed mostly by public awareness and capacity building activities. For that purpose it is proposed to launch an awareness program for all stakeholders on the farm: managers, shareholders and workers – on environmental implications of unsustainable water management practices. It is also proposed the following: (a) public awareness activities on the creation and management of Water User Associations (WUAs), on promoting best experience in water management between dehkan farms to demonstrate modem irrigation and drainage technologies of on-farm water and land management and increase the environmental awareness of farmers; (b) community programs to inform farmers about sustainable land use practices, including information about full implications of mono-culture on soil fertility, land degradation and quality and quantity of crops, particularly in the cotton sub-sector; (c) training in agricultural production techniques, including the water management activities.

(b) Mitigation of potential impact of the pest management

125. Mitigation of potential pest management impacts rely on a series of activities dealing with several aspects: (a) policy and institutional strengthening; (b) capacity building; (c) information dissemination and public awareness; and (d) targeted investments in improving pest management infrastructure. As mentioned above in points 43, the ongoing WB LCRP project has a special subcomponent that is supporting such activities, including a Pest Management Plan and the development of Integrated Pest Management in the country. The proposed activities would cover all mentioned above aspects, along with demonstrational activities on most important agricultural crops, and first of all on cotton production.

126. The proposed within that project IPMP might also enable the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry as well as the PIU to monitor pests and disease vectors and mitigate negative environmental impacts associated with pest control in cotton production. The PMP provides decision-makers and community agriculture user groups with guidelines on integrated pest management (IPM) approaches and options to reduce crop losses with minimal personal and environmental health risks. The IPMP contains also a special matrix with the proposed activities, expected results, milestones and performance indicators proposed in this for mitigating the potential environmental impacts of the Pest Management (see Annexes 5and 6). Since LRCP contains all activities that would mitigate the impacts of the pest management including in the cotton production sector, the current project doesn’t stipulate any new activities in this area. (c) Mitigation of potential impacts of the rehabilitation/construction of cotton ginning factories

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127. The measures proposed to address the environmental problems caused by the cotton ginning factories are of several types are as presented in the Annex 7 and include the following:

• Adopt environmental management plans for each factory in order to control air emission, treat and dispose of wastes, and protect workers from exposure to harmful substances, heat, dust, and malfunctioning equipment.

• Train the staff on environmental as well as on health and safety requirements and measures for mitigating potential harmful impacts;

• Conduct a periodic environmental monitoring and enforce the existing national regulations to ensure full compliance of factories with safety requirements. waste disposal and emission standards as well as compliance with the provisions of the EMP:

• Integrate environmental management at factory level with the local environmental action plans, especially, with regard to prevention of air pollution, waste management, handling of hazardous substances (transport, storage, treatment, and disposal), and public awareness.

128. These recommendations will be presented to the ginning factory owners who will be responsible for implementing the proposed measures for complying with the environmental requirements as well as to the rayon environmental inspectors, in charge of enforcement of the existing legislation. In the case the contractor will choose to rehabilitate the existing cotton ginning factory an Environmental audit will be carried out, taking into consideration the Bank’s rules and procedures in this regard. The results of such audits will be a special Environmental Action Plan for improving environmental performance of the factories, to be implemented by the contractor in due time. In the case of a construction of a new factory, the Contractor will be required to develop an EMP, taking into account all of the requirements of the project EMP that can effectively implement the necessary mitigating measures. The cotton ginning factories EMP are subject of the State Ecological Expertise and should be approved by the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry. The ginning factory EMPs should contain also an internal Health and Safety Management System to ensure that all workers of the ginning factories will be adequately protected against any environmental and occupational hazards and that they use safe working practices. In order to ensure that the Contractor implements these measures an independent verification will be conducted upon completion of the works that the Contractor is meeting all its obligations to protect the environment and health and safety of employees. (d) Mitigation of potential impacts of rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage canals, storehouses and village infrastructure 129. The mitigation of these impacts rely on applying of an Environmental Management Framework for the proposed subproject activities, as well as on Environmental Guidelines that recommend typical mitigation measures for such works. As was mentioned above, most of eligible subproject are at the small scale and will not have significant environmental impacts. In the table 10 it is provide a list of potential subprojects. Table 10. Types of potential subprojects Examples of eligible sub-projects

• Renovations of public buildings (schools, clinics, libraries, public recreational • facilities) • Rural roads (repair and upgrading) • Rural bridges (repair and upgrading) • Small scale irrigation facilities (repair and rehabilitation) • Upgrading of public utilities (e.g. electric transmission lines, water supply, sewerage • and sanitation)

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• Warehouse and storage facilities

Environmental assessment procedures for such subprojects are designed to assure consistency with Tajik national environmental requirements as well as World Bank policy. Accordingly, it is proposed that each subproject will be assessed for its environmental impacts. Overall, the improvements of irrigation infrastructure projects will require preparation of more comprehensive environmental management plans to be cleared by the PIU Environmental specialist and/or environmental authorities at the rayon level (rayon inspector to review and provide clearance). 130. Environmental Management Framework. Subproject environmental assessment will involve one or more of the following steps49:

Step 1: Typically the proposal would include an environmental section describing the key environmental features of the project site, whether critical natural habitats, forests, or rare and endangered species are likely to be impacted, whether major water courses or groundwater sources will be affected, the type of natural resource abstraction and use the project will entail, waste materials and polluting substances likely to generated during construction and operation, etc. In order to decide if the proposed subprojects may cause adverse environmental impacts that needs to be addressed in the project design, it is required an initial screening that would involve a review of the subproject technical proposal proposals and concepts for potential impacts and the determination of the level of environmental assessment that will be required. Annex 8 provides an Environmental Screening Checklist to be completed by project proponents with assistance PIU Environmental Specialist, consultants or contractors. Depending on the nature and scale of the impacts, the reviewing authority (the PIU Environmental Specialist and/or Rayon Environmental Inspector) will inform the project proponents about the decision concerning further environmental documentation required for the subproject. Since the project will not support any major construction requiring resettlement or land acquisition, nor invest in the construction of dams, new canals or head works that would allow increased water abstraction from main sources two possibilities exist:

(a) The subproject is assessed by PIU Environmental Specialist to have no significant adverse environmental impact (World Bank environmental category C). No further environmental action is required.

(b) The subproject is assessed by the PIU Environmental Specialist to have adverse environmental impacts for which mitigation measures can be easily designed (World Bank environmental category B). An environmental management plan (EMP) is required in most cases. The EMP should describe the relevant environmental issues and proposed mitigation and monitoring measures. In some cases, a limited environmental assessment (EA) study may be required before the EMP can be prepared. In other words, projects with limited environmental impacts will require either only an EMP, or a limited EA and EMP.

Step 2: Preparation of EA/EMP: In those cases where such documentation is required, the project proponents will prepare (or organize preparation of) the relevant documents for submission within the time indicated by the reviewing authority, taking into account the requirements of the national State Ecological Expertise. Depending on the project environmental impacts, the environmental documentation could either be a separate report, or simply presented as a section of the overall project document submitted for appraisal to the approving authority. For most projects a simple Environmental Management Plan (Annex 10) will be adequate to guide mitigation and monitoring.

49 Depending on the nature of the subproject and readiness of the proposal, the steps 1, 2, and 3 may be combined into one single review and clearance step.

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Step 3: Consultation. For Category B sub-projects, the PIU will organize a hearing for consultation and comment by project-affected groups and local non-governmental organizations during the environmental assessment process and take their views into account before taking a decision on financing a proposed project. The project proponent provides relevant materials (process descriptions, maps, permits, building plans, etc.) to participants in the consultation in a timely manner and in a form and language that are understandable to the group being consulted.

Step 4: Environmental Review and Approval: The project documentation will be reviewed and approved. The decision on the environmental aspects of the project, and any additional measures or changes required to the proposed environmental management plan will be conveyed at this stage. The reviewing authority (Rayon Ecological Committee) will specifically look for the implementation capacity and monitoring arrangements for the proposed mitigation measures and assure that the costs of environmental management are accounted for in the project costs. Environmental Inspectors of the rayon level will review and provide environmental clearance of all subproject proposals for the irrigation infrastructure, storehouse and village infrastructure rehabilitation. In doing so, the Inspectors will carry out site surveys as necessary, review environmental aspects of proposed subprojects, assure appropriateness of proposed mitigation measures, and supervise their implementation. Step 5: Supervision and Reporting: Once project implementation starts, the PIU environmental specialist and rayon environmental inspectors will supervise the implementation of the EMP through the course of construction and operation and specify corrective measures as necessary. The PIU annually will provide to the World Bank a summary of the sub-projects financed and their environmental impacts in order to assess and prevent any cumulative effects of similar investments. The PIU will make available to World Bank project supervision missions all environmental assessments and environmental management plans prepared for micro-projects financed. (Special Cases: While the above linear steps would apply in case of simple projects, there may be special cases when a group of irrigation and drainage canals rehabilitation subprojects may have implications for each other and therefore, may need to be reviewed together to be able to decide on any one project. This would apply in mostly in the case of upstream/downstream type situations. 131. Guidelines for concrete mitigation measures. The mitigating measures which address the main environmental concerns while implementing irrigation systems, storehouses and village infrastructure rehabilitation are presented in the table 11 and are as follows: Table 11 Mitigation measures for irrigation infrastructure, storehouse and village infrastructure rehabilitation works Activity Mitigation measure Dumping of excavated sediments and other materials from irrigation and drainage canals, storehouses and village infrastructure rehabilitation

Preservation of natural landscape, by conducting operations in a manner that will prevent unnecessary destruction or scarring of natural surroundings. Except where required for permanent works, quarries, borrow pits, staging and processing areas, dumps, and camps, all trees, saplings, and shrubbery should be protected from unnecessary damage by project related activities. Minimize damage to natural setting and vegetative cover and assure vegetation recovery.

Wastes disposal Proper disposal of waste materials and rubbish. If disposal by burial or fire, it should not cause negative impact to either the air, soil nor ground water supplies. Minimize damage to

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natural setting and vegetative cover and assure vegetation recovery.

Air emissions of dust Minimize air pollution emissions. Dust from the handling or transporting of aggregates, cement, etc., should be minimized by sprinkling or other methods.

Waste water discharges, ground water pollution

Assure adequate water collection and distribution and local treatment. Wastewater, including those from aggregate processing and concrete batching, must not enter streams without settling ponds, grave I filters, or other process, so as not to impair water quality or harm aquatic life;

Placement of facilities (storehouses, waste disposal sites; location of machinery, of auxiliary buildings, etc)

The contractor’s facilities, such as warehouse, labor camps, and storage areas, should be so located as to preserve the natural environment (such as trees and other vegetation) to the maximum extent possible. After project construction, camps and building should be torn down and the area restored to its quasi-original condition in order to avoid environmental deterioration

Noise and vibrations Prevent or minimize vibrations and noise from the operation of vehicles and machinery during construction activities.

Accidental spillages Prevention of accidental spillage of contaminants, debris, or other pollutants, especially into streams or underground water resources. Such pollutants include untreated sewage and sanitary waste, tailings, petroleum products, chemical, biocides, mineral salts.

132. Environmental requirements during the construction phase. The necessary mitigating measures would constitute integral part of the project implementation including the contracts binding the contractors to carry out the environmental obligations during construction of the sub-project. Thus all contractors will be required to use environmentally acceptable technical standards and procedures during the implementation of construction of works. Additionally contract clauses will include requirements regarding the observation of all national construction laws and rules as well as on environmental protection. Furthermore, each contractor will identify officers responsible for the implementation of activities on environmental protection conforming to instructions and directions received from the construction and design or environmental protection agencies. In order to minimize potential construction-related negative environmental impacts, a combination of preventive actions and monitoring should be followed. Some preventive and mitigation measures should be followed in any subprojects namely: (a) Construction contracts should follow environmental, health and safety regulations stipulated by national legislation and World Bank procedures. (b) Contractors should follow a set of environmental guidelines for contractors prescribed by the EMP and measures stipulated in the table above. The PIU should prepare based on the requirements stipulated in the table 5, as part of the bidding document, a list of applicable measures to be required to the contractors as an integral part of the contract. Financial penalties should be associated to the failure of abiding by them. (c) Contractors should be required to submit, as part of their bid, a site-specific environmental management plan, which should include training for participating staff. The scope of the plan and the training requirements should depend on the scale of the proposed activities. 133. Environmental requirements during Operation and Maintenance Phase. During this phase, the potential negative impacts due to project activities will come also from civil works to be executed as part of the regular maintenance of the scheme. In order to minimize potential O&M-related negative environmental impacts,

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some preventive measures during the design phase should be followed, and then a combination of sound O&M and monitoring should be followed, that also should be part of the bidding documents.

