DEC. 14 2014, (The Conway Bulletin) — China agreed to invest $3.8b into developing Kazakhstan’s potash deposits to produce a mineral that can be used in fertiliser production. The massive investment both underscores China’s interest in Kazakhstan and will also help Kazakhstan diversify its economy away from oil and gas.
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(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7 2015)
DEC. 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan plans to sell 200,000 tonnes of flour on the international market, media reported, part of its strategy to diversify its exports away from just oil and gas. Importantly, the sale may also help other Central Asian and South Caucasus countries suppress rising bread prices
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
NOV. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek President Islam Karimov made a rare trip to Astana where he met Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev to discuss plans by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to build extra hydropower capacity, an issue that has threatened to destabilise the region. Uzbekistan relies on water from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to feed its important cotton fields.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
OCT 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan plans to increase the size of its walnut forests to meet rising demand for the nut from consumers in Iran, China, Turkey and south-east Asia, media reported. Kyrgyzstan has very few exports and a boost in walnut sales would give the economy a lift.
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(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)
SEPT. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An appeal court in Tajikistan upheld the decision of Tajikistan’s High Court to invalidate a takeover by Ukrainian billionaire Dmitro Firtash in 2002 of Tajik fertiliser maker TajikAzot. Analysts have said that the authorities in Tajikistan have used the problems in the country as a cover for a corporate raid.
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(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)
AUG. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps trying to woo Kyrgyzstan into the embrace of the Customs Union, Russia agreed to lift restrictions on the import of Kyrgyz agriculture products, media reported. The restrictions were imposed over food safety fears. Kyrgyzstan has applied to join the Russia-led Customs Union later this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 197, published on Aug. 27 2014)
JUNE 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Media in Uzbekistan reported that a drought in the south of the country means that crop expectations are low.
The uznews.net opposition website said that harvest would be 50% lower than normal on rain-fed crops.
“It did not rain this April and we expect smaller harvests,” uznews.net quoted a farmer as saying.
Officials have not commented although signs of drought are important for policymakers. Droughts and a lack of income can trigger social discontent. Throughout the year, reports have surfaced from Uzbekistan of rising prices.
Uzbekistan is particularly prone to drought. Much of its agriculture is under-resourced and lacking in investment and the land is generally arid. A government report in 2012 said that 76% of the population was living in areas at risk of drought.
And the timing of the uznews.net report is pertinent. The state’s Committee for Natural Protection organised a roundtable on June 29 specifically to discuss desertification and drought in Uzbekistan. The World Bank and the Asian Development all provide various forms of financial assistance aimed at reducing drought in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)
JUNE 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The World Bank agreed to give Uzbekistan a $260m loan to improve irrigation in its agriculture, media reported, angering human rights activists who accuse Uzbekistan of using child labour to pick cotton. Cotton is one of Uzbekistan’s biggest exports although many Western fashion brands refuse to use it in their clothing.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
MAY 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Looking to boost production in the long run, Turkmenistan’s government said it would set up a state commission to improve the growing and transportation of cereal crops, media reported. Turkmenistan has grown increasingly rich from its gas exports. Cereal crop production has also grown.
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(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)
MAY 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Would it go too far to dub it “Potatogate”? Possibly not.
Last year Tajikistan’s agriculture ministry boasted of the republic’s first-ever million tonne harvest but now Tajik media are claiming locally-grown potatoes have disappeared from the country’s bazaars and have been replaced by a more expensive variety from Pakistan.
Confused? Many Tajiks are.
Earlier in the year, the ministry declined requests from the news agency Avesta.tj for comment on the whereabouts of last year’s potato bounty but on May 5 agriculture minister Kosim Rokhbar finally relented.
Mr Rokhbar said that part of the harvest had been exported and the rest had spoiled in the country’s obsolete storage units.
In other words 2013’s million tonne potato harvest had disappeared.
And prices reflect this. The price of 1kg of potatoes has jumped 20% to 80 cents since March.
It appears that, possibly, a mix of corruption and incompetence has destroyed Tajikistan’s bumper potato harvest forcing normal people to suffer.
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(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)