Tajikistan

Tajikistan Facing Disaster as Crops Fail / Tajikistan faces Serious Food Crisis, FAO Says
Associated Press / Reuters, July 20, 2000 / July 27, 2000

Tajikistan's harvest likely will be 30 percent of what it was last year as the country faces its worst drought for 75 years, according to a United Nations assessment team. "Almost all rain-fed crops have failed, while the irrigated crops have been seriously affected in many areas," said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in a statement. FAO/WFP estimated Tajikistan's 2000 total cereal output at 236,000 tonnes, down 47 percent from 1999. This is the third consecutive year since 1997 that output has declined, but this year's drop has been the largest.