Tajikistan: President Rahmon Warns of Food Shortages

Tajik President Imomali Rahmon is calling on families to stockpile food, due to the Central Asian nation's deepening economic woes.

Food shortages are "becoming a serious problem" and stocks lasting two years should be built by those who can afford it, Rahmon said in an address carried by the Khovar state news agency on July 28.

"As a result of the [global financial] crisis, and due to various natural disasters, drought, shortages and other factors, the provision of food in many countries around the world is becoming a serious problem, and according to expert analysis, this process will continue in the future," he said.

Poverty is endemic in the cash-strapped state and international organizations warn that the full force of the economic slowdown has yet to be felt. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

In January, a World Food Program report classified in "around 1.5 million [Tajiks] as food insecure, with 400,000 of them severely so."