VIII. Monitoring Plan 134. The EMP includes a Monitoring Plan with measures that will be employed to track the effectiveness of the Mitigation Plan and described the environmental indicators to be monitored, along with the monitoring methods, frequency, costs, as well as the monitoring and reporting procedures, including institutional arrangements for the implementation of this plan (see Annex 11). It addresses in particular project need to monitor and mitigate negative impact of any increase in water use, as well as increase in the use of agrochemicals, particularly chemical pesticides by promoting ecological approaches to pest management. It includes also monitoring activities related to operation of cotton ginning factories and activities for implementation of irrigation and village infrastructure rehabilitation works. 135. The Monitoring of environmental indicators will be a part of the overall project monitoring. The PIU environmental specialist will review the environmental status of the project area to assist with the establishment of a baseline for the major environmental parameters and set up a monitoring program for periodic review of the project’s impact on the environment. Monitoring the implementation of the environmental mitigation measures in the irrigation and village infrastructure rehabilitation subprojects will be the responsibility of the both, - PIU Environmental Specialist and rayon ecological inspectors.

136. The findings of the relevant monitoring activities will be reflected in quarterly and annual progress reports. The progress reports will cover the implementation of proposed by EMP activities as well as effects of the environmental impacts. The site supervisors should be trained to be able to conduct inspections at the construction sites, borrowing and dumping areas, and other potentially impacted areas. Specific aspects to be monitored are presented in the Annex 12.

IX. Stakeholders Analysis and institutional responsibilities 137. The State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry. The Committee has an important role in decision making related to environmental problems of cotton production linked to unsustainable land use, deterioration of soil fertility, excessive use of water for irrigation, problems with water logging, and use of obsolete/banned pesticides. As the central State executive body responsible for environmental protection, the sustainable use of resources, forestry and hydrometeorology, among its most important functions are to: (a) Define the main strategies for the protection, study, conservation and sustainable use of resources, the mitigation of the effects of climate change; (b) Prepare and publish biennial state-of-the environment reports; (c) Draft laws and other regulatory documents, including environmental standards, instructions and methodologies for the use of resources; (d) Issue individual permits for the use of specific resources and withdraw these if the user violates their terms; (e) Set quotas for the hunting and collection of certain species of animals and factories, as well as for the import of ozone-depleting substances; (f) Carry out ecological expertise of planned activities; (g) Define the system of specially protected territories and maintain State cadastres of such territories, forests, factories, water bodies and hazardous waste. 138. The Ministry of Agriculture has the primary responsibility for agricultural policies, including cotton, setting standards on quantity of inputs required per hectare for cotton cultivation. The Department for Land Use of the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for issues related to the sustainable use of agricultural land that includes the country’s irrigated farm land under cotton.

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139. The State Committee for Land Management with its regional offices is responsible for land policy, land reform and the control of land use practices. It is the key authority responsible for implementation of the Land Code. 140. The Ministry of Water Resources and Land Reclamation is responsible for the development and maintenance of irrigation canals, water reservoirs, pump stations, distribution of water among agricultural consumers, and collection of fees. The Ministry also establishes norms and limits for water consumers and monitors efficiency of water use; provides data on water consumption; maintains Water Cadastre, issues “certificates” to individual irrigation, drainage, land-reclamation schemes and analyses data obtained in the process. The Ministry approves construction or rehabilitation of commercial projects that intend to use water in their production cycle. The Ministry’s approval is also needed for the construction or rehabilitation of any enterprise that uses water in its production cycle. Permits for the use of water for irrigation are issued to users (individuals and agricultural enterprises) by the Ministry rather than by the State Committee.

141. Local authorities. Local councils are authorized to coordinate the environmental protection and use of resources by the enterprises in their jurisdiction. A local council may suspend the operation of an enterprise that fails to obtain approval for its plans. Local councils also may: (a) grant or withdraw land parcels and monitor their sustainable use; (b) register ownership or land-use rights; (c) designate nature and other objects as ecologically, culturally or scientifically valuable and nominate them for monument status; (d) set rules for water use, including water consumption by households and farms; (e) control compliance with the rules for use of forests and reforestation and correct extraction of mineral resources, as well as orderly hunting and fishing. 142. TAAS Institute for Factory Protection and Quarantine. The new Factory Protection and Quarantine Institute established within Tajik Academy of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) in May 2005, is consolidating various factory protection departments in the crop-specific research centers. It consists of four departments: (1) a laboratory for factory protection products, including biopesticides and growth regulators; (2) a laboratory to study agricultural pests; (3) biolaboratories for mass-rearing of natural enemies, including the facilities at Ziroatkor in Hissor; and (4) laboratories for horticultural pest control. The rehabilitated insect rearing facilities for cotton are expected to become self-supporting after four years.

143. Various scientific institutions of the Academy of Sciences and Academy of Agricultural Sciences have a considerable capacity for research. Although, as in other former Soviet republics, the system for research and education is under severe pressure due to insufficient funding allocations. The Soil Science Research Institute and the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Land Reclamation, for example, are key research institutes in the field of soils and irrigation. In some cases, these research institutions are involved in information dissemination and training activities for new “private” dehkan farms including those that grow cotton. 144. The Union of Dehkan Farmers (the Union) was established in 1997. The Union has some 20,000 members in 245 local unions using about half of Tajikistan’s agricultural land. Its main objective is to support the rights of the newly established dehkan farms. While the Union has experience in working with dehkan farmers, the Union leadership admits that most of their members lack basic information on environmental impacts of mono-culture, crop rotation and sustainable land management practices. X Implementing arrangements

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145. Overall responsibility for project implementation overseeing and coordinating institutional and implementation arrangements will be vested with the Office of the President – the State Advisor for Economic Policy was appointed as the direct project counterpart by the President of Tajikistan. The Independent Commission will provide with general policies and guidelines for project implementation. The Commission will ensure coordination and linkages across relevant agencies and with international partners and will guide and monitor project implementation at the central level. 146. A small project management unit (PMU) for both the Bank’s and ADB’s project, established under the Office of the State Advisor to the President on Economic Policy will be responsible for day-to-day implementation, the timely provision and delivery of inputs to achieve the project’s outputs, ensuring appropriate monitoring and reporting requirements are met, and enabling overall coordination of the projects. The PMU would ensure a direct link with the Office of the President and the Independent Commission and would provide guidance to district/regional administrations. Specifically, the PMU’s main tasks will be to (i) oversee the implementation of both projects; (ii) maintain appropriate accounts and manage procurement, engagement of consultants, and disbursement in accordance with ADB and World Bank guidelines; (iii) ensure effective coordination and liaison with ADB, WB and the Office of the President on project-related activities and reports; (iv) monitor and report on the progress of the projects; and (v) schedule reviews, audits, and evaluations, and provide resulting reports regularly to the Independent Commission. It would also assist implementing agencies in organizing information campaigns to create awareness among rural communities and the institutions serving them at the local level.

147. The Project Director will be responsible for overall project coordination and will countersign with a representative of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) all withdrawal applications and disbursement documents. To assist Project Director with the management of the activities specific to the Bank’s and ADB’s respective projects, two Deputy Directors positions will be established and filled through a competitive selection process, and will be confirmed by the Independent Commission. In addition to Deputy Directors, a debt resolution coordinator, a coordinator for the farmer participation activities and fiduciary staff will be hired by the Bank’s project and three Consultant Specialists positions will be funded by the ADB’s project. A limited number of environment, gender and monitoring and evaluation specialists will be shared and funded proportionately between the Bank’s and the ADB’s projects. 148. Provision of this agronomic extension will most likely be provided through the contracting of NGOs and other organizations that are already active in the south of the country, who have widespread community respect and a proven track record of delivering such services. Using this delivery method it will also be possible to introduce more modern farming practices and technologies (including improved seed). The project will therefore seek to provide awareness programs in these areas and also to establish a number of mobile “legal clinics” which will be available to the producers in the project districts through the JDCs. Similarly, the producers have very little demonstrated knowledge of basic accounting and financial planning and therefore basic training courses in these fields will also be made available through workshops and seminars to willing participants. 149. The cotton supply chain coordinator will be responsible for the day-to-day monitoring of all sub-components and will report directly to the Deputy Director. For the main sub-component (ginning), he/she will be the main point of contact for the ginning ventures. Given that the approach of the project is to introduce new methods of operations, there will be a large amount of work necessary with the relevant ministries to ensure the smooth operation of the ginning ventures. It will be the responsibility of the coordinator to help the management of the ginning ventures with governmental relations. He/she will be responsible for monitoring the performance of the contracted parties for the JDC development and agricultural extension services. He/she will be responsible for collating and receiving applications under the matching grant facilities and providing them in due format to the matching grant approval committee. He/she

45

will also be responsible for gathering relevant data information for the Deputy Director for the collation of relevant reports on project implementation with regard to all of the sub-components. XI. Capacity building 150. A full/part time environmental specialist will be recruited into the PIU to oversee the environmental aspects of project development and implementation. The main tasks of the environmental specialist will be to:

• assist with the review the environmental status of the project area and setting up a baseline as well as long term monitoring program for the major environmental parameters as part of the overall project monitoring and evaluation;

• oversee implementation of the environmental assessment framework for the irrigation and village infrastructure rehabilitation subprojects;

• organize training programs; • guide the project staff about subproject requirements and provide them with necessary

information (i.e., local, national, or international environmental standards and requirements for a obtaining permit/license, contracts, etc);

• prepare quarterly and annual progress reports to the Project Independent Commission on the progress and adequacy of action taken towards the observance or otherwise of environmental parameters identified for each of the project elements during the implementation and point out weaknesses and suggest measures for improvement;

• assure that all relevant documentation and reports related to environmental aspects of subprojects are properly maintained by the PIU.

151. Requirements for Environmental Specialist. The environmental specialist will have an advanced degree in Environmental Science and at least a 10 year working experience related to environmental management in natural resources and rural development projects. He/she should be familiar with procedures for environmental assessment and monitoring, pest management issues, national and international environmental standards and requirements for irrigation and land management, public health standards and technical parameter and safety standards. He/she should have at least a 3 year work experience in private, local or national government administration system and with international organizations. 152. Training in environmental management issues. A training program to develop and expand professional skills and capacity in environmental management issues for staff involved in project implementation will be organized under the project through the PIU. Trainees would be specialists of the head-quarters and field offices of the SCEPF, MOA, and rayon officials. Following general training programs will be organized under the project:

• Training for the rayon inspectors in environmental assessment and monitoring methods. Short-term refresher courses ( 1–2 days) will be provided to upgrade existing knowledge and to inform about new concepts in the areas of environmentally sustainable technologies in cotton production and land resources management, soil conservation, irrigation and drainage management, and environmental monitoring;

• PIU Staff Training on environmental management and monitoring (2 days); • A half-day national level seminar will be held annually in Dushanbe to review and exchange

information on the environmental results of the project. Representatives from the project area, journalists, academia, civic society members, NGOs, SCEPF MIWR, MOA, and other related Government institutions who are stakeholders will be invited to participate in the review and discuss the issues related to environmental impact of the project.

• Training related to pest management issues will be provided within the FPSP project described in detail as part of the Pest Management Plan for the project (see Annex 5 and 6).

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XII. Budget

153. PIU will be responsible in the implementation of this PMP and estimated costs for the various activities under this program will be built in the budget. A tentative breakup of budgetary requirements is given in Table 12.

Table 12. Budget estimates

Line item Yr. 1 Yr. 2 Yr. 3 Yr 4 Yr.5 Total

1. Public awareness and information dissemination on sustainable water and land use in cotton production Public awareness program on water management to demonstrate modem irrigation and drainage technologies of on-farm water management

24000 24000 24000 24000 96000

Community program on sustainable land use practices, including information about full implications of mono-culture on soil fertility, land degradation andquality and quantity of cropsin the cotton sub-sector;

24000 24000 24000 24000 96000

Sub-total 48000 48000 48000 48000 192.000

2. Public awareness and training in mitigating environmental impacts of the cotton ginning factories

Training on ISO 14000 and environmental management plans for cotton ginning factories

6000 6000 6000 6000 24000

Training of the factories staff on environmental, health and safety requirements and measures for mitigating potential harmful impacts

2000 2000 2000 2000 8000

Training for environmental inspectors on environmentalmonitoring and enforcement of the existing national regulations to ensure full compliance of factories with safety requirements; waste disposal and emission standards

2000 2000 2000 2000 8000

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Sub-total 10000 10000 10000 10000 40000

3. Capacity building for Environmental management in implementing irrigation and storehouse rehabilitation subprojects

Training for the rayon inspectors in subproject environmental assessment and monitoring

2500 2500 2500 2500 10000

National seminar to review and exchange information on the environmental results of the project

2500 2500 2500 2500 10000

Sub-total 5000 5000 5000 5000 20000

4. Project management, monitoring and evaluation

Training for Environmental specialist

5000 5000

Training on Monitoring and evaluation

5000 5000 10000

Sub-total 10000 5000 15000

Grand total 10000 68000 63000 63000 63000 267000

XIII. Public Consultation

154. The Ministry of Agriculture on September 15, 2006 has disseminated the draft summary EMP in its and other relevant ministries for review and comment. On September 22, 2006 the Ministry has publicly disseminated the 5-page announcement summary (with Annexes showing the Impact Matrix, Mitigation and Monitoring Plans) for public access in paper copies. The arrangements for an announcement regarding the availability of the EMP summary, data of public consultation, contact information and where copies can be obtained, etc. had been done by the PIU (see Annex 13). At the same time the EMP summary and relevant annotation has been open for wide NGO community via website of State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry (http://www.ecology.tj) and Aarhus Convention Center (www.aarhus.tj).

