VZCZCXRO3269
RR RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #1212/01 3131357
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091357Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0892
INFO RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 1828
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0305

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001212 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID PREL PGOV PHUM EAGR KPAO TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN - AMBASSADOR VISITS THE RASHT VALLEY, WHERE FOOD 
IS THE MAIN SECURITY CHALLENGE 
 
REF: A) 2008 DUSHANBE 00189; B) 2008 DUSHANBE 00216; C) 2008 DUSHANBE 00236 
 
DUSHANBE 00001212  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: During a November 3-4 visit to the Rasht 
valley, an opposition stronghold during the civil war, 
Ambassador Gross met with local government officials, NGO and 
international organization representatives, and residents of a 
village which benefits from USG Food for Peace funding.  Despite 
last summer's security incidents in Tavildara, the Rasht valley 
remains secure and stable.  USAID Food for Peace programming has 
been a resounding success in response to the brutal 2007 winter 
and subsequent economic crisis, although food security needs 
remain urgent.  The entire village of Tagoba met with the 
Ambassador to express appreciation and request continued 
involvement by the USG.  END SUMMARY 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) On November 3, Ambassador, USAID Country Director, 
Poloff, and PAO travelled via the broken, gravel road linking 
Dushanbe to the Rasht Valley.  The 135 mile drive to Garm takes 
four hours, a major challenge to Rasht farmers seeking markets 
for their produce. With most young men working in Russia, Rasht 
Valley women eke out a living by farming the small patches of 
arable land along the mountain walls.  Rasht District 
Administrator Mahmadsharif Tolibov described the security 
situation in the valley as stable and said that summer 2009 
fighting in neighboring Tavildara did not affect his district. 
"The top priority in our valley is peace and stability.  None of 
our people went to join the fighting in Tavildara.  Since our 
population has survived the civil war, they will not get 
involved." 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) Tolibov reported that 8,000 Rasht men are working abroad, 
mostly in Russia.  Although living/working conditions for 
migrants in Russia have improved over the last year, he said the 
economic downturn has led to lower remittances and several 
families reported that they had not received money for several 
months.  Despite the downturn, Rasht men have not returned to 
the valley in large numbers.  Those that have returned for the 
winter plan to travel to Russia again in the spring since Russia 
offers more opportunities than does farming in Tajikistan.  When 
asked if there have been cases of trafficking in persons, 
Tolibov responded, "I am Administrator for nine years and have 
not heard of such a case."  Tolibov praised the work of Mercy 
Corps and its local representative.  "We see the American people 
in the person of this lady."  Tolibov called for more foreign 
involvement in his District to support economic development and 
foster tourism. 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) Tolibov praised President Rahmon's leadership and noted 
the attendance of 5,000 Rasht residents when the President 
recently opened a new bridge.  On the February 2010 
parliamentary elections, Tolibov told the Ambassador that Rahmon 
ordered District Administrators to refrain from interfering.  He 
insisted that elections would be free and fair, boasting that 
six political parties were active in Rasht.  When the Ambassador 
asked about the relative strength of the parties, Tolibov 
replied, "The People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan (the 
ruling party, PDPT) is first and foremost, and has the support 
of government officials, young people, business, and the 
cultural and education spheres.  Next, the Islamic Renaissance 
Party has a certain number of supporters.  After that the 
Democratic Party.  The other parties are poorly represented and 
not supported."  He said the Ministry of Interior would provide 
election security.  "Of course they will not interfere in the 
process of voting.  They are only there to prevent quarreling by 
youngsters." 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) OSCE and UNDP representatives based in Garm concurred 
that the security situation is Rasht is stable, adding that the 
local population did not support foreign fighters in Tavildara 
in summer 2009.  Several former members of the United Tajik 
Opposition (UTO) reportedly reside openly in the Garm area, 
including Mirzokhoja Ahmadov, a former police leader.  In 
February 2008 one of his supporters shot and killed the national 
OMON commander who had come to Garm to arrest Ahmadov (See 
Reftels). OSCE representative Tibor Lakati said that the former 
UTO leaders have not led opposition to local government 
institutions.  On elections, Lakati said that local political 
party organizations are not active and lack financing, premises, 
equipment, and organization. 
 
