Kazakhstan: A Review of Farm Restructuring

This report analyzes the Kazakhstan Government's reform measures to overhaul the farm sector. The report focuses on farm restructuring measures that were implemented beginning in October 1998, and which used bankruptcy as a key tool to create forms of ownership and management intended to promote improved farm productivity. The report is based on a field mission undertaken in April-May 1999 that included interviews with government officials, farm owners, managers, and workers as well as a review of existing documentation. The focus of the field work was on former state and collective farms which were privatized but continued to function poorly. The report found that the initiative led to substantial changes in farm ownership and management that promised to lead to improved farm efficiency. However, the way in which the process was implemented raises serious concerns about equity, as ownership is increasingly being concentrated in the hands of a few dominant individuals, and about the welfare of farm workers who have lost their ownership shares and possibly their jobs in the process.