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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0136
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1984
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1592
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1611

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSHANBE 000162 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID EAGR ELAB ENRG PGOV PHUM TI
SUBJECT: BEWARE OF GARM! WINTER IN CENTRAL TAJIKISTAN 
 
REF: A) DUSHANBE 0139  B) 06 DUSHANBE 827 
 
DUSHANBE 00000162  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Introduction: Jan 22-24 EmbOffs visited the Rasht Valley 
in central Tajikistan to get a taste of rural life in the 
winter.  A series of cables surveys border conditions (Ref A), 
the economic and social situation, health needs and assistance 
programs in central Tajikistan.  End Introduction. 
 
The Icy Road East 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Local Tajiks told EmbOffs to wait until summer to travel 
to Rasht Valley, citing warnings about perilous road conditions 
in the mountains.  The town of Garm, six hours northeast from 
Dushanbe on a principal road leading through the country and to 
Kyrgyzstan, is best visited in May.  Undaunted, on Jan 22 
EmbOffs packed into their vehicles loaded with ready-to-eat 
meals, sleeping bags and bottled water, and headed to Garm. 
 
¶3.  (U) EmbOffs enjoyed blazing snow-covered scenery as Embassy 
drivers slowly maneuvered through icy mountain roads at 25-30 
kilometers per hour.  Occasionally, men from villages dressed in 
furry hats and beards came up to shovel dirt on the mountain 
paths to provide traction for passers-by.  Vehicles small and 
large maneuvered between rockslides on the icy roads, carrying 
people and goods, such as new Chinese minivans, into the 
country.  With snow piled high all around, traffic and life move 
on in central Tajikistan. 
 
¶4.  (U) Rasht Valley comprises seven districts with an overall 
population of over 350,000.  (Note: EmbOffs did not actually 
notice a "valley."  Valley implies a large flat area, while the 
Rasht Valley consists of a road between the mountains.  End 
Note.)  The small rehabilitated airport in Garm operates only in 
summer, while camels are still used as transport in Jirgitol 
District further up the valley.  Garm sits in the center of 
Rasht district, a capital of 14,000 people.  The dead economy 
has forced much of the population to seek work abroad, while the 
remaining population relies on foreign assistance, remittances, 
and small-scale agricultural production. 
 
No Electricity and No Connection 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶5.  (U) Rasht Valley receives two to four hours of electricity 
per day from mid-October through mid-April.  People in the 
valley use coal from Nazarailok, 120 km from Rasht, for heat. 
Each family uses up to four tons of coal each winter, at $150 
per ton.  The Chairman of Rasht District Mahmadsharif Tolibov 
believes that energy supplies will improve after the launch of 
the Sangtuda-1 hydropower station.  In addition, Russian 
construction of a hydropower station at Rogun, or Chinese 
construction of a Shurab hydropower station at the merging point 
of the Hingob and Surhob rivers would also provide energy 
resources and new jobs for the region. 
 
¶6.  (U) Rasht District lacks a single radio station, and boasts 
one bi-weekly newspaper, Navidi Rasht.  Newspapers from Dushanbe 
often arrive weeks late.  Approximately 50 families (of 14,000 
people) in Garm have satellite dishes, although without 
electricity, even the satellite owners cannot watch television. 
There is little public Internet access in the district -- a 
U.S.-funded site is an exception -- and few books available in 
Russian or English languages. 
 
¶7.  (U) At School Number 1 in Garm, shivering pupils bundled in 
coats dutifully wrote in their notebooks.  Low salaries 
averaging 20 USD per month have led to a nationwide shortage of 
teachers, and class sizes ranged from 35-45 students.  The Asian 
Development Bank and the Japanese Development Agency both 
provided assistance to the school, with basic improvements in 
the building evident.  The active parents' association paid for 
electrical upgrades and for heating coal.  The school's 
director, Sharipov Davlat, asked EmbOffs for assistance in 
purchasing new classroom furniture and textbooks.  A local NGO 
leader warned EmbOffs that local youth face a crisis without 
development opportunities. 
 
 
DUSHANBE 00000162  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
How do you like them (Garm) apples? 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶8.  (U) Tajiks love the flavorful Garm apples, and Rasht 
District produces up to ten thousand tons of apples each year. 
However, with no food processing manufacturers and poor storage 
facilities, farmers lose up to 50% of their harvest, often 
giving it to cattle.  In this non-cotton-growing agricultural 
region, farmers grow potatoes and other vegetables, raise 
cattle, and keep bees.  The region lacks agricultural equipment, 
however, and Rasht District Chairman Tolibov suggested to 
EmbOffs that donors provide tractors to farmers instead of 
training. 
 
¶9.  (U) Rasht Valley lacks capital to spur economic growth, and 
the persistent electricity shortages make the region 
unattractive to outside investors.  Despite sitting on a major 
trade route, only small business trading occurs in the valley. 
Several entrepreneurs told EmbOffs they want to produce 
high-quality cashmere wool, but they lack investment capital. 
Irrigation systems lie in disrepair with no funds or electricity 
to rehabilitate them.  Labor remittances account for more than 
50% of local income, and in the Tajikobod district for example, 
4,000 of the 33,000 population work in Russia, bringing in $10 
million per year, according to the Mountain Societies 
Development Support Program, an Aga Khan Development Network 
agency active in the region. 
 
Local Governance Programs in Rasht Valley 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) Two major donors in the Rasht Valley are the United 
Nations Development Program and the Mountain Societies 
Development Support Program.  Each has spent roughly $10 million 
in Rasht Valley since 1996.  These two donors have created a web 
of local governance support programs in Rasht Valley that bring 
civil society and local government together.  The Mountain 
Societies Development Support Program created 474 organizations 
at the village level, involving 58,000 people, to coordinate 
community issues.  (Comment: The head of the Mountain Societies 
Development Support Program, Muhammadi Sharipov, is considered 
the second most important person in Rasht Valley, after the 
regional governor.  End Comment).  The United Nations 
Development Program works one level higher with its new 36 
Jamoat (District) Support Centers, providing each with $30,000 
per year for micro-lending, civil support and infrastructure 
projects.  In addition, Jamoat officials receive training and 
technical assistance.  These two programs will provide an 
excellent basis for the new USAID Local Governance program. 
 
Economic Development Programs 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U) Donor projects offer the most basic economic training 
and infrastructure development.  A German Development Service 
(German version of the Peace Corps) advisor runs a business 
incubator in Garm and provides business development services to 
entrepreneurs who struggle with basic market concepts.  For 
example, the handicrafts dealer offered his goods as gifts to 
visiting EmbOffs several times while the advisor repeatedly 
admonished him and insisted he accept payment for his products. 
 
¶12.  (U) Donor activities complement each other, as the 
FirstMicroFinance Bank (also a part of the Aga Khan Development 
Network) provides credits to farmers, and Mountain Societies 
Development Support Program activities include irrigation 
projects and cattle breeding.  The new USAID AgLinks project 
will stimulate linkages between market-driven producers and 
processors and retailers of agricultural products, and also 
build local capacity, providing needed assistance to this 
struggling region. 
 
¶13.  (U) Comment: Geography and poverty conspire against this 
region, which was a hotbed of the opposition during the civil 
war.  The Governor seemed uninterested in hearing about new 
USG-funded economic development, agricultural and governance 
programs, perhaps feeling like he's heard it all before.  He 
 
DUSHANBE 00000162  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
adamantly maintained, however, that the President would solve 
the region's energy problems in the next year or two.  EmbOffs 
did not ask the question what would happen if the energy 
shortages continue.  End Comment. 
JACOBSON