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OSCE Office in Tajikistan
Feature
Giving the land back to the people
19 May 2004
A woman working on one of Tajikistan's cotton fields. (OSCE/Lubomir Kotek)
Background
Since the drive for collectivization in the 1930s, land in Tajikistan has been controlled by the state. After independence in 1991, the Tajik government began promoting a market economy. But a brutal civil war from 1992 to 1997 devastated the country's economy and infrastructure, delaying the land reform process.
Agriculture is the basis for Tajikistan's economy, and cotton cultivation is still an important source of revenue, as it was in the Soviet era. Dominant local interests, a large inherited debt imposed on new land owners and administrative problems are just some of the issues confronting land reform action in Tajikistan.
Voices from the field
In Danghara, eastern Tajikistan, 120 farmers turned up at a privatization assembly to approve the break-up of a 75-year-old state farm. Both men and women voiced their concerns about the land reform issues. "I did not receive a land plot and was told that I will not get one," said Shomigul Saidova, a woman who lives on the state farm.
Concerned participants asked many questions about land reform procedures and the rights of ordinary people. "I have been applying for land for two years but I have not yet received any," complained Saidulo Amirov, a man in his late fifties.
A representative from the State Land Committee in Dushanbe was present, with a team of OSCE monitors and a crew from Tajikistan's national television, to observe the proceedings. The deputy district chairman reaffirmed that everyone who has applied and who fulfils the legal requirements will receive a piece of land.
Intensifying OSCE support
Earlier this year, the State Land Committee of Tajikistan invited the OSCE and other international organizations to monitor and support land reform in the country. "As an OSCE participating State, Tajikistan is committed to the rule of law and the market economy," said the Head of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe, Ambassador Yves Bargain. "We are happy to respond to the Tajik government's request for support."
To strengthen its support for transparent and fair land privatization, the OSCE Centre will provide organizational back-up for local authorities, advice to farmers on their legal rights and credit support. It will also conduct independent monitoring of the privatization of 42 state farms.
The Centre has been monitoring land reform in some former state farms since April 2004. It has held several training seminars and has delivered information booklets to promote public awareness on obtaining land. It is hoped that with international support, the land reform process will give poor farmers access to land and the liberty to cultivate it in a profitable way.
Since the drive for collectivization in the 1930s, land in Tajikistan has been controlled by the state. After independence in 1991, the Tajik government began promoting a market economy. But a brutal civil war from 1992 to 1997 devastated the country's economy and infrastructure, delaying the land reform process.
Agriculture is the basis for Tajikistan's economy, and cotton cultivation is still an important source of revenue, as it was in the Soviet era. Dominant local interests, a large inherited debt imposed on new land owners and administrative problems are just some of the issues confronting land reform action in Tajikistan.
Voices from the field
In Danghara, eastern Tajikistan, 120 farmers turned up at a privatization assembly to approve the break-up of a 75-year-old state farm. Both men and women voiced their concerns about the land reform issues. "I did not receive a land plot and was told that I will not get one," said Shomigul Saidova, a woman who lives on the state farm.
Concerned participants asked many questions about land reform procedures and the rights of ordinary people. "I have been applying for land for two years but I have not yet received any," complained Saidulo Amirov, a man in his late fifties.
A representative from the State Land Committee in Dushanbe was present, with a team of OSCE monitors and a crew from Tajikistan's national television, to observe the proceedings. The deputy district chairman reaffirmed that everyone who has applied and who fulfils the legal requirements will receive a piece of land.
Intensifying OSCE support
Earlier this year, the State Land Committee of Tajikistan invited the OSCE and other international organizations to monitor and support land reform in the country. "As an OSCE participating State, Tajikistan is committed to the rule of law and the market economy," said the Head of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe, Ambassador Yves Bargain. "We are happy to respond to the Tajik government's request for support."
To strengthen its support for transparent and fair land privatization, the OSCE Centre will provide organizational back-up for local authorities, advice to farmers on their legal rights and credit support. It will also conduct independent monitoring of the privatization of 42 state farms.
The Centre has been monitoring land reform in some former state farms since April 2004. It has held several training seminars and has delivered information booklets to promote public awareness on obtaining land. It is hoped that with international support, the land reform process will give poor farmers access to land and the liberty to cultivate it in a profitable way.