$50 Million ADB Grant to Support Food Security, Social Protection, and Business in Tajikistan

MANILA — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $50 million grant to help the Government of Tajikistan mitigate the adverse economic and social impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

ADB’s Building Resilience with Active Countercyclical Expenditures (BRACE) Program will help finance the government’s anti-crisis action plan, which aims to expand social assistance for poor and vulnerable people, support domestic food production, safeguard small businesses, and support employment for returning migrants.

“As a relatively small, open, oil-importing economy, Tajikistan has been hard hit by consequences of the war,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “ADB’s support will help mitigate the impact of rising food and oil prices and diminishing remittances, which are slowing growth and pushing up unemployment and poverty.”

With ADB’s support, 250,000 poor and vulnerable households will benefit from one-time cash transfers of 600 Somoni ($59) per household.

“Food security measures supported by the program will help small-scale farmers increase production,” said ADB Principal Financial Sector Specialist Syed Ali-Mumtaz H. Shah. “The government will also procure and stockpile food to ensure adequate supply of agricultural and food products.”

To support business and employment, returning migrants will obtain vocational training for reskilling.

“The program will provide concessional loans through two state-owned banks for small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in agriculture, services, and trade sectors,” said ADB Senior Economist Muhammadi Boboev. “This will support crisis-affected businesses, including those owned by women, to help them recover and also maintain employment.”

The grant is funded by the Asian Development Fund, which provides grants to ADB’s poorest and most vulnerable developing member countries. ADB will also provide $400,000 in technical assistance to enhance the government’s capacity to implement the program and strengthen its monitoring and evaluation system.

Since Tajikistan joined ADB in 1998, the bank has become the country’s largest multilateral development partner with over $2.5 billion in assistance, including over $1.8 billion in grants. ADB’s 2021–2025 country partnership strategy for Tajikistan focuses on three strategic priorities: structural reforms to enhance resource allocation and mobilization, improving labor productivity through human capital development, and fostering better livelihoods by investing in the land-linked economy.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.