Msc Thesis Uzbekistan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AAAAAAggggggrrrrrraaaaaarrrrrriiiiiiaaaaaannnnnn RRRRRReeeeeeffffffoooooorrrrrrmmmmmm……………… TTTTTThhhhhheeeeee PPPPPPaaaaaatttttthhhhhhwwwwwwaaaaaayyyyyy ttttttoooooo SSSSSSuuuuuussssssttttttaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnnnaaaaaabbbbbbiiiiiilllllliiiiiittttttyyyyyy?????? The Case of Urta, Yukori and Quyi Chirchik Irna Hofman Wageningen, April 2007 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ir. Arthur P.J. Mol Environmental Policy Group Social Science Group Wageningen University Front cover: The heading of the newspaper ‘Uzbekistan Today’. The picture is taken in Yukori Chirchik in October 2006; a cotton field just before the harvesting. 2 AAAAAAggggggrrrrrraaaaaarrrrrriiiiiiaaaaaannnnnn RRRRRReeeeeeffffffoooooorrrrrrmmmmmm……………… TTTTTThhhhhheeeeee PPPPPPaaaaaatttttthhhhhhwwwwwwaaaaaayyyyyy ttttttoooooo SSSSSSuuuuuussssssttttttaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnnnaaaaaabbbbbbiiiiiilllllliiiiiittttttyyyyyy?????? The Case of Urta, Yukori and and Quyi Chirchik Irna Hofman Wageningen, April 2007 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ir. Arthur P.J. Mol Environmental Policy Group Social Science Group Wageningen University 3 4 PREFACE ‘All the agricultural is politics…’ After three months staying in Uzbekistan to conduct the field work for my M.Sc. thesis, this statement came up in my mind. In Dutch we say ‘al het persoonlijke is politiek’ (all the personal is politics) when personal considerations and priorities interfere with and determine political objectives. In Uzbekistan this expression is better phrased as ‘al the agricultural is politics’. It are the agricultural priorities that dominate and influence the political structure and decisions. The other way around is also true over there; all the politics is agriculture; much of the political decisions in Uzbekistan are related to agriculture. Science and research, education, holidays, employment, many are adapted to and focussed upon agriculture. As a social scientist with the objective to do research in agriculture this implied that I had to be careful in my research, working in a political sensitive area. The political primacy of agriculture is abundant in Uzbekistan. Although I had some hard times, I also enjoyed it to walk hours through Tashkent and to bargain on the bazaars to buy stuff against extraordinary low prices, and to try to communicate with people by talking in Russian, English, German, and very little in Uzbek… I learned to be flexible, not to rely upon fixed time appointments and to question provided data and information. Days never went as expected. After all, I can say this experience has really benefited my personal development. Yet the difficulties that I had to conquer during the field work have motivated me to seek for further, comparable working situations and to make my life more challenging. Much of this report might appear rather negative about Uzbekistan. I want to emphasize that this is foremost my perception about the repressive system; thanks to the friendly people and their culture I really enjoyed my stay. I am greatly thankful to all those that supported me at distance… all the emails to rationalise my desperate thoughts and concerns, the phone calls and post that enabled me to proceed. I should thank first of all Arthur Mol, my supervisor, that initiated me to go to Uzbekistan and has assisted me in the conducting of the research, with this report as the final result. Frequently he could calm me by emailing that everything would be alright and that I had to adjust to the circumstances that would emerge. I would also like to mention Ewa Wietsma, Alim Pulatov and the students from Ecogis that enabled me to go to Tashkent, to work there with all the facilities that were provided. Without them I would never have found my way in Tashkent and to learn about the Uzbek culture and people. Moreover I am greatly thankful to all the other researchers that worked in Uzbekistan that have provided my all their information, their experiences, expectations and that could help me to gain the essential knowledge on different aspects. Although the contact with them was merely on the basis of email, it has been very meaningful. At last, as my primary backbone on the other side of the world, I must thank my family and friends. Thanks mama, papa, and all the others… for your support. It has been quite a challenge, both for you and me to be at such a distance although only for three months. And of course I would like to thank Sinterklaas… I’ll never forget that he could realize it on the 5 th of December to bring me presents…….. At least now I dare to say… I can travel the world…. Irna Hofman, Wageningen, April 2007 5 6 SUMMARY The Republic of Uzbekistan became independent in 1991 after more than 60 years under