A stocktaking of land reform and farm restructuring in Bulgaria, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan

Abstract

Over the past decade the rural sector in nearly all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has undergone a shift from predominantly collective agriculture to more individualized agriculture. Over a ten year period, between 1990 and 2000, over 145 million hectares of land were transferred to private ownership. This paper presents such a stocktaking of land reform and farm restructuring in four countries of the Europe and Central Asia region that have had particular difficulties in land reform, farm restructuring, farm performance or rural poverty. It is organized by case studies. Much of the information presented in this review derives from farm and household surveys conducted in each of the four countries in 2003 and 2004. The surveys were designed to provide information that would be comparable across countries. Surveys were supplemented by individual and focus group discussions. Analysis of land reform and farm restructuring in Bulgaria, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in this way suggests a series of conclusions with implications for policy. Conclusions of a general nature are followed by country-specific ones.