World Bank Document

70. 
Climate co-benefits. In 2017 Uzbekistan submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the 
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
43
, where the country emphasized the existing and future climate 
vulnerabilities for agriculture, in addition to explicitly including agriculture in its proposed adaptation as well as mitigation 
strategies, policies, programs, and measures. Nationally proposed measures and actions for adaptation to climate change 
43
 https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/Uzbekistan%20First/INDC%20Uzbekistan%2018-04-2017_Eng.pdf

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The World Bank 
Agriculture Modernization Project (P158372) 
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in agriculture are closely related to mitigation measures, and they include: improvement of the climate resilience of the 
agriculture through diversification of food crops production pattern; conservation of germplasm and indigenous plant 
species and agricultural crops resistant to droughts, pests and diseases; development of biotechnologies and breeding 
new crop varieties adopted to conditions of changing climate.
71. 
AMP is expected to generate significant climate co-benefits by promoting a range of activities that will: (1) 
enhance the adaptation capacity of farming systems in the project area. This will be achieved through inter alia the 
adoption of climate-resilient (drought tolerant) crop varieties by farmers, crop diversification for increased production of 
higher value and nutrient-rich horticulture products, and climate-smart practices that improve soil health and reduce 
land degradation. Project activities will also (2) mitigate GHG emissions through carbon sequestration by growing fruit 
trees. Overall, the project will facilitate the conversion of cotton fields into horticulture fields, which will be a shift away 
from cotton/wheat monoculture to more diversified rotations and farming system, which: (i) is more resilient to climate 
shocks; (ii) has a potential to significantly increase farm income thereby increasing farm investments in more drought-
resistant seeds, precision agriculture, and other climate-smart farm practices; (iii) requires fewer fertilizers; and (iv) 
creates incentives for adoption of water saving technologies and energy savings for pumping irrigation water to the large 
cotton fields. Specifically, the project’s Component 1 will support applied research on CSA practices, drought-resilient 
seeds and seedlings, IPM, precision agriculture through better natural resource management and reduced use of 
fertilizers, and adoption of GAP through extension services. These public programs will promote both mitigation of and 
adaptation to climate change and will scale up SCA. The project’s Component 2 will contribute to climate change 
mitigation by expanding orchards that prevent erosion, restore soil fertility, and increase afforestation. Expansion of 
intensive orchards and greenhouses will also encourage adoption of drip irrigation and other water-saving technologies, 
which will replace water-intensive flood irrigation practiced on traditional gardens and fields. Investments in cold storage 
and processing will reduce food losses and waste, and thus avoid the waste of inputs and water used for crop production. 
The project’s Component 3 will promote crop diversification and further reduce food losses and waste through ALCs and 
strengthen the public capacity to manage phytosanitary risks, including a more strategic adoption of IPM and other GAP 
practices to meet the increasingly stringent food safety requirements in the importing countries. Under all components 
the infrastructure, including buildings, laboratories, offices, storage facilities etc., constructed and rehabilitated by the 
project, will be encouraged to utilize energy-efficient and climate-resilient materials and designs, and all activities related 
to human resource development will include topics on understanding climate change better and frameworks, tools and 
techniques to facilitate designing and implementing climate adaptation and mitigation approaches. By supporting 
measures that will help farmers mitigate and increase their adaptive capacity to climate change as well as resilience, the 
project will contribute to Uzbekistan’s climate action plan, particularly for the agricultural sector, both towards its 
adaptation as well as mitigation goals as stated in its INDC.