155. The PIU organized and conducted one public briefing and consultation on the draft EMP on September 22, 2006. The place, time and purpose of the consultation were announced one week in advance of the meeting. In addition to the public announcement of the meeting, invitations were sent to environmental and socio-agricultural NGOs, local representatives of the government bodies, such as SCEPF, MoA, MoH, MIWR, SCLA and others. There were presentations on EMP and PMP issues which were discussed during the meeting. It was also noted that this draft EMP document covered practically all potential impacts and possible mitigation measures. The draft EMP was revised after the meeting taking into account inputs from

48

the consultation. The final version of the EMP was be made publicly available in Tajikistan, provided to the World Bank, and will be used by the government agencies in the implementation of the project.

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List of Annexes Annex 1. Description of project rayon Annex 2. Summary of project potential adverse environmental impacts Annex 3. The results of the environmental auditing of cotton ginning factories Annex 4. Environmental Management Matrix Annex 5. Planning matrix for Pest Management Plan of the Farm Privatization Support Project. Annex 6. Components activities and expected results of the PMP Annex 7. Matrix Environmental impacts of cotton ginning factories and proposed mitigation measures Annex 8. Environmental screening checklist for sub-projects Annex 9. Content of an EIA report Annex 10.Environment Management Guidelines for proposed sub-projects Annex 11. Monitoring Plan Matrix Annex 12 Specific environmental aspects to be monitored Annex 13 Record on consultation meetings Annex 14. References

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Annex 1. Description of project rayons

Bokhtar rayon

a) General geographic location

Bokhtar rayon is founded in 1930 and has a territory of 583.9 sq km. It borders with Vakhsh, Kolkhozobod, Ghozimalik, Khojamaston rayons as well as with Sarband and Kurgan-Tyube towns. The administration centre of the rayon is an urban village called I.Somoni located on the distance of 10 km from Kurgan-Tyube city. b). Social-economic characteristic (conditions) With respect to its administration and territory, the rayon has 3 shahrak jamoat’s (township adm.centre) (I.Somoni, Kuybishev and Buston-qal’a) and 5 dehot jamoat’s (village adm.centres) (Avangard, Zargar, Kalinin, Mehnatobod, and Navbahor) with 130 villages, 20639 householdings and 189.300 inhabitants (by January 01, 2004)/194.400 (according to the preliminary estimation of 2004). The agriculture is the basis of the economy. There are 11 kolkhoz’s (collective farms) and sovkhoz’s (state farms) the Vakhsh branch of scientific and production association “Zemledeliye”, 3 cotton ginning factories, a fur factory, a winery, installations for the blind, 2 motor-transport depots, 6 building organizations, 11 state farms, 29 farmers’ lands and etc. In 1998 the average annual number of employed people was 30870, in 1999 – 31269, and by October 01, 2000 – 30983 persons. By September 01, 1997 326 persons, in 1998 – 859, in 1999 660 and in the third quarter of 2000 652 persons were officially registered as unemployed. By May 01, 1997 the number of hidden unemployment was 39797. During the civil war more than 160 inhabitants of the rayon became refugees, 8320 houses were destroyed or burnt. There are 62 schools, 8 kinder gardens, and a boarding school for the orphan and an old people's home in the rayon. The schools lack for desks, chairs, window glasses, teaching aids, books and others. Due to lack of chairs more than 4 thousand pupils study at schools standing. The schools are not heated. 28 schools have the boilers, but all of them are out of service. During the civil war 20 schools were burnt or destroyed in the territory of Mehnatobod, Kuybishev, Avangard, Kalinin jamoats, not to mention the unfinished schools. The boiler, the bath-house, the gym of the boarding school in Mehnatobod jamoat needs to be restored. At this school 180 children with no parents study and live within 24 hours. About 3000 children have no father or mother (they died during the civil war). The old people's home suffers from shortage of beds, beddings, furniture, and the building itself needs to be repaired. There are 34 libraries, 14 houses of culture and a musical school in the rayon. As for the medical institutions, there is a central hospital, 7 rural hospitals, 18 out-patient departments, 37 medical houses and 7 drugstores. The medical institutions lack for medicines, food, soft and hard implements and equipment. Many of the medical institutions available, including water supply, heating and sewerage system, need major repairs. During the civil war more than 30% of the medical institutions of rural area were burnt, destroyed and looted.

The agrarian sector with sown area of 19717 hectares of land is the basis of the rayon’s economy. Lately as a result of reduction in crop capacity of agricultural production, due to shortage of tractors to plough, combustive-lubricating materials for them, fertilizers, seeds, improper level of ground water, stoppage of industrial and transporting enterprises and the consequences of the civil war the economy of the rayon weakened. So, if the grain-crops and leguminous factories productivity was 19.6 metric centner per I ha in 1991, it was 22.9 centner/ha - in 1998, the raw cotton productivity was 30.5 and 18.3, respectively.

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In 2004 the raw cotton productivity made up 9.585 tons. In 1997 the vegetable sale plan was accomplished by 29.9%, of fruits 16.7%, of grapes by 7.7%. In 1996 the cattle number was 3814, in 1997 - 2893, in 1998 - 3910. The cattle productivity including average milk yield per 1 cow made up 647 kg in 1998, and the average wool productivity was 1.9 kg per 1 sheep.

c).Environmental Problems The main environmental problems of the rayon are rise in level of ground water in the territory of all the jamoats, as a result more than 10 thousand hectares are depopulated. The drainage network is 205 km long, but in December 1997 only 24 km were cleaned. In the territory of dehot jamoats of Kuybishev and Zargar about 8.6 km of Vakhsh river bank was destroyed, as a result 33.4 hectares of land were washed up by river stream, and 248 hectares of land suffer from ablation. The sewage disposal factories of Mehnatobod, Zargar and Kuybishev are out of service. There is no trash dump in the rayon and all wastes are thrown into the river. The other problem relates to the lack of drinking water in a number of villages of all the jamoats, including I.Somoni.

d). Priority problems Thus, the priority problems of the rayon’s inhabitants are the consequences of the civil war, lack of development in the education, health, telecommunication, water supply, power supply systems, high level of ground water, stoppage of industrial and other organizations, gas supply, heating problems unemployment and etc. Table 2.1. below shows the features of priority problems of the inhabitants and their poverty rate with respect to jamoats. Table 2.1. Main problems of the rayon

No. Name of shahrak

and dehot jamoats

No.

ofvi

llage

s

No.

ofho

useh

old

No.

ofpo

pula

tion

List of priority problems and needs

1. Avangard 10 2126 16350 Education, health, high level of ground water, drinking water supply, restoration of destroyed owner-occupied dwelling

2. Buston-qal’a 11 1554 16757 Education, health, high level of ground water, drinking water supply, ecology, restoration of destroyed owner-occupied dwelling

3. Zargar 27 4753 39577 Education, health, high level of ground water, drinking water supply, ecology, restoration of destroyed owner-occupied dwelling

4. Kalinin 17 3032 25234 Education, health, high level of ground water, drinking water supply, restoration of destroyed owner-occupied dwelling

5. Kuybishev 30 3425 25813 Education, health, high level of ground water, drinking water supply, ecology, restoration of destroyed owner-occupied dwelling

6. Mehnatobod 22 3028 25978 Education, health, high level of ground water, drinking water supply, ecology, restoration of destroyed owner-occupied dwelling

7. Navbahor 12 1643 13038 Education, health, high level of ground water, drinking water supply, ecology, restoration of destroyed owner-occupied dwelling

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8. I.Somoni 1 1078 6719 Drinking water supply

Vakhsh rayon a) General geographic location

It was founded in 1965 and occupies 1101. 4 sq km. It borders with Dangara, Bokhtar and Kolkhozobod rayons. The administration centre of the rayon is Vakhsh settlement located on the distance of 120 km from Dushanbe and 18 km from Kurgan-Tyube.

b). Social-economic characteristic (conditions)

With respect to its administration and territory the raion is divided into 2 shahrak jamoats (Vakhsh and Kirov) and 5 dehot jamoats (Rohi Lenin, Ok Gaza, Tojikobod, Yangiobod, Mash’al) with 94 villages, 17442 households and 135.8 thousand inhabitants (by January 01, 2004/139.6 thousand (according to the preliminary estimation in 2004). There are 4 industrial enterprises, 9 building and 2 transporting organisations, 2 communication companies, 14 goskhoz’s (state farm) and collective farms, 76 schools of general education, 5 infant schools, 1 vocational school, 1 musical school, 1 art school, 24 libraries, 1 sports school, central hospital, polyclinics, maternity welfare centre, 4 rural hospitals, skin diseases hospital, 8 rural out-patient departments, 48 medical houses, 5 drugstores and etc. The schools lack for desks, chairs and they are not heated. The building of many schools and medical institutions need to be restored. There were 24973 employed people in 1998, 30268 in 1999 and as of October 01, 2000, there were 28965 employed people. In 1998 the nominal average monthly salary of 1 employee made up 4611 roubles, in 1999 – 6546 and for 9 months of 2000 – 5397 roubles. By September 01, 1997 the number of registered unemployment was 783 persons, in 1998 – 904, in 1999 – 443 and in the third quarter of 2000 it made up 397 persons, while the number of hidden unemployment by May 01, 1997 was 20216 persons. During the civil war more than 120 thousand people of the rayon were refugees, 8236 houses were destroyed or burnt. The agriculture is the basis of the rayon’s economy. It occupies 81481 hectares of land to produce agricultural production. 18623 hectares of them are irrigated area, 1612 hectares are dry area, 60176 hectares of land are for pasture, and 2414 hectares are meant for homestead land. More than 6 thousand hectares of land are irrigated by pumps, but as they are out of service, part of the land is left unirrigated and no harvest is received. Moreover, lately due to this and other reasons, the productivity became lower. So, if the productivity of grain-crops and leguminous factories was 14.8 centner/ha in1991, it was 11.2 centner/ha, raw cotton productivity rate was 28.9 and 16.8 (1997) and the productivity of fruits was 29.0 and 18.9 respectively. Due to the lack of reproduction the cattle head is also reduces. So, its number decreased from 4190 in 1992 to 1936 in 1997. In 2004 the raw cotton productivity made up 7315 tons.

(c). Environmental Problems

Rayon’s tap water supply is 43%, 53% of dwellers drink aryk water and 4% drink imported water. The inhabitants of all the villages of Okgaza and Yangiobod jamoats as well as part of the villages of Rohi Lenin, Mash’al jamoats and Kirov and Vakhsh settlements are not supplied with drinking water. The level of ground water is high in parts of the villages of Rohi Lenin, Okgaza, Mash’al, Yangiobod and Kirov jamoats. 150 households and a number of education, health system and social security buildings in Yangiobod are being destroyed by ground water. 380 families in Kirov, 90 in Mash’al, 100 in Yangiobod and more than 700 families in Okgaza live under dangerous ecological conditions and need to be moved to a safer place. 20 families of Kuykanak village in Mash’al jamoat, 25 in 8-Mart, Kyayloy, Mardatsoy vallages of Kirov jamoat

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and 15 families in Yangiobod jamoat especially need immediate removal. Living in ecologically dangerous places such as parting of Vakhsh main canal left bank in 1998 caused 72 households of 8-Mart, Kyzylsoy and Mardatsoy villages of Kirov jamoat 100% damage.

d). Priority problems

The problems of the rayon also are telephone communication, restoration of sewerage system, roads, clubs, bridges, houses of culture etc. Thus, the main problems making poverty worse for the inhabitants of the rayon are lack of development in education, health, telecommunication system, lack of provision with drinking and irrigative water, the consequences of ground water high level, unrepair dwelling houses destroyed by civil war, social and cultural living infrastructure, road, bridges, heating and sewerage system problems, unemployment etc. Table 2.2 shows the problems characteristics with respect to jamoats

Table 2.2. Main problems of the rayon

No. Name of

shahrak and dehot jamoats N

o.of

villa

ges

No.

ofho

useh

old

No.

ofpo

pula

tion

List of priority problems and needs

1. Vakhsh 2 2160 10735 Drinking water supply, power supply, education, health, sewerage system

2. Kirov 20 4160 27731 Roads, education, health, drinking and irrigative water supply, high level of ground water, power supply, removal from dangerous ecological places

3. Rohi Lenin 5 1756 16337 Roads, education, health, drinking and irrigative water supply, high level of ground water, power supply,

4. Okgaza 19 3092 23945 Drinking and irrigative water supply, roads, education, health, high level of ground water, power supply, removal of households from dangerous ecological places

5. Tojikobod 15 2117 23957 Health, education, roads, drinking and irrigative water supply, high level of ground water, power supply, cultural centres, destroyed dwelling houses

6. Yangiobod 16 1967 9106 Drinking and irrigative water supply, roads, health, power supply, education, high level of ground water, destroyed dwelling houses, removal from dangerous ecological places

7. Mash’al 17 2190 13136 Roads, education, health, drinking and irrigative water supply, high level of ground water, power supply, cultural centres, bridges, removal from dangerous ecological places.

