Restoring sustainable livelihoods for food-insecure people

his operation expired on 31 March 2016.

Hit by a succession of compounding crises throughout 2008 and 2009, and affected by recurring natural disasters, Tajikistan faces enormous challenges to provide basic health, education and social protection services to its people. A former Soviet republic, the country remains the poorest in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) despite economic growth in recent years. Tajikistan has been particularly hard hit by the 2008 global economic downturn, which resulted in a sharp fall in labour migrants’ remittances, a financial lifeline for many rural households and a major contribution to the country’s economy. Widespread unemployment and a decline in demand and prices for Tajikistan’s key exports, cotton and aluminium, exacerbate the economic and social hardship.

The protracted relief and recovery operation (PRRO) will support the most vulnerable among the 1.4 million people who are food-insecure, according to the findings of the Food Security Monitoring System (FSMS). WFP, together with partners in the Food Security Cluster, established the FSMS in October 2008 in Tajikistan to collect and analyse food security data on a quarterly basis. Geographical and beneficiary targeting are conducted on the basis of the FSMS reports.

The PRRO will provide food assistance to food-insecure people and improve household food consumption through relief and recovery activities. In line with Strategic Objective 1 of the WFP Strategic Plan (2008-2013), WFP will address the immediate food needs and protection of livelihoods of communities affected by recurrent natural disasters and reduce acute malnutrition in children under 5 in targeted areas. The re-establishment and restoration of livelihoods of shock-affected households will be supported under Strategic Objective 3. The PRRO will also support the Government in further developing national capacities to monitor food security and shocks (Strategic Objective 5).

The PRRO is fully aligned with the Government’s commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals 1 (“Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger”) and 4 (“Reduce child mortality”). It supports the Production and Social Blocks of the 2010-2012 Poverty Reduction Strategy; the coordinated Joint Country Partnership Strategy; the National Food Security Programme; and the Food and Nutrition Security and Quality Basic Services pillars of the 2010-2015 United Nations Development Assistance Framework.

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Budget revision 9 extends PRRO 200122 in Tajikistan by three months from 01 January to 31 March 2016. The extension aims to bridge the gap between the current PRRO end date (31 December 2015) and the expected start date of a new Country Programme (CP) 2016-2020.