Smallholders and family farms in Tajikistan

Book excerpt: Smallholders and family farms are among the most widespread forms of agriculture in the world. Their appearance in the countries of Europe and Central Asia is connected with the transition to a market economy and the adoption of land reforms in the early 1990s, which led to the widespread emergence of smallholders and family farms formed on the basis of large state collective farms. After almost three decades at the beginning of the first phase of land reforms, smallholders and family farms still face considerable difficulties in doing business in the agricultural sector. Smallholders and family farms, as one of the forms of dehkan farms, are new economic actors in the recent history of the Republic of Tajikistan. However, at this moment there is no single agreed-upon definition of smallholders in Tajikistan, and there are no clear indicators for the definitions of both smallholders and family farms. The current situation, with the absence of a clear and shared conceptual apparatus, causes differences in approach to the definition of these farms applied by different stakeholders. One of the main objectives of this research is to identify the needs, challenges and constraints that affect the economic, social and environmental state of the dehkan farms and their development, as well as to develop conclusions and relevant recommendations. It should be noted that these needs, challenges and constraints are largely interweaved and interrelated with each other, which makes it difficult to determine the specific cause-and-effect relationship.