Newly trained moderators to facilitate climate change adaptation efforts in 3 local communities
Local communities of three typical agro-ecological regions of Turkmenistan such as Karakum (desert), Nohur (mountain) and Sakarchaga (Mary province oasis) will be soon engaged in designing and applying the climate change adaptation measures as part of Turkmenistan’s efforts to strengthen resilience of water management practices to climate change at the national and local level. This work will be facilitated by some twenty moderators and facilitators trained for this purpose at a five-day Community Mobilization Training organized with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Turkmenistan.
The newly trained moderators – farmers, school teachers and doctors, members of local councils and community leaders as well as professional facilitators – have gained relevant knowledge and skills to organize, facilitate and coordinate community mobilization trainings in their respective communities. In the training, they learned the moderating techniques based on Learning for Sustainability principles, reviewed climate change issues and its impact on natural resources, and practiced the methods of assessment of climate change risks. Training sessions provided space for interaction and sharing of experiences and produced very interesting discussions on the ways of implementation of Community Mobilization Training on the ground.
The ultimate objective of the community mobilization process is to ensure sustainability of local adaptation practices that will be identified and implemented through a participatory approach. This process will be carried out with full engagement of local communities that will have a clear understanding of benefits from such measures.
Charyguly Ylyasov from “Zakhmet” farmer association in Sakarchaga region believes that introduction of water saving technologies in agriculture is something that should be done in the first place. “For this we need to organize more trainings on enhancing the technical capacity of farmers,” he said.
Another training participant, Annageldy Hatamov from “Karakum” farmer association in Karakum region, said that the primary focus of adaptation measures in his community should be placed on planting more saxaul trees to prevent desertification and deforestation of lands. “Community Mobilization Training in my area should include issues covering this problem,” Annageldy noted.
In this context, UNDP will provide support to designing and implementing the community mobilization trainings that will help assess and deliver concrete water adaptation measures to local communities in the above regions, benefiting over 30 000 farmers. This work will be carried out within the framework of the UNDP project “Addressing climate change risks to farming systems in Turkmenistan at the national and community level.” The project is implemented jointly with the Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan.
With the budget of nearly USD 3 million awarded to Turkmenistan as a grant from the Adaptation Fund, the UNDP project is also expected to support strengthening the national water legislation and pricing to ensure water availability for the non-state sector farmers. This combination of outcomes will ensure that concrete actions implemented through the Adaptation Fund resources are sustainable beyond the lifetime of the project.
This project is the first comprehensive initiative in Turkmenistan that focuses on strengthening water management practices, developing integrating water policies at the national and local levels, and increasing resilience of local communities through improving services for water supply and effective use.
Turkmenistan is the first country of the former Soviet republics and one of the first countries in the world to receive funding on competitive basis from the Adaptation Fund. The Adaptation Fund was established within the framework of the Kyoto protocol to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1997 with primary goal to finance projects and programs aimed at helping developing countries to adapt to the harmful effects of climate change. Turkmenistan is signatory and an active participant of the Framework Convention.