 
 
DUSHANBE 00001212  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) The biggest challenge for the Rasht Valley, according to 
Lakati, is poor roads and infrastructure.  The long drive to 
Dushanbe limits the ability of farmers to bring goods to market. 
Electricity only runs a few hours per evening in Garm and less 
in Rasht villages.  UNDP officials expressed similar 
frustration, noting that they provided computers to schools that 
lack any power to run them.  Besides agriculture, there are no 
opportunities for legitimate employment in Rasht and no 
manufacturing base in the district. 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) The Ambassador visited the English Access 
Microscholarship Program and USG-funded Legal Assistance Center 
in Garm.  At the English Access Program, sixty schoolchildren 
from vulnerable families met with the Ambassador and 
demonstrated their English skills.  Demand for the program 
increased dramatically after one Rasht boy, now a local 
celebrity, studied in the United States through the FLEX 
Program.  The Legal Assistance Center has assisted 101 residents 
with land disputes and divorce/alimony cases, mostly involving 
women who are trying to establish their legal rights after their 
husbands abandoned them for work in Russia.  The same NGO 
running the Legal Assistance Center soon will launch an 
elections awareness campaign to advise election officials and 
Rasht residents on their rights and responsibilities during the 
February parliamentary polls.  Some Rasht residents have 
requested the Center's assistance in finding employment; it 
referred 20 such applicants to the government's Migration Office 
for work in Russia. 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) On the road through the Tagoba Jamoat, children led 
donkeys carrying sacks of flour marked "USA".  At Duoba village, 
an excited crowd of Food for Peace beneficiaries met the 
Ambassador and USAID Director to discuss successes of the 
program in addressing the aftermath of the harsh 2007 winter and 
subsequent food emergency.  The November 4 visit marked the last 
day of food distribution in Duoba at the conclusion of the 
Single Year Assistance Program (SYAP).  Ending in November 2009, 
the SYAP served 193 households in Duoba in addition to 5,000 
direct beneficiaries in eight Jamoats, primarily mothers and 
their children aged 24 months and younger. 
 
 
 
¶9. (U) Mercy Corps staff closely cooperated with local leaders 
and District Authorities to offer nutrition, pre-natal, and 
agricultural training.  In meeting with men at the village 
mosque, male residents expressed full support for the program. 
"Before the women fed babies cow milk.  Now we know that they 
need to feed them breast milk."  A religious leader said that 
the support from the United States demonstrates that "All people 
are the same and each has to help the other."  Duoba women cited 
a dramatic decline in cases of diarrhea in their children 
following the SYAP's nutrition training.  "As we are living in a 
remote village, we are facing big problems in getting to medical 
care.  Now we can help our children here, thanks to the American 
people and especially to Mercy Corps." 
 
 
 
¶10. (U) Another element of Mercy Corp's program implementation, 
model greenhouses, produced crop yields two months earlier than 
normal harvests, residents enthusiastically built their own 
greenhouses with the support of local volunteers.  In Duoba 
alone, 47 families built greenhouses.  A Mercy Corps staffer 
described this as the "most sustainable element of the SYAP," 
since families see a real benefit in increased production. 
 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) Comment:  Food security in the Rasht Valley remains a 
major challenge due to the exposure of often inaccessible 
villages to volatile environmental conditions.  The local Jamoat 
leader admitted that increased yields from greenhouses would not 
provide an adequate alternative livelihood to Rasht Valley's 
men, who will continue to travel to Russia for work.  The 
absence of unemployed men may be one reason that opposition 
leaders did not find supporters during this summer's fighting in 
nearby Tavildara.  It is clear that the SYAP has generated good 
will toward the USG and made an immediate impact in the lives of 
Rasht residents.  Mercy Corps staff believe that "one year is 
not enough" for long-term sustainability.  Post concurs, and 
seeks Department support for further Food for Peace funding in 
Rasht.  End Comment. 
GROSS