Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon has urged his countrymen to store two years' worth of food reserves ahead of what is expected to be a harsh winter.
Rakhmon said in a statement Wednesday that rising global commodity prices have made effective use of agricultural resources imperative. The World Bank estimates that three-quarters of Tajikistan's population is engaged in farming, but food scarcity still remains an acute problem.
Hundreds of thousands of working-aged men have left the country for work, mainly in Russia, leaving behind a largely female rural workforce.
(AP)
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