Agriculture and Land Reform in Turkmenistan since Independence

Abstract

A British geographer, based on field work and interviews in 1997 and an extensive review of the local press, chronicles initiatives in land reform and agricultural policy in the Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan. Developments in the agricultural sector are particularly important, contributing to nearly half of the country's GDP and overall employment. In particular, she reviews the major components of a presidential program designed to achieve food self-sufficiency in the country by the year 2002, outlining achievements to date and assessing the likelihood that planned targets can be realized. The paper also addresses the potential economic and environmental implications that would follow from plan fulfillment. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: Q15, Q24, Q25. 2 tables, 38 references.