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RFE/RL Specials

Post-Soviet Agriculture

From Eastern Europe to Central Asia, governments are attempting to reform their countries' agriculture systems. But transforming farms from centrally-controlled government collectives to market-driven, privately-owned businesses is not an exact science. Even in Eastern Europe, where reforms are experiencing some success, much remains to be done to build an infrastrucuture that can support a competitive industry.

In this four-part series, RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz reports on Uzbekistan's reliance on cotton as a cash crop, the various methods of land privatization, the need for a broad agriculture infrastructure and the example set by the U.S. family farm model.

UZBEKISTAN: Little Progress Seen In Agricultural Reforms

Prague, 25 February 1997 (RFE/RL) -- With the International Monetary Fund keeping $185 million in stand-by credits from Uzbekistan until key market reforms are implemented, President Islam Karimov readily admits that changes are needed to avert disaster for Uzbek agriculture.

FORMER USSR: Privatization Alone Doesn't Make More Efficient Farms

Prague, 25 February 1997 (RFE/RL) -- Increased productivity at Central European farms provides a stark contrast to falling production in former Soviet Republics such as Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Economists say one explanation is that most former Soviet Republics have not changed the organizational structures of the large, inefficient farms left over from the days of central planning.

EASTERN EUROPE: Reforms Must Address Entire Agriculture Sector

Prague, 25 February 1997 (RFE/RL) -- Failures in Eastern European agricultural reform have resulted from a lack of sector-wide policies needed to foster a competitive free market. That's the authoritative assessment of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

UNITED STATES: Agriculture System Encourages Farm Productivity

Prague, 25 February 1997 (RFE/RL) -- J.C. Lanier, an 80-year-old private farmer in the U.S. state of Georgia, has grown cotton, peanuts, tobacco, corn and soybeans on his family farm for decades. He also has raised pigs, cows, chickens and even peacocks that would strut in the shade of his pecan orchard.

BULGARIA: Nomenklatura Feudalism Turns Farmers Away From Socialists

Yagodovo, Bulgaria; 29 January 1997 (RFE/RL) -- Farming communities are the traditional power base of Bulgaria's Socialist Party. But after years of subservience to nomenklatura monopolies, villagers are now turning away from the Socialist Party (BSP) in large numbers.

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special reports 1997