Several generations of fish have been lost due to a disruption in breeding patterns. The Government has taken a series of emergency measures to repair some canals and restore access to water resources. Monitoring of the climatic conditions will therefore be indispensable. Meanwhile, assistance from the international community would be needed to assist the Government in its effort to restore the agricultural productive capacity of affected rural households, as well as to strengthen its capacity to prevent and respond to future drought events. While seed and fertilizer are available in the local markets, most farmers whose crop failed in 2000 cannot afford these inputs.
Most affected farmers cope by expanding the less capital-intensive production of wheat.
As a result, a targeted distribution of mineral fertilizer will assist them in improving yields of their current crop, as well as crops cultivated later in the agricultural cycle. The assistance will make it possible to restore fish stocks in a key producing area, to the benefit of some 800 fishermen and farmers and their dependents living in that region. Azerbaijan relies heavily on the irrigation system for agricultural production. The effects of the drought were exacerbated by structural weaknesses of this system. The project will rehabilitate and upgrade the irrigation and drainage infrastructure to improve efficiency, and to support the Government in its efforts to introduce a gradual cost-recovery scheme to farmers.