In order to ease the poverty problem, TASIF had restored water supply system of the village Navbunyod in 1998 with 2000 beneficiaries. Kumsangir rayon a) General geographic location

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It was founded in 1936 and occupies 1000 sq km. It borders with Jilikul, Kolkhozobod and Panj raions as well as with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The settlement Dusti located on the distance of 70 km from Kurgan-Tyube and 166 km from Dushanbe is the centre of the rayon. b).Social-economic characteristic (conditions)

With respect to its administration and territory, the rayon is divided into 1 shahrak-jamoat (Dusti) and 5 dehot-jamoats (Panj, Kumsangir, named after Telman, named after Krupskaya, Yakka-din) with 50 villages, 15480 households and a population of 92 thousand (by January 01, 2004/94.9 thousand (according to the preliminary estimation in 2004). There are 42 schools in the rayon. A number of schools in jamoat need to be repaired. There is a central hospital, 4 rural hospitals, 3 out-patient departments, a tuberculosis hospital and 436 medical houses which suffer from lack of personnel, medicines, soft implements etc., many buildings need to be restored. Agriculture is the basis for the economy of the rayon, the main fields being cotton-growing, animal husbandry and cocoon-growing. The available industrial enterprises, cotton-cleaning factory, cheese factory and geranium treatment factory, do not function. Cattle population was 7415 in 1992 and reduced to 4976 in 1995. The crop capacity of agricultural production also reduced respectively from 25.6 to 15.7 centner/hectare; raw cotton from 23.7 to 14.9 centner/hectare; fruits from 37.0 to 21.7. In 1997, 6247 tons of wheat was gathered in harvest instead of planned 10476. In 2004 the raw cotton productivity made up 5.758 tons. Approx 40% of land is irrigated by means of pumps which often fail to serve properly. So one of the basic problems of the rayon is the lack of irrigation and adequate drinking water supply. Only in 1997 260 hectares of cotton land dried out due to water shortage in Panj, Kumsangir, Telman. Due to the same reason geranium-growing was almost stopped in a state farm of Dusti jamoat. A number of villages of Telman, Dusti, Kumsangir, Panj jamoats lack for drinking water. The water problems make people leave their habitable homes. Throughout the rayon only 6.0 % of population drinks tap water, 92.0% use aryk water and 2.0% drink imported water. The water supply source is Kumsangir canal constructed in early 30’s of the last century. It takes water from Vakhsh rayon 61 km long, 12 km of which goes through Kumsangir, Telman and Yakkadin jamoats. The above-mentioned canal Kumsangir has got a flood-release outlet with 8 floods with stream. Therefore the water flow is not adjusted because the floods are destroyed up to 100 meters forming deep precipices and making ecology worse. The canal itself needs to be cleaned over.

c). Environmental Problems

One of the environmental problems is the high level of ground water. It could be observed in a number of villages of Telman, Krupskayam Yakkadin and Kumsangir jamoats. Due to the same reason 1400 hectares of land is not used as it should be.

a) Priority problems

Lack of a bridge through canal Kumsangir is another problem for the inhabitants of the villages of Telman jamoat which was destroyed in 1995. The by pass road in use is 20 km longer. Other problems of the rayon’s inhabitants also are telephone communication, road restoration, sewerage system and etc. A list of employed people of the rayon included 12422 persons in 1998, 6319 in 1999 and 16823 persons for 9 months of 2000. The nominal average monthly salary of 1 employee within the raion was 6456 roubles in 1998, 5901 roubles in 1999, and 7246 roubles for 9 months of 2000. By May 01, 1997 11643 people were unemployed. By September 01, 1997 registered unemployment was 407, in 1998 it made up 700; in 1999 –

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539 in the third quarter of 2000 it was 552. During the civil war 23857 people became refugees; out of 6303 households 52 dwelling houses were destroyed. The main poverty problems of the rayon are: shortage in drinking and irrigative water, ecological problems caused by destruction of flood-release outlet overfalls of Kumsangir canal, high level of ground water, lack of development in infrastructure of education, health, telecom systems, destruction of bridges, unemployment etc. Table 2.3. contains characteristics of problems with respect to jamoats Table 2.3. Main problems of the rayon

No. Name of shahrak

and dehot jamoats N

o.of

villa

ges

No.

ofho

useh

old

No.

ofpo

pula

tio

n List of priority problems and needs

1. Dusti settlement 6 3550 19762 Drinking and irrigation water, sewerage, public bath-house, health, education

2. Kumsangir 12 Drinking and irrigative water, high level of ground water, education, health, telephone

3. Krupskaya 9 2198 11347 Drinking and irrigative water, high level of ground water, education, health, telephone

4. Telman 6 3220 15875 Drinking and irrigative water, high level of ground water, education, health, telephone, bridges

5. Panj 12 Drinking and irrigative water, high level of ground water, telephone,

6. Yakkadin 4 1044 5623 Drinking and irrigative water, high level of ground water, education, telephone

In order to ease the problem, TASIF had implemented 3 projects in 1998-1999 for 10628 beneficiaries, including drainage networks cleaning in villages Kalinin and Sotsializm of jamoat “Krupskaya”. The organization had also repaired School No.18. Kabodiyon rayon a) General geographic location

It was founded in 1978 and occupies a territory of 1847 sq km. b) Social-economic characteristic (conditions) With respect to its administration and territory, the raion is divided into 7 dehot jamoats (Kabodiyon, Nosiri Khisrav, Navobod, U.Nazarova, E.Niyozi, S.Khudoykulov and Yangiyul) with 43 villages, 20860 households, 128.3 thousand inhabitants (by January 01, 2004/130.6 thousand (according to the preliminary estimation of 2004). The administrative centre of the Kabodiyon jamoat is in Zarkamar village, of Nosiri Khisrav jamoat - in Yobuz village, of Navobod jamoat - in Shokh village, of U.Nazarov jamoat - in Boshkala villlage, of E.Niyozi jamoat - in Chorbogh village, of S.Khudoykulova jamoat - in Yangiyul village, and of Yangiyul jamoat - in Dokki village. There are 21 state and association farms, 57 shcools of general education, 2 vocational schools, 1 infant school, 18 libraries, 4 clubs, 1 museum, 1 musical school, 11 cinemas, a central hospital, 39 medical homes, 7 drugstores, 1 hotel, 3 boilers, 1 sports school for children, 4 telephone stations, 3 radio centres, 63 enterprises, organisations etc. Out of 1500 telephones only 1076 are operable.

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Agriculture is the basis of the rayon’s economy. In 2004 the raw cotton productivity made up 2.844 tons.

c) Environmental problems The environmental problems are the similar to other rayons of Khatlon oblast.

d) Priority problems The main problems of the rayon’s inhabitants are education, health, roads, bridges, installation of radio, water supply, power supply etc. Table 2.4 contains characteristics of problems with respect to jamoats. Table 2.4. Main problems of the rayon

No. Name of shahrak

and dehot jamoats

No.

ofvi

llage

s

No.

ofho

useh

old

No.

ofpo

pula

tion

List of priority problems and needs

1. Kabodiyon 5 995 7508 Bridges, education, health, power supply, radio, roads

2. Named after N.Khisrav

8 5131 25131 Health, roads, radio, power supply, communication, water supply, education, health

3. Named after U.Nazarov

3 3353 16025 Health, roads, power supply, communication, education, bridges

4. Named after E.Niyozov

5 2363 13805 Health, roads, radio, communicaiton, power supply, education

5. Named after S.Khudoykulov

12 4396 28914 Roads, health, radio, communication, bridges, power supply

6. Navobod 3 1151 6869 Roads, health, communication, radio, water supply, education

7. Yangi-yul 7 3471 20898 Roads, health, radio, communication, bridges, power supply, education

Farkhor rayon a) General geographic location

It was founded in 1930 and occupies a territory of 1183.2 sq km. It borders with Dangara, Vose’, Maskav, Panj, Kolkhzobod and Vakhsh rayons as well as with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Farkhor settlement is the administrative centre of the rayon.

There is a state special nature reserve “Karatau” located in the territory of the rayon. It was founded in 1972 and occupies 14.4 thousand hectares. The reserve is subordinate to Farkhor rayon of Khatlon region, Republic of Tajikistan. The territory of the reserve includes west slope and watershed of Karatau mountain ridge from 700 to 1500 m altitude above sea level. Its dominating landscape is typical medium-size mountain complex of south Tajikistan represented by erosive and slope relief. There are low-grass and ephemeral factories in lower part and drought-resistant shrubby factories in upper part of the reserve. The main task of the reserve is to preserve ecosystems of ephemeral factories and natural almond and pistachio sparse growth of trees. Xerophyte’s sparse growth of trees of Karatau is a unique one in the republic because many of trees here are

57

older than 600 years and the height of the trees reaches 7 meters, at that the trees still bear fruit well. One can see here grey monitor lizard, other snake species which are in Red Book of Tajikistan. The pistachio forests of Karatau are typical places for rare kinds of wild animals such as striped hyena, gazelles and urial. However for the last period their number has decreased. The main causes of the phenomenon are poaching, unrestricted volume of domestic animal pasture, mainly sheep, and cutting-down of pistachio.

b). Social-economic characteristic (conditions) With respect to its administration and territory the raion is divided into 1 shahrak-jamoat, (Farkhor) and 9 dehot-jamoat’s (Ghalaba, Komsomol, Farkhor, Vatan, Ghayrat, Zafar, Dehqonariq, Gulshan and Darkad) with 58 villages, 11717 households, 121.2 thousand inhabitants (by January 01, 2004 )/124.6 thousand inhabitants (according to the preliminary estimation of 2004). The Farkhor settlement has 58 streets. The agrarian sector including cotton growing and animal husbandry is the basis of the raion’s economy. There function 15 state farms. 26800 hectares are engaged for agrucultural production and 21452 hectares is irrigated. In 1999 about 11116 tons of cotton, 2089 tons of grain-crops, 1032 tons of vegetable, 25.1 tons of meat, 21.5 tons of milk, 42 tons of karakul leather were sold to government. In 2004 6964 tons of raw cotton was produced. There are 3 industrial enterprises, the production volume of which was 998171 thousand roubles in 1999 that exceeds the production of 1998 by 9%.There are also 5 transport and 7 building organizations in the rayon. As for the social and cultural objects, there are 63 schools of general education, pedagogical and medical schools, 1 musical school, 1 art school, a central hospital, 15 rural out-patient departments, 26 medical homes, polyclinics, maternity welfare centres, skin and tuberculosis hospitals, 18 libraries, 12 clubs, 3 cultural centres. In 1998 employment covered 24216 persons; in 1999 – 26604 and for 9 months of 2000– 21602 people. c). Environmental problems The environmental problems are the similar to other rayons of Khatlon oblast. d). Priority problems The fundamental problems of the rayon are water supply, power supply, health, education, high level of ground water, roads, bridges etc. Table 2.5. contains characteristics of problems with respect to jamoats. Table 2.5. Main problems of the rayon

No

Name of shahrak and

dehot jamoats No.

ofvi

lla ges

No.

ofho

useh

ol d No. of

popu

lati

on List of priority problems and needs

1. Vatan 12 2429 16765 Water supply, power supply, high level of ground water, health, bridges

2. Ghalaba 5 922 6799 Education, power supply 3. Ghayrat 2 1398 11820 Water supply, power supply, education, health 4. Gulshan 5 1178 9094 Water supply, power supply, health 5. Darkad 6 1100 9293 Education, roads, power supply 6. Dehkonaryk 6 1181 9079 Water supply, power supply, education 7. Zafar 6 1096 9281 Water supply, education, health, bridges, roads 8. Komsomol 11 1307 10354 Power supply, roads, high level of ground water

58

9. Farkhor 5 1106 9359 Water supply, education, high level of ground water 10.

Farkhor settlement

50 streets 2773 19448 Water supply, power supply, education, ecology

In 1998-2000, TASIF had implemented 4 projects with 5209 beneficiaries. Central hospital engineering services, water supply of Somonchi, Hayoti Nav and Dashtak villages water supply were also restored. Shahrituz rayon a) General geographic location

