At a time when saving water has become a matter of vital importance, it is no less crucial to monitor how the allocated funds are used.

Before arriving in the Amudarya district of Karakalpakstan, Ilkhom Abdullaev, director of several small firms, had already been convicted four times between 2017 and 2024 for fraud, theft, and document forgery. In 2019, Abdullaev was sentenced to five years in prison, which was later reduced to a fine of 20 percent of his income.

Despite his record, Abdullaev, with backing from the Amudarya district hokimiyat, again, persuaded 14 farmers to sign contracts for water-saving systems. Between April and May 2024, he received approximately $340,000 in advance payments from Agrobank loans but delivered little or no work on the projects. The farmers were left with debts ranging from $15,000 to $100,000 each.

After the farmers filed complaints in early 2025, Abdullaev was arrested.

In court, the farmers testified that local officials had introduced Abdullaev as a trusted contractor.

“An employee of the district water supply department told me to sign with Yuksalish Amir Rise LLC [Abduallev’s company],” one farmer said. “He used my electronic keys to complete the contract.”

On May 15, 2025, the Amudarya District Court sentenced Abdullaev to six years in prison for embezzlement.

This case is not an isolated crime committed by a fraudster. It reveals serious problems associated with the installation of water-saving technologies on farmers’ fields in Uzbekistan. Several dozen other complaints have been shared on farmers’ Telegram channels and reported by the media over the past few years. The lack of scrutiny, accountability and oversight raises questions over public procurement in the implementation of the Uzbek government’s national irrigation modernization program, which is receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from international development banks.

The Costly Promise of Water-Saving Reforms

Uzbekistan faces an undeniable and deepening water crisis. According to official data, almost 90 percent of fresh water used in the country goes toward agriculture (the global average is around 65 percent). Water consumption per hectare is 2-2.5 times higher than in technologically advanced countries. By 2030, Uzbekistan may face a water deficit of 7 billion cubic meters. A decade ago, the World Resources Institute forecast Uzbekistan’s inclusion in its list of the top water-stressed countries by 2040.

In response, the Uzbek government launched initiatives to address the water shortage, channeling funds into the installation of water-saving technologies across the agricultural sector. As of August 2024, it was reported that water-saving technologies have been implemented on an area of 304,000 hectares. Of these, 70,800 hectares are irrigated using drip irrigation, and 33,200 hectares are irrigated using sprinkler systems.

According to other data recently announced by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, water-saving technologies are currently used on 224,000 hectares of land. By 2030, the government plans to expand their use to cover the entire 4.3 million hectares of irrigated farmland. To achieve this goal, 2.6 trillion Uzbek som (approximately $214 million) was invested in 2024, with an additional 1.2 trillion som (approximately $100 million) allocated for 2025.

To encourage farmers to install water-saving technologies, the state offers preferential loans and various subsidies including partial reimbursement of costs. Subsidies range from 8 to 14 million som (approximately $660-$1,100) per hectare depending on the system used, while farmers contribute an average of 25 million som ($2,000) per hectare.

However, many farmers have reported that they had either not received any subsidies or had only partially received them. An official from the Ministry of Agriculture told Radio Ozodlik, on condition of anonymity, that the Ministry of Finance had not allocated sufficient funds for the subsidy program:

In recent years, the campaign to install drip irrigation systems has reached its peak. Yes, the president promised subsidies, but the amount required is enormous. We now need 350 billion UZS [approximately $29 million], yet only 70 billion [approximately $5.8 million] have been allocated. We have hundreds of applications from farmers, but our hands are tied — where can we find the money?

Installation of Water-saving Technologies: How it Works

In the spring of 2025, Uzbek Forum spoke with 18 farmers from different regions who said that the installation of water-saving technologies is taking place on a “voluntary-compulsory” basis. Most of the farmers interviewed by Uzbek Forum who had installed drip or sprinkler irrigation systems said they did so after being assured by local authorities that they would receive state subsidies. Farmers were also told that those who delayed adopting water-saving systems might not be eligible for such support in the future.

“Every year, a quota is set for the number of farmers who are required to install drip irrigation,” a farmer from Kashkadarya region said. “Farmers agree because they see it as an ‘inevitable duty.’”

However, interviews showed that farmers lack the skills to find the best technologies and, as a rule, they sign contracts with the LLCs “recommended” to them by the local government. This is often done on their behalf by local officials as farmers may not have access to the online digital platforms required for the transaction. Farmers then take out preferential loans to install drip irrigation but are often unable to recall the interest rate or do not remember the name of the firm with which they signed the contract.

According to one farmer from Amudarya district in Karakalpakstan interviewed for this article, local authorities are required to improve their performance indicators for the introduction of water-saving technologies every year. However, drip irrigation is not always effective or appropriate.

“In Khorezm and Karakalpakstan, the soil is too salty,” the farmer said. “It appears that pipes have been installed in the fields only for show and most farmers continue to irrigate their land in the usual way, otherwise their cotton and grain crops will not grow.”

Several farmers have reported fraudulent schemes whereby certain companies offer farmers loans to install water-saving technologies and then pay the farmers 20-30 percent  of the loan in cash. After the pipes for drip irrigation are delivered, they are not installed but merely put on display in the fields. In the end, no water is saved.

“Abdullaev offered me the same scheme to cash out the loan, but I refused,” said the farmer.

Farmers complain about coercion and excessive costs for installing water-saving technologies. Farmers usually have no choice over which suppliers of drip irrigation equipment they can buy from and therefore buy from companies recommended by hokimiyat employees.

“The transition to drip irrigation has indeed become a necessity in recent years,” a farmer from the Khorezm region wrote on a Telegram channel for farmers. “However, it is no secret that during the early years of this transition, deputy hokims [heads of administration] for agriculture selected contracting companies without any tender and without involving the farmers, and farmers were forced to transfer money to these companies through bank loans. As a result, without any formal agreements, requirements, or conditions, the funds taken from farmers were often misused – the drip irrigation systems were either not installed at all or installed only partially.”

At a time when saving water has become a matter of vital importance, it is no less crucial to monitor how the allocated funds are used. In the absence of rigorous oversight, each new reform risks degenerating into a vehicle for embezzlement – indeed, the larger and more ambitious the state program, the stronger the lure of corruption.

 

This article by Umida Niyazova was first published by The Diplomat on October 31, 2025