Independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991 presented the republics of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, with severe challenges for land management with ensuing economic, social, and environmental crises. Driven by the historic development of irrigation projects, often unsupportable increases in livestock numbers on rangelands, and agricultural land conversion in steppe areas under communism, land degradation has become a serious issue in the region and threatens current and future livelihoods of rural populations. All countries have recognised this in the development of their National Action Plans for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and are currently developing their Nationally Determined Contributions for this and other UN conventions under the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals.
Related Case Studies
Kenya’s soils are being degraded through suboptimal land management practices, causing declining yields and deterioration of land quality. Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices can improve soil quality and enhance crop yields. Increasing evidence from the literature highlights the benefits from SLM, but for land users to adopt these practices requires...
Gedaref State was previously known as the food basket of Sudan. Over several decades unsustainable agricultural practices that combined near-monocropping with low nutrient replenishment have led to significant degradation of soils, which are no longer able to sustain farmer livelihoods. This study found that adopting an integrated sustainable land use...
The Kelka forest in the Mopti region of Mali is important for the provision of ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and maintenance of the hydrological cycle. The Kelka forest area occupies more than 300, 000 hectares with 15 villages within and around its boundaries. The forest resources and soil fertility of the forest are in continuous decline...