The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $60 million concessional loan to help Uzbekistan strengthen food security, improve rural livelihoods and support more productive and climate-resilient livestock development. The Sustainable Livestock Development Project will support about 29,000 smallholder farms across five key livestock regions: Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Navoiy and Samarkand regions and the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The financing is intended to improve farmers’ access to animal feed, strengthen veterinary services and promote more efficient pasture management.
Key Takeaways: ADB approved $60 million in concessional financing for Uzbekistan’s livestock sector; the project will reach about 29,000 smallholder farms in five regions. It will be supplemented by a $5 million Green Climate Fund grant under the Glaciers to Farms program and a $3 million grant from the Japan Fund for a Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific, financed by the Government of Japan through ADB.
The project comes as rural producers in Uzbekistan face growing pressure from drought, heat and water scarcity. Livestock remains an important source of income and employment in rural areas, but climate stress affects pastures, feed production and animal productivity. The ADB-backed program is therefore designed not only to raise output but also to reduce climate-related losses and make local food-supply chains more resilient.
According to the project design, practical measures will help farmers adapt to worsening drought, heat and water shortages. These include improved pasture management, expanded production of drought- and salinity-tolerant fodder crops, rehabilitation of livestock watering points and greater availability of feed. Such steps are expected to reduce farmers’ exposure to adverse weather conditions and support more stable livestock production.
Veterinary and agricultural advisory services will also be strengthened through digital tools. The project envisages artificial intelligence-based pasture monitoring, a mobile advisory application for farmers with an early warning system, and a modernized community-level veterinary support system. These measures are meant to improve decision-making and make support services more accessible in remote livestock areas.
Women involved in livestock will receive specialized training and support in feed production, while the project will also expand their opportunities to take part in livestock-related entrepreneurship and decision-making. The next stage will focus on implementation, including the number of farms reached, improvements in feed and water access, and the stability of rural incomes. The project’s results will be watched as an indicator of how climate adaptation financing can be translated into practical support for smallholder livestock producers.
Source: uznews.uz