Soviet domination. By that year the transition process commenced, which should envisage the transformation of the political domain, the economy and not at least the society. Socio-economic transition processes result in changing institutions and land-use patterns that affect the condition of the environment. Agrarian reform is an essential element of transition. Up till today the agricultural sector in Uzbekistan is confronted with two major problems: the transition process and sustainability. Agriculture has been in the public domain with the state or collective as governing entity for the entire Soviet period. The sector was largely focussed upon the production of cotton. From 1991 onwards the first steps were taken to transform the agricultural sector from the collective structure towards a more individual mode of farming. This has resulted in a three- tired system of agricultural producers today: a decreasing number of shirkats with an increasing amount of individual farms, and the dehkan farmers. The primary environmental constraints for agriculture have resulted from irrational use of natural resources in the past. With the current condition of the environment it is obvious that diversification of the Uzbek agriculture is pressing: it has the potential to reduce and change the harmful institutionalised and continued farm practices that have become a routine and are far from sustainable. Nowadays the concepts of ownership, property and managerial rights are fundamentally changing and are much in debate the last years; this results in considerable changes in the institutional arrangements and the institutional environment. The decision-making and participative power of actors and governance is transferred to other or new agencies and actors. Development of effective institutions, such as the transfer of property rights over land and market mechanisms, is a prerequisite for environmental sustainable land use. This research has examined the current institutional lay-out of the agricultural sector in Uzbekistan, consequently it is assessed whether this lay-out enhances or constraints sustainable farming. The empirical data that are derived through a case study in Tashkent Oblast are analysed through use of the Agri-environmental Action Scenario. Within this conceptual unit of analysis the Bundle of Rights Theory is explored. This allowed for the examination of the different actors that are involved in agriculture and to assess their influence upon the farming practices. The different elements that constitute the Agri-environmental Action Scenario are policies; governance structures; the action arena that comprises farming systems; and not at least environmental assets. The interaction that takes place between these elements is a continuous process. The Bundle of Rights comprises distinct land use rights that directly or indirectly determine the impact of agriculture upon the environment. From the research it can be concluded that the governance structure of farming has not been reformed fundamentally, despite the liquidation of collective farming. The dominance of the state is still apparent and many of the former principals have remained in place, with quite uniform farming patterns as a result. The private farmers, the fermers, are subject to severe state control as they are surrounded by numerous state organisations that stipulate and control their farm practices. In practice every fermer is subject to state procurement quotas, primarily this concerns quotas for the strategic crops; cotton and wheat. Although officially the procurement quotas have decreased in the last years, in reality this has not changed the situation. Fermers face considerable problems in working independently. Moreover most of them are in a bad financial position which hampers them to purchase additional inputs elsewhere; this also inclines them to develop ‘hidden’ farm activities as a living strategy to increase their income. The dehkan farmers, the small holders, have their household plots at their discretion, yet these fields are restricted to only small sizes. The dehkans cultivate in general a diversity of crops, for self consumption or for commercial sales. It is clear that the current institutional lay-out lacks effectiveness, legitimacy and transparency. This all enhances the developed of informal institutions. Within these networks farmers possess the rights to 7 decide who is involved and which transactions take place. These networks have developed rather autonomously, primarily for the exchange of knowledge and the need to acquire farm inputs outside of the state supply system. From an environmental point of view the current situation is two-sided. On the one hand, the poor situation of fermers requires them to work economically with the inputs that are supplied by the state. The amounts of chemical inputs that are applied are much