VZCZCXRO9592
RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0691/01 1420941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210941Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0547
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0161
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0133
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0103
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0014

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000691 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID KPAO KDEM TI
SUBJECT:  TAJIKISTAN - SOWING SEEDS OF DEMOCRACY IN SHAHRITUS 
 
Ref: Dushanbe 680 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified - Not for Internet Distribution. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. The ambassador traveled to the Shahritus district 
in April to meet U.S. Government grantees who are incrementally 
raising the standard of living in the impoverished agricultural 
area.  U.S. Government assistance has had a positive impact, 
especially in cultivating democratic decision making through 
community associations.  The government's appreciation of these 
organizations will be tested when they demand loans for crops other 
than cotton, amendments to the tax code, or if association chairmen 
become so popular the government perceives them as rivals. End 
summary. 
 
Democracy Coming to Tajikistan - Via Farmers Associations 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The ambassador traveled to the Shahritus district in April 
to meet the hukumat chairman (reported reftel) and U.S. Government 
grantees who are incrementally raising the standard of living in 
this impoverished district where agriculture is the primary 
industry. The residents depend on scarce water resources to survive 
and have by necessity joined agricultural organizations like the 
USAID supported Water Users' Associations where they negotiate fair 
water sharing policies.  During a ribbon cutting ceremony at the 
renovated "Sayod" Water Users' Association meeting house, a woman 
farmer in traditional Tajik dress and head scarf told the ambassador 
that "Sayod" was founded to resolve water management issues, like 
installing water meters to monitor consumption of shared irrigation 
water. She said the associations were so effective at achieving a 
consensus in water management that members now had an effective 
mechanism for mobilizing the community in other efforts to improve 
economic conditions. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Minister of Land Reclamation and Water Resources 
emphasized the positive contributions of USAID's Water Users' 
Association Support Program to the country's overall economic 
development in a May 7 letter to the ambassador. He praised the 
program for training association members to collect irrigation 
service fees from the community of users as a first step toward 
sustainability. More significantly, the minister urged the extension 
of the program which is currently scheduled to end in 2009, to 
ensure the ultimate sustainability of the country's main irrigation 
canals in the Shahritus and Rudaki districts. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Many non-governmental organizations are trying to help 
farmers transition from the Soviet style collective farm to 
cooperatives with consensus-based (democratic) decision making. 
These organizations provide information about agricultural reform 
and farmers' rights, and teach women skills to earn a viable income. 
Licensed micro-finance organizations lend money to farmers to buy 
livestock, to buy or repair equipment, or buy seeds for cotton and 
wheat. Representatives of these organizations discussed their 
accomplishments and challenges at a roundtable with the ambassador. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The chairman of the Kabodiyon Jamoat Development Committee, 
an elderly man in a traditional embroidered black and white cap, 
thanked the ambassador for U.S. Government assistance. (Note: The 
Jamoat Development Committees are a UNDP-supported initiative to 
cultivate local self-government. The committees define community 
needs, set priorities, and coordinate with Tajik NGOs and 
international donors to implement projects.) The Kabodiyon chairman 
Qinternational donors to implement projects.) The Kabodiyon chairman 
said his NGO has been supported by USAID since 2002 and in that time 
has provided safe drinking water to the 4,000 residents of his 
jamoat; built two schools with kitchens for 610 students; and 
renovated the maternity ward of Kabodiyon's central hospital. As an 
indication of the basic level of need in the area, the committee 
received a small grant from UNDP to finance start-up costs for 
factories to plump Tajik cotton mattresses that become compacted 
over time. With support from the UNDP they also offer low interest 
(18 percent) loans to farmers.  (Loans from other sources can be as 
high as 36 percent.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) The USAID supported Legal Aid Center provides legal advice 
about land reform and changes in the law, such as Decree 111 
(Freedom to Farm), to farmers who do not know their rights and local 
government officials who do not know the limits of their authority. 
The center once arbitrated a dispute between a farm cooperative and 
the district chairman Kulmurod Rahmonov, who tried to appoint the 
head of the cooperative over the objections of the farmers.  The 
center succeeded in getting Rahmonov to acknowledge changes in the 
law, which prohibits government officials from interfering in 
private agricultural ventures. 
 
¶7. (SBU) One participant said flatly that the government Decree 111 
was not working, farmers were not free to grow what they wanted, and 
75-85 percent of crops were cotton because that was the only crop 
 
DUSHANBE 00000691  002 OF 002 
 
 
for which farmers could get loans.  The ambassador mentioned she had 
raised this specific issue with Matlubkhon Davlatov, the president's 
advisor on economic affairs. 
 
¶8. (SBU) A significant percentage of the male labor force seeks 
better paying jobs abroad, primarily in Russia, so women's rights 
advocates in Shahritus are trying to help rural women earn money to 
maintain their households and raise their children. Some are 
reaching out to isolated villages and teaching basic hygiene and 
pre-natal care. One community organization located near the Afghan 
border promotes agriculture as a business for women and offers 
information about agricultural reform and Decree 111. Another 
organization in the city of Shahritus has taught weaving and sewing 
to 300 women who are now working at home and selling their crafts to 
make a living. The organization also trains women to use computers 
so they can perform clerical services in offices. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment. So far, the hukumat chairman and the Minister of 
Land Reclamation and Water Resources appreciate the work of the 
Water Users' Associations for resolving myriad parochial problems 
the government has neither the time nor inclination to address. 
However, as people increasingly turn to the associations for 
solutions, the associations become more essential to everyday 
governing.  The true measure of the government's appreciation of 
these grass roots democracy organizations will come when the 
associations demand real "freedom to farm," including loans for 
crops other than cotton or amendments to the tax code, or if the 
association chairmen become so popular the government perceives them 
as rivals. 
 
JACOBSON