It was founded in 1930 and occupies a territory of 1.5 thousand sq km. It borders with Kabodiyon and Beshkent rayon’s as well as with the Republic of Uzbekistan and Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Shahritus urban settlement, 112 km from Kurgan-Tyube and 195 km from Dushanbe, is the administrative centre of the rayon. b). Social-economic characteristic (conditions) With respect to its administration and territory the rayon is divided into 1 shahrak-jamoat (Shahritus) and 5 dehot-jamoats (Pakhtaobod, named after Kh.Kholmatov, Obshoron, Sayyod and named after J.Nazarov) with 35 villages, 14955 households and 89.1 thousand inhabitants (by January 01, 2004 )/91.5 thousand (according to the preliminary estimation of 2004). The administrative centres of jamoat’s are as follows: Shahtitus – “Shahtitus” settlement; Obshoron – “Obshoron” settlement; Sayyod – “Lolazor” village; named after J.Nazarov – “Lubiyokor” village; named after Kh.Kholmatov – “Qahramon” village; Pakhtaobod – “Mashinizatsiya” village. There are 114 different organizations, enterprises, state farms in the raion: 15 state farms, 5 Industrial enterprises, 14 building organisations, 59 schools, 2 vocational schools, central hospital, 4 rural hospitals, 42 medical homes, 20 drugstores, 22 libraries, 2 museums and etc. In 2004 12.119 tons of raw cotton was produced. In 1998 rayon’s employment covered 12615 people, in 1999 – 16356 and for 9 months of 2000 it covered 12948 people. In 1998 489 people were registered as unemployed. In 1999 329 and for the third quarter of 2000 209 people were unemployed.

c). Environmental problems

The environmental problems are the similar to other rayons of Khatlon region. d). Priority problems The fundamental problems of the rayon are: power supply, water supply, high level of ground water, health, education and etc. Table 2.6 contains characteristics of problems with respect to jamoats. Table 2.6. Main problems of the rayon

No

Name of shahrak and dehot jamoats N

o.of

villa ges

No.

ofho

useh

ol d

Pop

ula

tio

n List of fundamental problems and needs

1. Shahritus 1 4714 11812 Power supply, drinking and irrigative water supply, sanitation

2. Obshoron 3 1210 6082 Groundwater level, power supply, irrigative water

59

supply 3. Sayyod 7 1709 11962 Ground water level, education, health, drinking

water supply, telephone, destroyed dwelling houses 4. Named after

J.Nazarov 5 1905 13371 Ground water level, coast protection, power supply,

drinking water supply 5. Named after

Kh.Kholmatov 11 3332 23330 Health, Ground water level

6. Pakhtaobod 8 2085 14668 Health, education, drinking and irrigative water supply, roads

Yavan rayon a) General geographic location

It was founded in 1934, located in a mountainous place and occupies a territory of 9763.2 sq km. It borders with Kofarnihon, Danghara, Khojamaston, Lenin rayons and Nurek town. The distance from the raion centre, Yavan town, to Kurgan-Tyube is 88 km and to Dushanbe is 59 km.

b) Social-economic characteristic (conditions) With respect to its administration and territory the rayon has 1 town (Yovon), 1 shahrak-jamoat (Hayoti Nav) and 7 dehot-jamoats (Navkoram, Ozodi, Obi Muki, Dahana, Chorgul, Sitorai surkh, Norin) and 71 villages, 19120 households and 150.1 thousand inhabitants (by January 01, 2004 there were 155.4 thousand inhabitants (according to the preliminary estimation of 2004). There are 59 state organisations, 16 rent organizations, 4 associations, 3 joint stock companies, 16 budget organisations, 22 rented farms, 300 dekhkan farms, 125 small enterprises and firms. In 2000 the JSC “Tadzhikkhimprom” produced goods to the sum of more than three million somoni that makes up 104% of the plan. It should also be noted that the above mentioned company operates only 8% of its capacity. The main obstacle to enhance the capacity is lack of direct road to import goods both from the centre of the republic and its regions. The Yavan-Kurgan-Tyube railway, which connects the raion with other regions, is out of operation for many years. This road is now part of important economical objects and its construction should be completed soon. There are 69 schools, 29 libraries, 6 clubs, 5 cultural centers, a boarding school, a musical school, a museum, a central hospital, 3 rural hospitals, a tuberculosis hospital, skin decease and narcotics*** dispensary, 3 rural out-patient departments, 46 medical houses. Many of the listed objects need to be restored. In 1991 average annual number of employed people was 31.5 thousand, in 1998 – 24595, in 1999 – 22517 and for 9 months of 2000 it made up 21826 people. By May 01, 1997 8958 people of rayon were unemployed, registered employment was for 8 months of 1997 made up 348 persons, in 1998 - 500, in 1999 – 462 and in the third quarter of the year 2000 it made up 376 persons. During the civil war 1618 families became refugees which included 9217 people in number. Industry and construction fields were leading sector of rayon’s economy until 1992, now the main sector is agriculture, because the industrial and construction enterprises operate only 15 to 80% of their capacity.

In 1991 agricultural productivity was 16.1 centner/ha, in 1995 - 7.4 centner/hectare, raw cotton in 1991 – 31.4 centner/ha, in 1995 – 12.9 centner/ha. In 1992 average milk output was 2278 kg, in 1995 it became 1518 kg. In 2004 10, 578 tons of raw cotton were produced.

60

Among the industrial and building enterprises of rayon are: Production Association of “Tadzhikkhimprom”, mechanical repair factory, heat power station (TETs), salt factory, 2 cotton factories, agricultural machinery repairing factory, “Tadzhikkhimstroy”, DSK, SU-33, SU-22, SUM-37, SPMK-8 and etc. factories are under construction.

c). Environmental problems

The environmental problems are the similar to other rayons of Khatlon oblast. Environmental conditions are getting worse, due to failure in operation of drainage networks of closed type the level of ground water is getting higher in 750 hectares of land in jamoats Hayoti Nav, Navkoram, Dahana, Chorgul. Land erosion also greatly damages the rayon’s economy, it especially seen along the Yavansu river which comes from mountainous streams and falls into Vakhsh river. The length of Yavan-su up to Vakhsh river is 70 km. Wastes from “Tadzhikkhimprom” fall into Yavan-su. The soil of Yavan-su are destroying by floods and as the result many hectares of the land, bridges ans roads are also damaged. For instance, on May 27, 1996 5 km of Termez-Kurgan-Tyube-Yavan railway was washed off. According to preliminary estimations its restoration demands more than US$10 mln. A bridge in Kingidzhar village of Obi-Muki jamoat was also destroyed by Yavan-su river stream, as a result 500 hectares of land and a farm of the village left on the other side of the river. Due to this reason the dehkans get to their work fields and to the farm by transport (25-30 km) or cross the river.

d). Priority problems The problems of rayon are: lack or shortage of drinking water, gas supply, power supply, roads, telephone communication and etc. In all 80% of inhabitants are provided with tap water, 8.8% use source water, 3.7% use imported water and 7.3% use water from other sources. Table 2.7 contains characteristics of problems with respect to jamoats.

Table 2.7. Main problems of the rayon

No

Name of shahrak and

dehot jamoats

No.

ofvi

llage

s

No.

ofho

useh

old

Pop

ulat

ion List of fundamental problems and needs

1. Yavan town 4 4318 20443 Drinking water supply, power supply, heating, gas supply, health, dwelling houses repair, sanitation

2. Dahana 7 1718 12756 Drinking and irrigative water supply, power supply, education, ground water

3. Navkoram 8 1524 13096 Drinking water supply, power supply, gas supply, ground water

4. Norin 6 2244 14448 Drinking and irrigative water supply, power supply, ground water, education

5. Ozodi 17 2131 17006 Drinking water supply, power supply, education 6. Obi-Muki 10 2458 19352 Power supply, education, drinking water supply,

bridges, health 7. Sitorai Surkh 11 1717 13692 Drinking water supply,power supply, education, health 8. Chorgul 6 1361 10641 Drinking and irrigative water supply,power supply,

education, ground water

In order to ease the poverty problem, TASIF accomplished 3 projects in 1997-2000 for 12963 people to use. The projects also included gas supply of Orjonikidze street of Yavan town water supply of Navkoram, Sarkamysh, Tutbulok, Budinobod villages of Navkoram jamoat and restoration of a medical post in Kaynama village.

61

62

Annex 2. Summary of project potential adverse environmental impacts

Component/Activity

Issues Anticipated/Potentialenvironmental Impact

Scale of theimpacts (localregional)

Effects on Environment Social/healthimpacts

Increased and/oroveruse of waterconsumption

Overuse of water resourcesmay result in increasedsalinization, water loggingand soil erosion

Local and regional Land degradation due tosalinization of soil;

Increased ground waters leveland over saturation of soil;

Soil erosion of the upper layer;and thus reduced soil fertility.

Increased water coursespollution with drainage watersand siltation of the waterreservoirs

No health impactsDebtresolution/conversion &policy reforms

Increased andincorrect use oroveruse offertilizers,pesticides,herbicidesandinsecticides;

Overuse and/or incorrectuse of mineral fertilizersmay result in nutrient buildup in water courses,affecting aquatic life andcausing eutrophication ofwater bodies.

Pesticides, insecticidesandherbicides may affectsurface and ground waterquality; pose risk to workershealth and safety; lead tocrop resistance; reduction ofreproductive capacity.

Local, regional

Local

Ground and surface water maycontain high levelsof N and Pand colloids which may haveadverse health effects

Reduced dissolved minerals insurface and ground water;degradation of natural habitats.

Incorrect pesticidesuse affectwild fauna, and surroundingenvironment.

Adverse impactsonthe ground watersassourcesof drinkingwater in rural areasand respectivelyadverse impactsonthe health ofpopulation

Adverse impactsonthe health ofdekhan/farmers

63

Cotton SupplyChainInvestment/rehabilitation/construction ofthe cottonginningfactories

Environmentalpollution andoccupationalhazards

Increased emissions of dustto air as well as of releasesof pollutants to watercoursesand lakes;

Larger waste generation;

More intensive noise, andother occupational hazards

Local Air pollution that exceeds theMPC especially on the territoryof the factoriesand itssurroundings;

Pollution of water courses withwastewatersassolid wastes;

Increased respiratorydiseases;

Increased sicknessofthe workers

Increased bodilyinjuries includingsevere harm,amputation

Cotton SupplyChainInvestment/rehabilitationof irrigationand drainagecanals andstorehouses

Inappropriatelyconductedconstruction/rehabilitation works

Water pollution

Degradation of naturalhabitats

Local Degradation of adjacent naturalhabitatsand factory speciesdueto inappropriate wastemanagement activities;

Degradation of water quality asthe result of inadequate drainageactivities;

Environmental damages to wildflora and fauna caused byimproper construction activities

No health impacts

64

Annex 3. The results of the environmental auditing of the cotton ginning factories A. Bohtar rayon

1. Ginning factory SLR “Bahtiyor” - capacity – 43 thousand tons per season (4-5 months)

Media -Question Exists Absent Measures conducted Comments 1. Status of Air emissions on your factory a) emissions from cyclone devices, filters

+ Trees were factored for prevention of dust dissemination.

shortage of cyclone installations (lack of electric motors-engines) The trees on the factory territory were covered by cotton fluff (lint)

b) from other sources 2. Existence of Solid wastes on your factory? a) wastes from production process

+ Started to repair the store

b) hazardous wastes + c) other type of wastes + The damaged seed and other waste

materials are distributed among farmers and used as fertilizer in fields, which as a place for insect diapause/overwintering it can cause higher pest infestation in the next season. All equipment works on electrical power, almost without use of diesel, oils and etc.

3. Wastewater discharge

+

4. Health and safety techniques

+ Existing buildings have not window-panes

5. Information dissemination, environmental reporting

+

6. Transport means +7. Existence of action plans for reduction of emissions

+

8. Monitoring systems (conduction)

+

9. Environmental controlling

+ This factory is usually visited by staff of rayon environmental committee – but no any related environmental documents were presented

2. SLR “Umed” in Kurgan-Tube. Capacity – 60 thousand tons, but currently – about 9 thousand tons per season

Media -Question Exists Absent Measures conducted Comments 1. Status of Air emissions on your factory

65

a) emissions from cyclone devices, filters

++ Trees were factored for prevention of dust dissemination.

2 lines of cyclone devices (installations) are not working, lack of engines, vacuum valves for dust collection, lack of spare parts shortage of cyclone installations (lack of electric motors-engines)

b) from other sources 2. Existence of Solid wastes on your factory? a) from production process + Started to repair the store b) hazardous wastes + c) other type of wastes + The damaged seed and

other waste materials are distributed among farmers and used as fertilizer in fields, which as a place for insect diapause/overwintering it can cause higher pest infestation in the next season. All equipment works on electrical power, almost without use of diesel, oils and etc.

3. Wastewater discharge + 4. Health and safety techniques

+ Existing buildings have not window-panes

5. Information dissemination, environmental reporting

+

6. Transport means + One 7. Existence of action plans for reduction of emissions

+

8. Monitoring systems (conduction)

+

9. Environmental controlling + This factory is usually visited by staff of rayon environmental committee – once per year, but no any related environmental documents were presented

Kumsangir raion

3. SLR “Dusti” - Capacity – 40 thousand tons per season

Media -Question Exists Absent Measures conducted Comments 1. Status of Air emissions on your factory a) emissions from cyclone devices, filters

+ Tree factoring, regular repair of cyclone devices

b) from other sources +

66

2. Existence of Solid wastes on your factory? a) from production process

+ Started to repair the store

Damage after earthquake, which was on August 2006

b) hazardous wastes + c) other type of wastes + The damaged seed and other waste

materials are distributed among farmers and used as fertilizer in fields, which as a place for insect diapause/overwintering it can cause higher pest infestation in the next season. All equipment works on electrical power, almost without use of diesel, oils and etc.

