Since 1991, the former Soviet, Kyrgyz Republic has pursued a program of economic reform designed to transform the centrally planned economy to one based on market principles. A successful transition to a market economy in Kyrgyzstan depends in large part on the implementation of reforms in the agricultural sector and in rural areas. RDI has worked in Kyrgyzstan since 1992, and assisted the government and donors with drafting and commenting on land legislation and providing information from field research and farmer interviews.

Approximately 60 percent of the population lives in rural areas, and about one-third of the country’s population of 4.8 million depends on agriculture for its livelihood. Given the high levels of unemployment and poverty, and the lack of other natural resources and industry, land is increasingly important for subsistence and survival. According to the World Bank Development Report, the per capita Gross National Income (GNI) in the Kyrgyz Republic was 280 USD in 2001, compared to 420 USD in India, one of the poorest countries in the world.
www.worldbank.org/data/countrydata/aag/kgz_aag.pdf  Even cast in Purchasing Power Parity terms (PPP), Kyrgyzstan and India are virtually at the same level of GNI.

The physical characteristics of the country present a special challenge to agricultural development. Bounded by two mountain ranges, roughly one-third of the land area is considered unusable, 45 percent of the land area is classified as pasture, and just less than 10 percent is used to cultivate annual crops. In the mountainous north, wheat is the primary commercial crop grown on the 887,000 hectares of arable land in the region. The Ferghana Valley runs through the south of Kyrgyzstan, providing fertile soil for tobacco, cotton, fruit, and vegetables. However, the south has only 415,000 hectares of arable land (less than half of that in the north). And over one-half of the total population lives in the south, resulting in arable land per capita of only 0.19 hectares, compared with 0.53 hectares in the north.

Land Reform Legislation
The Kyrgyz Republic is continuing efforts begun in 1992 to transform large, state-managed farm enterprises into smaller enterprises owned and operated by individual families or groups of families. In 1992, RDI undertook its first round of major fieldwork in Kyrgyzstan, and provided detailed advice on needed reforms in the rural land sector to the policy-making levels of the Kyrgyz government, most of which has been accepted and acted upon in an effort that has spanned the subsequent years. A cornerstone of this effort has been the land and agrarian reform program, which is designed to: (1) transfer land and non-land assets of the state and collective farms into the hands of individuals; (2) ensure secure private land rights; and (3) create the legal and administrative infrastructure necessary to support a freely functioning land market. Especially since 1994, land reform and farm reorganization in the Kyrgyz Republic have moved rapidly forward, driven mainly by presidential decrees that promoted the dissolution of collective and state farms into smaller farms and the devolution of arable land from state control to private control.

More recently, measures have been taken to encourage the development of a land market. On October 17, 1998, a nationwide referendum passed that introduced changes to the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, allowing the introduction of private ownership of land. Following this, Parliament adopted a package of five laws in an effort to establish and encourage a land market based on private ownership of land.

Implementation of Land Reform Legislation
While reform legislation is in place in the Kyrgyz Republic, and about three-quarters of former collective farm households have now become private farmers, implementation of the reforms is not yet complete. Access to land is still a problem for a significant number of farmers. A majority of land disputes are with government officials, but it is these officials that adjudicate such disputes. Under customary law, clan leaders, elders, teachers, and other respected local figures function as advocates for villagers. But often they do not challenge officials because they have little access to laws or information about legal rights. Without local advocates who know the law and who demand that those with power respect private rights to land, farmers will find it difficult to exercise their rights to land.

RDI is currently working to improve implementation of the land reform legislation through The Legal Rights Advocacy Project: Empowering of Local Community Leaders (LRAP). The project was designed by RDI and Kyrgyz partners and has three objectives:

• Educate community leaders, including women, about the basic legal rights to land;
  
  
• Train community leaders to be advocates for villagers in disputes with local officials and farm bosses; and
  
  
• Empower farmers to exercise their legal rights to land and thereby reduce poverty and encourage economic growth.

The project is being carried out in Chui, Talas, and Batken Oblasts (Provinces)—three of Kyrgyzstan’s seven oblasts—almost exclusively by Kyrgyz citizens. In each of the three oblasts, project staff are: (1) identifying community leaders; (2) training community leaders to subsequently train local advocates about land rights and on how to negotiate and advocate on behalf of others; (3) and monitoring and advising the advocates as they begin and go about the work. Rural women are a special focus of the project, both as activists and clients.

The Rural Advisory Service (RAS) centers and the Republican Centers for Land and Agrarian Reform (RCLAR), as well as the Rural Development Institute and the World Bank ASSP Technical Assistance component’s specialists, are providing support and advice to the project.

The Legal Rights Advocacy Project is funded by a World Bank Development Marketplace Grant for Innovative Ideas to Reduce Global Poverty (www.developmentmarketplace.org). It is the first project from Kyrgyzstan to win the Development Marketplace global contest and receive the related funding from the World Bank. Current project implementation is from February 2002 to February 2003, but continued funding is now being sought.

Women and Land
RDI has done substantial field research on women’s land rights in Kyrgyzstan. In the Kyrgyz Republic, women who are members of traditional households generally have access to arable land, household land, and pastureland, and participate in the use and decision making process regarding use of the land. However, when households break down, due to abandonment, divorce, or death of a spouse, women's access to land is jeopardized because, under customary law, men "own" the land and house, while women own the movable property within the house.

Customary law, which greatly influences intra-household relationships, focuses on the maintenance and support of the household as a unit and reflects the value of family and community rights, not individual rights. The written family law, on the other hand, focuses on the rights of individuals and provides mechanisms for individuals to exercise their rights, even at the expense of the household unit. Customary law appears to supersede the written law in many rural villages; although women have the legal right to land as individuals, this right is rarely exercised. Many women are satisfied with customary law and regard it as generally superior to the written law. Most women agreed, however, that divorced and abandoned women are most vulnerable and would most benefit from exercising their individual rights under written law. (For more information about RDI's program in Kyrgyzstan, contact David Bledsoe at davidb@rdiland.org)

Our Work | About RDI | Consulting | Research | Giving | Contact | Site Map | Home
© Copyright 2002-2009 Rural Development Institute