The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is deeply saddened by the passing of our esteemed colleague Kakhramon Djumaboev at the age of 45. Kakhramon was a water management researcher, based in Uzbekistan.
“Kakhramon was a warm and kind-hearted colleague who was always eager to share his knowledge and ideas, and his passion for water research. He was always ready to lend a helping hand, with a ready smile. He will be greatly missed by all of us,” said Mark Smith, Director General of IWMI.
“Kakhramon was an essential member of our team. Everyone recognized the genuine passion he had for our work, his strong work ethic, and his great scientific and professional skills,” expressed Oyture Anarbekov, IWMI’s Country Representative in Uzbekistan.
Since he joined IWMI in 2005, Kakhramon made tremendous contributions to the organization’s presence and influence in Central Asia, the development of IWMI’s program, and the growth and team spirit in IWMI’s regional office. He developed and led many research projects, authored research papers, and guided junior researchers to advance IWMI’s mission and vision.
He had more than 20 years of experience in research related to natural resource management in Central Asia and beyond. His commitment to research was motivated by the contributions that science can make to improving lives and advancing sustainability. He had wide-ranging interests, including land and water resources management, assessment of institutions and governance in shared river basins, the water-energy-food nexus, community-based natural resource management, irrigation governance, and climate change and adaptation.
Kakhramon Djumaboev (first from left) with IWMI colleagues at a conference. Photo: Handout.
Kakhramon Djumaboev (center, standing) during a celebration at the IWMI office. Photo: Handout.
Kakhramon Djumaboev during a field visit. Photo: Handout.
Kakhramon Djumaboev (first from left) during a guest researcher posting in November 2019 at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) in Germany. Djumaboev was there to work with Dr. Ahmad Hamidov in the DFG-funded WEFUz project. Photo: ZALF.
Kakhramon Djumaboev (fourth from left) and Oyture Anarbekov (first from right) stand for a group photo with the dean and faculty of the Agricultural University of Tajikistan in 2018. Photo: Agricultural University of Tajikistan.
Kakhram Djumaboev (second from left) during a visit to the Central-Asian Institute of Environmental Research (СAIER). Photo: CAIER.
Kakhram Djumaboev at his office. Photo: Sanobar Khudaybergenova for USAIDBefore joining IWMI, he was Head of the Hydrology and Hydrogeology Laboratory at the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers.
Kakhramon had fulfilled all the requirements for his doctoral degree from Humboldt University in Berlin. He had a master’s degree in Irrigation Water Management from the Indian Institute of Technology–Roorkee, and a bachelor’s degree in Hydraulic Structures from the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers.
He is survived by his wife Dilafruz and his daughter Sevinch.