3. Wastewater discharge

+

4. Health and safety techniques

+ Existing buildings have not window-panes

5. Information dissemination, environmental reporting

+ Reporting forms for air emission according to the Regulation #31 from 05.08.2003 are given to Statistic Committee, Regional Hukumate and raion environmental committee

6. Transport means +7. Existence of action plans for reduction of emissions

+

8. Monitoring systems (conduction)

+

9. Environmental controlling

+ Experts from raion environmental committee visit this factory according to the schedule – once per quarter. This factory is usually visited by staff of rayon environmental committee – but no any related environmental documents were presented Insufficient work of the raion environmental committee – they did not inform in time about related new laws and regulations.

Kabodiyon raion 4. SLR “N.Husravi” – capacity 15000 tons per season Media -Question Exists Absent Measures conducted Comments 1. Status of Air emissions on your factory a) emissions from cyclone devices, filters

+ Tree factoring, regular repair of cyclone devices

All cyclone devices were repaired.

b) from other sources +

67

2. Existence of Solid wastes on your factory? a) from production process

+

b) hazardous wastes + c) other type of wastes + The damaged seed and other waste

materials are distributed among farmers and used as fertilizer in fields, which as a place for insect diapause/overwintering it can cause higher pest infestation in the next season. All equipment works on electrical power, almost without use of diesel, oils and etc.

3. Wastewater discharge

+

4. Health and safety techniques

+ Existing buildings have not window-panes

5. Information dissemination, environmental reporting

+

6. Transport means +7. Existence of action plans for reduction of emissions

+

8. Monitoring systems (conduction)

+

9. Environmental controlling

+ This factory was visited by staff of rayon environmental committee 1,5 year ago, no any related environmental documents were presented Insufficient work of the rayon environmental committee – they did not inform in time about related new laws and regulations

5. SLR “Oriyono” with capacity of 10000 tons. Now only 3000 tons are treated. Media -Question Exists Absent Measures conducted Comments 1. Status of Air emissions on your factory a) emissions from cyclone devices, filters

+ repair of cyclone devices

All cyclone devices were repaired.

b) from other sources + 2. Existence of Solid wastes on your factory? a) from production process

+

b) hazardous wastes + The acid de-linting Fungicides for seed dressing to cotton seed that will be used as seed

c) other type of wastes + The damaged seed and other waste materials are distributed among

68

farmers and used as fertilizer in fields, which as a place for insect diapause/overwintering it can cause higher pest infestation in the next season. All equipment works on electrical power, almost without use of diesel, oils and etc. There were a plenty of metal, wood wastes

3. Wastewater discharge

+

4. Health and safety techniques

+ Existing buildings have not window-panes The acid delinting Fungicides forseed dressing to cotton seed that will be used as seed are conducting in improper place

5. Information dissemination, environmental reporting

+

6. Transport means +7. Existence of action plans for reduction of emissions

+

8. Monitoring systems (conduction)

+

9. Environmental controlling

+ This factory was visited by staff of rayon environmental committee 1,5 year ago, no any related environmental documents were presented Insufficient work of the rayon environmental committee – they did not inform in time about related new laws and regulations

Shahrituz raion 6. SLR “Pahtai Shahrituz” with capacity of 50000 tons per season Media -Question Exists Absent Measures conducted Comments 1. Status of Air emissions on your factory a) emissions from cyclone devices, filters

+ Tree factorying, repair of cyclone devices

One of two line of cyclone devices were not repaired.

b) from other sources + 2. Existence of Solid wastes on your factory? a) from production process

+

b) hazardous wastes + c) other type of wastes + The damaged seed and other waste

69

materials are distributed among farmers and used as fertilizer in fields, which as a place for insect diapause/ overwintering it can cause higher pest infestation in the next season. All equipment works on electrical power, almost without use of diesel, oils and etc.

3. Wastewater discharge

+

4. Health and safety techniques

+ Existing buildings have not window-panes

5. Information dissemination, environmental reporting

+ They applied to rayon environmental committee to help with this issue, but no reply was received

6. Transport means +7. Existence of action plans for reduction of emissions

+

8. Monitoring systems (conduction)

+

9. Environmental controlling

+ No regular control conducting by staff of rayon environmental committee 1,5 year ago, Insufficient work of the rayon environmental committee – they did not inform in time about related new laws and regulations

Vakhsh rayon 7. SLR “Djuraev” – currently is under the construction. Capacity for 4000 tons per season All project documentations were submitted to relevant expertise bodies. This is a new ginning factory is going to install the new lines of cyclones produced in USA. According to the discussion with Chief engineer the technology of cotton ginning will be modernized. This ginning factory could be as a modern example for conduction of relevant training programs.

70

71

Annex 4 Environmental Management Matrix.

Activity Effects on Environment Actions or Mitigation Measures Costs (Th. US$)

Responsibilities

Debtresolution/conversion & policyreforms(a) increasedand/or wateroveruse

Land degradation due to salinization ofsoil;

Increased ground waters level and oversaturation of soil;

Soil erosion of the upper layer; and thusreduced soil fertility.

Increased water coursespollution withdrainage watersand siltation of the waterreservoirs

Apply nationally established requirementsandnorms for cotton production;

Create and train water Users Associations inbest practices for cotton production;

Introduce economic incentives for waterusage;

Periodical inspection on water usage andprotection.

Public awarenessand informationdissemination campaign;

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

192.000

Projectbeneficaries,dekhan/farmersMA; MILR

MA; MILR

MILR; SCEPF

PIU; MA; MILR

72

Debtresolution/conversion & policyreforms(b) Increased

and incorrectuse or overuseofagrochemicals

Ground and surface water may containhigh levelsof N and P and colloids whichmay have adverse health effects.

Positive effect – restoration and re-vegetation of watershed areas.

More sustainable use of land.

Reduced dissolved minerals in surfaceand ground water; degradation of naturalhabitats.

Apply internationally approved pesticides,herbicides and insecticides;

Store agrochemicals in appropriate places anddispose of containers in recommended ways;

Practice alternatives to agrochemicals such asintegrated pest management (IPM);

Provide timely training and demonstration inall the above aspects;

Advice given on the correct application offertilizers and pesticides;

Appropriate fertilizer and pesticides andapplication time(s) recommended;

Provide adequate supervision.

Introduce licensing.

The costs forthese activitieswill besupported bythe ongoingWB FPSPproject

MA; PIU for theFPSP

73

Cotton SupplyChainInvestment/rehabilitation/construction of thecotton ginningfactories

Air pollution that exceeds the MPCespecially on the territory of the factoriesand its surroundings;

Pollution of water courses withwastewatersassolid wastes;

Increased bodily injuries including severeharm, amputation;

Increased sicknessof the workers

Adopt environmental management plans foreach factory in order to control air emission,treat and dispose of wastes, and protectworkers from exposure to harmful substances.heat. dust. malfunctioning equipment:

Train the staff on environmental as well asonhealth and safety requirements and measuresfor mitigating potential harmful impacts;

Training on ISO 14000 and environmentalmanagement plans for cotton ginning factories

Training for environmental inspectorsonenvironmental monitoring and enforcement ofthe existing national regulations to ensure fullcompliance of factories with safetyrequirements; waste disposal and emissionstandards

Conduct a periodic environmental monitoringand enforce the existing national regulationsto ensure full compliance of factories withsafety requirements, waste disposal andemission standards;

Integrate environmental management atfactory level with the local environmentalaction plans, especially, with regard toprevention of air pollution, wastemanagement, handling of hazardoussubstances (transport, storage, treatment, anddisposal), and public awareness.

n/a

24.000

8.000

8.000

n/a

n/a

Cotton ginningfactories owners;SCEPF;

PIU

PIU

PIU; SCEPF

SCEPF

SCEPF; Hukumats;PIU

74

Cotton SupplyChainInvestment/rehabilitation ofirrigation anddrainage canals,storehouses andvillageinfrastructure(matching grants)

Water logging from poor drainage

Water pollutionDisturbance of aquatic ecosystems

Soil erosion, runoff and sedimentation

Degradation of adjacent natural habitatsand factory species,

Environmental damagescaused byimproper construction activities

Exposure of workers to toxic materials

Apply national construction rules and normsfor irrigation and storehouse rehabilitationworks;

Appropriate waste management duringconstruction works;

Prevent air pollution by dust, emissions fromtransport vehicles;

Apply good practices for occupational healthand safety;

Independent monitoring or inspection by MoH

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

WUAs owners;Constructioncompanies;FarmersAssociationsConstructioncompanies;

Constructioncompanies;

MoH

75

Annex 5. Planning matrix for the Pest Management Plan of the Farm Privatization Support Project50

Narrative summary Expected results Performance indicators Assumptions/risks

Goal: Empower crop and livestock farmersto contribute significantly to household andnational economies throughenvironmentally friendly pest managementpractices.

Reduced risks to human and animal health,improvement of environmental quality, andincrease in crop and livestock productivity andfarmers’ income.

Evidence of improvements in foodavailability, level of poverty, andenvironmental protection incommunities.

Purpose

1. Reverse losses cause by pests in order toincrease profitability of watershedcommunity agriculture in the near future.

2. In the longer term, strengthen nationaland local capacity to reduceenvironmental and heath risks associatedwith pest management practices in theprojects watersheds

Medium-term results/outcomes

Farmers organizations prioritize their pestproblems and identify IPM opportunities tomitigate negative environmental and socialimpacts associated with pesticides with trainingand technical help.

Farmers adopt ecologically sound practices toreduce crop and livestock losses with minimalpersonal and environmental health risks.

Collaborate in developing a national IPM policyto promote compliance with internationalconventions and guidelines on pesticide use

Availability of sufficient food.

Perception of state agenciesregarding the value of IPM incommunity agriculture.

Level of compliance with WorldBank safeguards

Level/degree of chemical control

Types and level of use ofalternatives to synthetic pesticides

Governmentpoliciescontinue tosupport foodsecurityprogramme

50 Financed from the World Bank Tajikistan Farm Privatization Support Project, 2005

76

Annex 6. Components activities and expected results of the PMP

Activities Expected results Milestones Performance indicators Assumptions/risks

1. Record stakeholders’ overviewson crop and livestock pests.

2. Conduct field diagnosis tospecify pests that undermine pilotcommunity agriculture.

2. Identify farmers’ copingmechanisms and researcherrecommended IPM optionsagainst the pests.

3. Develop and explain historicalprofile of pesticide use and otherpest control practices in the pilotwatersheds

5. Specify partnershipopportunities at local, national andinternational levels to assist in theimplementation of the PMP

Result 1: Members ofcommunities and otherrelevant stakeholdergroups developcommon understandingof key pest problemsand agree on correctiveaction.

Pest problems diagnosed and related IPMopportunities identified

Potential constraints farmers may face inthe use of the technologies specified

Pest lists including quarantine pests andalien invasive species developed.

Potential for improving existing pestcontrol practices assessed

Pest monitoring schemes for earlywarning on alien invasive species andmigratory pests are organized andfunctional

Action plan for location-specific IPMactivities developed

PMP implementation mechanismdeveloped by each cluster ofcommunities

Type and nature of participatorymethods for problem analysis

Documented information on thestatus of pests and natural enemiesof pest and pollinators in pilotcommunity agriculture.

Inventory of alien invasive speciesand quarantine pests

Types and availability of naturalenemies for use in biologicalcontrol of named pest

Types and availability of microbialpesticides and botanical pesticidesto replace chemical pesticides

Type and number of crop rotationschemes to reduce build up ofnamed pest species

Type of composting and mulchingas alternatives to mineral fertilizers

List of principal actors and ofpartners

Social,economic andpoliticalsituationremain stable

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Annex 6(contd.): Components activities and expected results of the PMP

Activities Expected results Milestones Performance indicators Assumptions/risks

1. Develop participatory learningmodules (PLM) in line withfarmers identified training needs

2. Conduct short to medium termtraining of farmer supportgroupson skills relevant to thePLMs

3. Organize international studyvisitson specialized IPM skillsof relevance to the PLMs

4. Intensify training of men andwomen farmers in IPMknowledge and skills.

5. Promote farmer-led extensionto increase secondary adoptionof proven IPM options

6. Strengthen researcher-farmer-extension linkages throughparticipatory research on issuesemerging from farmer training

7. Develop/disseminate IPMdecision-support informationresources for field agents,farmers, policy makers, and thegeneral public

Result 2: Humanresource development -farmer capacity forpracticing IPMfollowing training andexperiential learningthrough extensiveinteractions with theselected nationalinstitution trainingteam.

