Inside Uzbekistan’s drive to reclaim the Aral desert

Despite what the name might suggest, the Aralkum, or Aral Desert, is one of the main agricultural regions of Uzbekistan, Central Asia. In a country that ranks amongst the most water-stressed in the world, and whose economy depends on irrigated agriculture, authorities, scientists, and communities are taking action to reverse the loss of productive lands and secure water resources in the face of harsher droughts.

Before being reduced to 100 million tons of toxic sands, Aral used to be home to the fourth largest freshwater lake in the world. In the second half of the 20th century, over extraction of water from source rivers to grow cotton shrank the Aral ‘sea’ by 90 per cent, leaving three million hectares of barren land in its wake, affecting a third of the population, and triggering a rural exodus that continues to this day. 

“Land degradation means drought,” says Boiburi, a former shepherd from the Aral Sea basin. “Pastures lose their grass, rainfed crops fail to yield, springs dry up, and livestock are left with nothing to eat.”

The lake is gone, but there is now hope for more resilient livelihoods. Uzbekistan recently reported the highest reduction in the proportion of degraded lands in Central Asia —from 30 percent down to 25 percent in four years. To stabilize the shifting sands, 1.7 million hectares of lifeless seabed have already been sown with salt-tolerant shrubs like saxaul and tamarix.

Greening the landscape reduces the formation of toxic dust and sand storms, and is a first step towards building drought resilience —an existential matter as decades of unsustainable land and water management converge with climate change to create a regional water crisis.

Restoring soils, saving water

“When you improve soil conditions, you also improve the availability of water,” explains Olga Andreeva, programme officer at the Science, Technology and Innovation Unit of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCDD). “Take afforestation: it reduces wind erosion, increases soil moisture, and facilitates the infiltration and storage of water. Also, certain trees and shrubs can reduce the salinity of soils, improving the quality of drinking water.”

Quality, as well as quantity, is essential to water availability. The pesticides and fertilizers used for decades in industrial cotton plantations polluted agricultural drainage systems, affecting water bodies above and below ground. Polluted water ultimately enters the drinking water system of local communities, endangering their health. 

As part of its efforts to improve water management, Uzbekistan is restoring Aral’s vast network of concrete irrigation canals to prevent leakage and waterlogging, saving water, and preventing the secondary salinization of soils and rise of saline groundwater. 

Central Asia obtains most of its freshwater for irrigation and pasture from the glaciers of the Pamir and the Tian Shan mountains, or ‘Mountains of Heaven’ —summiting at more than 7,400 meters on the border between China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. 

But glaciers are retreating due to climate change and deforestation, and more of the precipitation falls as rain, which runs off faster than slow-melting snow. As temperatures rise, so does the amount of water crops, pastures and animals need to survive, deepening the regional water crisis.

Resilient livelihoods

“Sustainable land and water management practices are essential to shore up regional economies, sustain rural livelihoods for present and future generations, and create green jobs, stemming environmental migrations,” says Andreeva.

Training local farmers and pastoralists is a crucial first step. The more they know about why and how to implement sustainable land management practices, she says, the more interested they are in seeing the results —clean water and productive land— for themselves. 

“Healthy landscapes and resilient communities, countries, and regions start with new mindsets,” concludes Andreeva, who also underscores the importance of advancing regional cooperation on shared water resources and drought in Central Asia.

Back in Uzbekistan, more and more farmers are embracing sustainable land management practices —with remarkable results. In the vicinity of Samarkand, farmer Dornier Ashirov switched to drip irrigation after taking out a bank loan of around a thousand dollars, and never looked back.

“Drip irrigation is beneficial all-around: it saves water, controls salt accumulation, reduces labour and the need for fertilizer, and increases yields by two to three times,” says Ashirov, a second-generation owner of a 19-hectare farm. “Last season, I harvested 80 tons of onions and 20 tons of potatoes from one hectare.” 

Ashirov made twice the money he had initially invested, repaid his loan, and is now looking to expand drip irrigation to his vineyards. Drop by stop, step by step, Uzbekistan is working to lay the foundations for more resilient landscapes and communities.

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