This study was conducted to research and develop recommendations for gender transformative approaches that will address misconceptions around food and nutrition, and reducing barriers around dietary diversity within rural Khatlon Province, Tajikistan. Most of the population in Tajikistan live in rural areas and spend a large part of their income on food. While stunting in children under 5 years has decreased, acute malnutrition and the number of underweight children has increased. This is a qualitative, cross-sectional study that involved secondary data analysis, key informant interviews (KIIs), and focus group discussions (FGDs) to gauge appropriate interventions for agricultural extension agents seeking to improve the nutritional outcomes of their communities. In February of 2017, data were collected from 4 KIIs and 15 FGDs that were stratified as mothers with young children, mothers-in-law, and husbands, across 12 different villages. Analysis of the KIIs and FGDs included NVivo software for coding and to uncover the most salient themes and characteristics from each. The participants of this study reported several misconceptions and taboos surrounding certain foods, especially during pregnancy, and food practices for children under the age of 5 years. Results also indicated a household hierarchy of decision-making surrounding food that included who buys, cooks, and decides what to buy. The findings of this study will be used as a springboard to launch gender-responsive and nutrition-sensitive interventions through the local agricultural extension agents.

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Traditional conceptualizations presume that landscape and nature in general are characterized by a striving for balance. In consequence, environmental protection chiefly consists in conservation of the existing state, without making allowances for the dynamic changes caused by vital processes taking place in those landscapes, human and non-human alike. The current dispute concerning the protection of the Białowieża Forest is nothing but an upshot of the differences between the involved with respect to what should be protected on top of how it should be done. This study outlines the problems deriving from conceptualizations of nature and landscape as static entities and comes forward with a proposal of conceiving landscape not as an “image of the land”1 but a corporeal experience of being in a space, on which climate change, civilizational and social transformation, political decisions, and bark beetles all have their impact.

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Malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are significant public health problems in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan, with over 26% of children under age 5 being stunted and 30% being anemic. The Khatlon Province is the country’s largest agricultural area where people are often dependent on home gardens to ensure food security. The proximity of households to resources such as markets, roads, and infrastructure can affect food availability, diets, and diversity of agricultural products for consumption. This study aims to evaluate whether the remoteness of a household affects the production, consumption, and acquisition of specific crops among households in Khatlon Province, Tajikistan. A remote household was defined as one that is distant from markets and the main center of population, difficult to travel to, and has limited resources. This cross-sectional study used a household survey and focus groups to measure crop production, consumption, and food acquisition. Household surveys were administered to 107 households in six Khatlon districts and 15 focus groups were conducted in various rural villages within Khatlon. Data was analyzed using a two-sample t-test for the household surveys and NVivo software for capturing major themes within the focus groups. Results revealed that there was no statistically significant difference when comparing households for remoteness in regard to crop production, frequency of consumption, and acquisition. Frequency of food consumption was similar when comparing remoteness but significantly decreased among all households when the crop was not in season. Programs that increase agricultural knowledge about production and extended growing season are extremely beneficial to improve nutrition in these vulnerable households. Additionally, gender-related concerns were discovered within the qualitative data such as the double burden of working to maintain crops as well as managing a household. Therefore, interventions based around agricultural production and acquisition should target women.