One IPM orientation workshop per groupof communitiesorganized in yr1

PLM for crop/livestock and pestmanagement practicesdeveloped andadapted to suit local needs

2 week training of trainerscourses forextension agents/NRM specialists.

Farmers trained through experientiallearning in farmer’s fields.

Study visits organized for technicalsupport staff/farmers

Farmers accurately relate pests torespective damage symptoms; recognizenatural enemies/biological control agentsagainst the pests; test a range of IPMoptions and select best options toimplement and adopt.

At least 30% of trained farmers undertakeparticipatory extension; and at least 50%farmers adopt new IPM options intargeted crop or livestock

At least 70% of information materialsdeveloped is disseminated and used byextension agents and farmers.

Significant reduction in pest damage by atleast 30% of baseline data in targetcrop/livestock

Type and number of PLMsdeveloped

Type of IPM skills covered instudy visits by agric staff

Number of farmers’ learninggroups implemented

Number of extension agentsand farmers/gender trained.

Number of trainedfarmers/gender engaged inparticipatory extension

Extent to which newknowledge/skills are used byextension agents & farmers topromote adoption of IPMoptions

Number & type of IPMinformation materialsdeveloped/disseminated

Number and type of new IPMoptions introduced andadopted.

Gender and number of farmersadopting IPM technologies.

Area of crops under IPM

Incremental benefits due topest control

Type and number of user-friendly taxonomic keys forpest and natural enemyrecognition by farmers

Farmers adopt andapply newimprovedtechnologies.

Pilot watershedusers and theirservice providerscomply withinternationalconventionsguiding pesticideuse in trade

Critical mass ofstaff trained remainwithin the pilotwatershedcommunities

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Annex 6 (contd.): Components activities and expected results of the PMP

Activities Expected results Milestones Performance indicators Assumptions/risks

1. Test and promote botanicalalternatives to synthetic pesticides.

2. Test and promote microbialalternatives to synthetic pesticides

3. Develop/update a national IPMpolicy including legislation togovern the manufacture,importation, distribution and useof pesticides

4. Establish a national IPMadvisory and oversight committeeto guide national and localcompliance with World Banksafeguard Policies, OP 4.09 andBP 4.01 and other internationalconventionsconcerning pesticideuse

5. Sensitize the population on IPMissuesand activities throughformal and informal educationalchannelsand public awarenesscampaigns

Result 3: Harmfulpesticide regimesreplaced byenvironmentallyfriendly alternativesand development ofpartnerships withcommunity ofpractitioners.

Local commercial enterprises initiatedand/or strengthened to produce and/ormarket botanical pesticides

At least one botanical pesticide widelyused in place of chemical pesticides

At least one microbial pesticide registeredand widely used in place of chemicalpesticides

Surveillance systems to protect watershedagriculture from harmful pesticideregimes is fully operational

Existing pesticide regulations are fullyenforced

A multi-stakeholder National IPMadvisory and oversight committeeestablished to guide compliance withinternational conventionsand guidelineson pesticide use, and promote the IPMdevelopment

Radio and other public campaignsonimpact of pesticides in agriculture,environment and health conductedthrough radio and TV spots, mass fielddays, rural market days, informationworkshops, and focusgroups discussions

Level of reduction in chemicalpesticide use; type and numberof pesticides replaced bybotanical or microbialpesticides

Number of commercialenterprisesengaged in theproduction of botanicalpesticides; and quality of theproducts

Volume of sale of microbialand botanical pesticides

Level of compliance withWorld Bank safeguard policiesby watersheds farmersandpesticide dealers/serviceproviders

Effectivenessof the IPMadvisory and oversightcommittee

Number of pest surveillancegroupsand pesticide lawenforcement mechanisms

Effectivenessof publicawarenessof campaign

Government anddevelopmentpartners remaincommitted tointernationalconventionsandguidelineson safepesticide use

Critical massofstaff trained remainwithin the pilotwatershedcommunities

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Annex 7. Matrix Environmental impacts of cotton ginning factories and proposed mitigation measures51

Potentialenvironmental impacts

Effects on theenvironment

Effects on human health Proposed actions Responsibilities

Air emissions Dust emissions mightexceed MPCs indoor andoutdoor standards

Lint isasseriousasdust forhuman health andenvironment

Increased respiratory diseases;and potential for ginningaccidents.

Enforcement and complianceactivities;

Installation of filtersor control thatfilters in good shape;

Ensure proper calibration andworking of cyclones

Lint can have commercial uses –medicated cotton, etc.

MoH•Ginner (Theperson/organizationwho is running theginning factory);•Ministry ofAgriculture; and•The EnvironmentalAgency - SCEPF

Wastewater discharge Water courses andreservoirs pollution ,groundwater pollution

Possible health hazards/illnessdue to water born diseases

Use of sediment bowl (settlingbasin) and proper disposal ofcontaminated water ,Waste water local treatment

SCEPF, Owner ofginning factory

Solid wastes As a place for insectdiapause/overwintering itcan cause higher pestinfestation in the nextseason.Soil pollution

Increased the damage of cropsand other factories –“proxy”effect on human health;Soil pollution

‘Sanitation’ method for insectcontrol by eliminating hibernatingsites

Owner of GinningfactorySCEPF

Hazardous materialsChemicals for seedtreatment – e.g. aciddelintingFungicides forseeddressing to cotton seedthat will be used as seed

Pollution of soil, waterHazardous for human health(skin, internal organs)

Ensure that owner of ginningfactories has license to prepare andsell cotton seed.

Proper use and treatment withchemicals,

proper disposal and storage,keeping the safety rules andprocedures

Owner of Ginningfactory, SCEPF, MoH

Occupational hazards illness due to pollution(dust/particulate matter, cottonlint, etc.); long hours and roughworking environment; andphysical injury due to the manyfast moving parts (e.g. saws,etc), hazardous machinery,electric shocks from faulty

Use automation, and more modernginning equipment, some of thesehazards can be reducedsignificantly

Owner of ginningfactories, MoH

51 Thecosts will beborn by thecotton ginning factory owners

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wiring, burning from burnersetc.

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Annex 8 - Environmental Screening Checklist for sub-projects

PART 1 (to be completed by sub-project proponent with PIU Environmental Specialist and consultant assistance (as needed.) 1. Project Name: 2. Brief Description of sub -project to include: nature of the project, project cost, physical size, site area, location, property ownership, existence of on-going operations, plans for expansion, rehabilitation or new construction. 3. Potential environmental impacts: Will the project have impacts on the environmental parameters listed below during construction or operational phases? Indicate during what phase impacts will occur and whether mitigation measures are required with a check. Environmental Issues Construction Phase Operational Phase Mitigation Measures

Terrestrial environment Soil erosion Soil organic loss Water pollution Land degradation Biodiversity loss Surface or ground water loss

Loss of natural habitats

Aquatic environment Biodiversity loss Modification of natural ecosystems

Weed invasion or introduction of nonnative species Sedimentation Socioeconomic environment Human health Occupational safety Factory pests and diseases

Animal diseases Social conflict

4. Mitigation measures: For the environmental issues that were indicated above with a check, describe the mitigation measures that will be included during the construction (C) or operational (O) phase of the project or both (B)

Environmental Issue

Phase (C, O or B)

Mitigation Measures

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PART 2 (To be completed by the PIU Environmental Specialist and confirmed by the Rayon Ecological Inspector based on the findings of the environmental screening and scoping process)

5. Environmental “Risk” Category (B or C) _____ 6. Environmental Assessment required? (yes or no) _____ 7. What environmental issues are raised by the project? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 8. If an environmental assessment is required, what are the specific issues to be addressed? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 9. What is the time frame and estimated cost of conducting the environmental assessment? _________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Signatures: PIU Environmental Specialist: Date: Ecological Inspector: Date:

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Annex 9. Content of an EIA report Any project falling in category B will require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The EIA will cover all issues related to the sub-project in a comprehensive manner (including the indirect, cumulative and the induced impacts of the sub-project. The level of detail and sophistication of analyses should be commensurate with the potential impacts. Contents of the EIA Report The EIA report should have the following contents: 1. Executive Summary (A concise discussion of significant findings and recommended actions).

2. Policy, Legal, and Administrative Framework (Discussions of the policy, legal and administrative framework within which the sub-project and the EA are prepared. This chapter would also contain the list of mandatory clearances to be obtained for the sub-project, and a status on the clearances obtained).

3. Description of the Sub-Project (Concise description of the projects geographic, physiographic, ecological, social, community and temporal contexts, including similar descriptions of the off-site investments required by the project (e.g., dedicated pipelines, access roads, housing, and raw material and product storage facilities).

4. Baseline Environmental Conditions (Delineation of the study area; and description of relevant physical, biological, cultural and socio-economic conditions, including any changes anticipated before the project commences. Current and proposed development activities within the project area (but not directly connected to the project) should also be documented. This chapter would need to describe the environmentally sensitive receptors or areas (such as wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, etc), if any such area is located within the study area.) 5. Environmental Impacts of the Sub-Project (Identification and assessment of positive and negative impacts likely to result from proposed project. Opportunities for environmental enhancement should be explored. The extent and quality of available data, key data gaps, and uncertainties associated with predictions should be identified/estimated. Topics that do not require further attention should be specified.)

6. Mitigation Strategies (Mitigation measures for each of the environmental impacts in the previous chapter, and any residual negative impacts that cannot be mitigated, should be identified. It needs to be demonstrated that the mitigation measures proposed are sufficient for the type and level of impact predicted)

7. Analysis of Alternatives (Systematic comparison of the proposed investment design site, technology, and operational alternatives in terms of their potential environmental impacts, capital and recurrent costs, suitability under local conditions, and institutional, training, and monitoring requirements. For each of the alternatives, the environmental costs and benefits should be quantified to the extent possible, and economic values should be attached where feasible. The basis for the selection of the alternative proposed for the project design must be stated.) 8. Environmental Management Plan (Identification of feasible and cost-effective measures that may reduce potentially significant adverse impacts, capital and recurrent costs, and institutional, training, and monitoring requirements of those measures. The plan should provide detail on proposed work programmes and schedules. Such details help ensure that the proposed environmental actions are in phase with engineering and other project activities throughout implementation. The plan should consider compensatory measures if mitigation measures are not feasible or cost-effective. For each mitigation/compensation measure, the implementation

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responsibility needs to be specified. The plan also should include a budget for implementing the mitigation/compensation measures.)

9. Environmental Monitoring Plan (Specification of the type of monitoring, who will do it, how much it will cost, and what other inputs (i.e., training) are necessary. The monitoring plan should also specify the monitoring parameters, the methods to be applied in monitoring, the sample size and sampling technique, as well as the method of calibrating the monitored results).

10. Training Requirements and Plan (Assessment of the existence, role and capability of environmental units on-site, or at the agency and ministry level. Based on these findings, recommendations should be made concerning establishment and/or expansion of such units, and training of staff, to the point that EA recommendations can be implemented.)

11. Appendices These would include (a) List of EA Prepares-individuals and organizations, (b) reference for written materials used in study preparation (the list is especially important given the large amount of unpublished documentation often used), (c) record of Interagency/Forum/ Consultation meetings-including lists of both invitees and attendees, (d) the record of consultations for obtaining the informed views of the affected people and local NGOs should be included. The record should specify any means other than consultations that were used to obtain the views of affected groups and local NGOs.

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Annex 10. Environment Management guidelines for proposed sub-projects

Activity Issues Anticipated/Potential environmentalImpact

Effects on Environment Actions or Mitigation Measures

Small scale channelwork, irrigationsystem andreservoirreconstruction/rehabilitation

Dust, noise, solid wastesduring rehabilitationworks;

Habitat destruction;

Occupational hazards

Initial erosion. Poor irrigation practicesmay lead to surface soil loss, mineralleaching and/or salinization. Pond andreservoir construction could deprivedownstream areasof water.

Better water use should decreaseerosion by controlling flash flooding.

Increased ground cover by increasingcropping.

Minimize erosionpotential, better control ofwater flow,

Apply construction standards andguidelines with environmentalclauses.

Re-vegetate canal banks withgrassesand shrubs.

Rehabilitation ofstorehouses andruralinfrastructure

Dust, noise, solid wastesduringrehabilitation/constructionworks;

Habitat destruction;

Occupational hazards

Temporary site disruption

Dust, noise, silt and solid wasteaccumulation

Damage to végétation,

Disruption of natural habitats andmigration corridors

Physical impacts, noise vibrations,

Expose to hazardous materials

Negligible environmentaleffects

Potential local impacts onflora and fauna, naturalhabitats

Water and soil pollutiondue to inappropriate wastemanagement

Occupational illness

Illness as the result ofexpose to hazardousmaterials

Accidental spillage andpollution

Compliance with existing codes forconstruction, business operations,waste discharge and disposal

Monitoring for dust, noise, silt andsolid waste disposal

Inspection of working sites andlocal people feedback.

Capacity building – Includingenvironmental management

Apply good occupational safetyand health practices

Survey for presence of hazardousmaterials (lead asbestos) andrequire workers to use appropriateprotective technologies andclothing

Adopt effective containmentpractices

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Annex 11. Monitoring Plan Matrix

Projectcomponent/activity

What should bemonitored/indicators?

Where tomonitor?

How to monitor andsources ofinformation?

When tomonitor/frequency?

Costs Responsabilities

Debtresolution/conversionand sectorpolicy reforms

Water usage(m3)

Salinization (affectedareas – ha);

Water logging(affectedareas (ha);

Erosion(affected areas –ha, number of ravines);

Sustainable land usepractices (areas withcrop rotation);

Conducted trainings andpublic awarenessactivities (number oftrainings and trainedpeople; publishedinformation materials)

Dushanbe,Selectedrayons

Statistical data

Statistical data

Statistical data

PIU progress reports;Training reports

Annually

Annually

Annually

Quarterly

The cost for theseactivities areincluded in thecost for PIUoperation.

PIU;

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Fertilizers andpesticidesuse:(used amount andnumber of application –tones; applied bio-control methods, -number and coveredareas; number of sickpeople attributed toagrochemicals usage;correct storage anddisposal of chemicals);

Conducted trainings andpublic awarenessactivities (number oftrainings and trainedpeople; publishedinformation materials)

Dushanbe,Selectedrayons

Statistical data

MoH data;

Data of the MA;

Data of the FactoryProtection Service

Data of the TAAS

PIU progress reports;Training reports

Annually

Quartely

PIU

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Cotton SupplyChainInvestment/rehabilitationand/orconstructionof cottonginningfactories

Environmental impactsof the ginning plans:

Air emissions (tones);Waste generations(tones);

Sicknessof the staff dueto occupational andenvironmental hazards(number of sick days);

Staff trainings inpromoting EMP onFactories and onenvironmental, healthand safetyrequirements;

Training ofenvironmentalinspectors onenforcement andcompliance

Dushanbe,Selectedrayons,On theFactories

Statistical data;

State of theEnvironment reports;

HydrometeorogicalService reports;

Data from theMinistry of Health;

PIU progress reports;Training reports

Annually; quarterly

Quartely

PIU; RayonEnvironmentalinspectors

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Cotton SupplyChainInvestment/rehabilitation ofirrigation andvillageinfrastructure

Waste generation andmanagement (m3);

Air emissions (m3)

Hazardous substancesdisposal (m3);

Affected naturalhabitats (flora andfauna) (areas andnumber of species;

Canal bank re-vegetation

Occupational hazardsand affected people

On thesubprojectsites

Field investigations;

PIU Monitoringreports;

Ecological InspectionEnvironmentalenforcement andcompliance reports;

MoH data

Monthly;quarterly

PIUEnvironmentSpecialist andrayonenvironmentalinspectors

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Annex 12. Specific aspects to be monitored

1. Air pollution: Control method: visual and interviews with affected population. Places to be controlled: civil works, access roads without hard surface, borrowing pits and dumping areas. General mitigation measures to be observed are watering of granulated materials, use of nets or other dust abatement methods, avoidance of trash burning, the control over technical condition of cars and construction machinery, restricting traffic to outside roads. 2. Soil pollution: Control method: visual, soil samples if deemed necessary. General mitigation measures to be observed are a strict observance of construction norms and rules, discard of debris and other dredged/excavated materials only in authorized areas, reuse of debris when possible, storage and handling of lubricating materials in designated areas with soil protective measures. Prohibition of discarding lubricating materials on site. 3. Surface water pollution. Control method: visual, and water samples if deemed necessary. General mitigation measures to be observed are prohibition of discharging sewage water directly into the rivers/canals, prohibition of discarding lubricants and other oil products into rivers/canals, and observance of standard norms of surface water protection. 4. Noise pollution. Control method: inspections, interviews with affected population. If any borrowing or dumping sites are located near sensitive fauna, specific studies on the impact on them will need to be performed. Minimum mitigation measures to be followed are use of barriers near populated areas/sensitive fauna areas, limitation of noise producing activities to day in the proximity of constructed/sensitive areas, speed restrictions in the proximity of constructed/sensitive areas, control over technical condition of cars and construction machinery, observance of standards norms of noise pollution[IO]. 5. Landscape degradation, soil erosion. Control method: visual. Minimum mitigation measures to be observed is the strict observance of the use of authorized borrowing pits and quarries, as well as of dumping areas, which were agreed by the MEES in the ecological expertise examination and DWR in the design process for the site. 6. Water supply reduction/interruptions due to civil works. This impact can be prevented at the design stage of the site rehabilitation. Mitigation measure to be taken is to restrict works outside the irrigation season. 7. Impact on endemic and rare flora and fauna. The possibility of incurring this impact depends on the location of extraction/dumping sites. As such, it should be prevented at the design stage of the site rehabilitation. The contractor will need to present in its tendering documents a plan of sites to be used for extraction and dumping of materials. This plan will be subject to Ecological Expertise by MEES, along with the rest of the aspects of the site rehabilitation. The inspector should monitor strict conformity to this plan. VII.3 Operation and Maintenance Phase In schemes where problems are known to exist or are expected, based on the baseline study, during the O&M phase of the project there will be regular monitoring of the waters quality at the head and tail of the canals, as well as for the drainage discharges and transboundary locations. Standard irrigation water parameters and most likely nonstandard site-specific parameters should be analyzed 3 times during the vegetation period (the beginning, middle and end, to illustrate intraseasonal variations), as indicated for the baseline study. Other aspects to be monitored are: 1. Waterlogging and salinization along canal routes. During the sampling campaigns, inspections to the canal routes should be performed to identify waterlogged/salinized areas. Existing waterlogged areas should be monitored continuously to determine if the problem is increasing. Information on the mineralization level of groundwater should be obtained, or sampled. The parameters to be analyzed are mineralization, pH and temperature. These parameters can be examined by express-analyzers such as the ones in use by OIP. Mitigation measures to be observed are repair of cracks in concrete lined canals, not to remove completely the silt from earthen canals, installation/rehabilitation/repair of drainage systems. 2. Discharge water quality reduction due to increased water delivery. Regular water sampling of discharge canals is included in the standard O&M monitoring plan. 3. Irrigation water quality reduction due to upstream pollution. If pollution levels of incoming waters increase, the standard monitoring should identify it. If other sources of pollution are identified, monthly irrigation water quality control on the concrete pollutants during the vegetation period should be

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undertaken. Mitigation measures should be determined on a case-by-case basis. 4. Soil erosion. Method of control - the monitoring of intensity of erosive processes. On representational areas monitoring ranges are organized. In which the depth and width of the areas prone to erosion are measured in the beginning and in the end of irrigation period. Furthermore, for operative determination of erosion intensity in the beginning and in the end of earthen canals water turbidity should be measured three times a vegetation period using the field hazemeter. Mitigation measures to be observed are length of furrows or border strips, water speed limitation in earthen canals, and if needed lining of canals. 5. Water supply reduction/interruptions due to civil works. This impact can be prevented at the design stage of the site rehabilitation. Mitigation measure to be taken is to restrict works outside the irrigation season. 6. Monitoring of specific risks inherent only to a particular site. Some sites have risks relevant only for them, such as environmental flow issues, risk of natural occurrence of heavy metals in the water, etc. Specific monitoring plans should be developed for each case if such sites are selected. In Section VII. 1, specific monitoring parameters for individual risks for the sample sites have been identified.

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Annex 13. Record of consultation meetings While preparing EA and EMP in August-October there were consultations with stakeholders in each of the project watersheds. The consultations were held with the following representatives of:

i) local farmers; ii) NGOs; iii) Government agencies – heads of local committees on nature protection; iv) local Authorities; v) agricultural departments in selected rayons; vi) representatives of state institutions: Ministry of irrigation and water resources; Ministry of

Agriculture; State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry; State Land Committee. The full list of people met is presented below: 1. Mr. M. Amonov, Deputy Chief, State Factory Quarantine 2. Mr. K. Ganiev, Deputy Director, State Enterprise for Factory Protection and agriculture chemicals

usage; 3. Mr. R. Nazarov, Director, Department on agricultural Plans, Ministry of Agriculture; 4. Mr. A. Holov , Environmental Monitoring Specialist, CAWDP; 5. Mr. S. Dustov, Director, State Ecological Expertise, State Committee for Environmental Protection and

Forestry; 6. Mr. Karimov, State Sanitary and Epidemiological Inspection, Ministry of Health; 7. Mr. R. Hairulloev, Deputy Director, State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry; 8. Mr V.Ibragimov, GEF POPs EA grant PIU Manager; 9. Mr. N. Safarov, Director, “ Noosfera”, Environmental NGO; 10. Mr.D.Saidov – Head of the Department for cotton and other agricultural products treatment, Ministry of

Agriculture 11. Mr.Boinazar Bazarov – Chief specialist of the Department for cotton and other agricultural products

treatment, Ministry of Agriculture 12. Mr.M.Kadamov – Chief specialist of the State Inspection on water resources protection and control,

State committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry 13. Mr.A.Fakirov – Director of the Ginning plant (SCL) “Bahtiyor” (Bohtar rayon) 14. Mr.D.Musoev – Chief engineer of the Ginning plant (SCL) “Bahtiyor” (Bohtar rayon) 15. Mr.B.Karoev - Chief engineer of the Ginning plant (SCL) “Umed” (Bohtar rayon) 16. Mr.A.Khalifaev - Chief engineer of the Ginning plant (SCL) “S.Djuraev” (Vakhsh rayon) 17. Valiev Kurbonhon Bobohonovich – Head of the Industry Department, Hatlon Region Hukumat 18. Pirov D. – Chief specialist of the Industry Department, Khatlon Region Hukumat 19. Boronov Rahmiddin – Chief engineer of SLR“Dusti”, Kumsangir rayon 20. Odinaev A. – Head of Procurement department, 21. Rahmatshoev Khursand – Chief engineer of SLR “N.Husravi”, Kabodiyon rayon 22. Sohibov Mahmadali - Director of SLR “N.Husravi”, Kabodiyon rayon 23. Hojaev D. – Chief engineer of SLR “Pahtai Shahrituz”, Hahrituz rayon 24. Holov Safar – Director of SLR “Pahtai Shahrituz”, Hahrituz rayon 25. Abdulloev Z. – Director of SLR “Oriyono”, Kabodiyon rayon 26. Bodanushov M. – Chief engineer of SLR “Oriyono”, Kabodiyon rayon 27. Nazarov Shams – Head of State Inspection on air protection and state control, State Committee for

Environmental Protection and Forestry 28. Abdusamadov M. – Head of State Inspection on water resources protection and state control, State

Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry

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29. Zardiev N. – Deputy Head of the State Inspection on land resources protection and wastes treatment, State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry

30. Berdiev M. – Chief Specialist of the State Inspection on land resources protection and wastes treatment, State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry

On September 22, 2006, MA carried out the public discussion with participation of representatives from various interested organizations to explain more detail the objectives of EA and EMP as well as its main results. The summary of the consultations is presented in the table below. Table 1. Summary information on Consultation with Local NGOs and Project-affected groups

Location Objective Invitees Participants Summary conclusions and Comments

Responsibility

Dushanbe To describe the EMP and solicit feedback

environmental NGOs, representatives from the MA, SCEPF, and other interested organizations

30 participants,, - representatives from. MA, SCEPF, Agrarian University, environmental NGO, mass-media, the WB

The project, the WB safeguards policy and EMP has been presented (PowerPoint) to participants. Mitigation measures and Institutional responsibilities for EMP monitoring have been discussed. Environmental options and concerns have been elucidated by participants. The EMP has been accepted and proposed further steps for environmental training has been agreed. It was proposed that close cooperation between agriculture, environmental authorities and project PIU will be necessary during implementation.

PIU, MA

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Annex 14 References 1. World Bank Tajikistan Poverty Assessment Update (PAU), 2004. 2. National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) of the Republic of Tajikistan. Governmental Decision No. from June , 2006 3. State of the Environment: Republic of Tajikistan. GRID Arendale, 2002 (see State of the Environment:

Republic of Tajikistan. GRID Arendale, 2002 (see: http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/tadjik/soe2001/eng/ 4. United Nations Economic and Social Council. Environmental Performance Review of Tajikistan. First

Review, 2004. (see: www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/Tajikistan/welcome.htm) 5. Asian Development Bank. Sustainable Cotton Sub-Sector Project Environmental Review. 2006, March,

conducted by N.Nadiradze 6. The World Bank. Rural Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project. 2000 7. International Crisis Group. The Curse of Cotton. Central Asia’s Destructive Monoculture, 2005. 8. Starting up IPM in Tajikistan. WB Report. G.Walter-Echols. November, 2005 9. Land Code (1992) 10. Tajikistan Community Agriculture Watershed Management Project, 2005 11. Tajikistan Farm Privatization Support Project, 2005 12. WB EA Sourcebook.