The Volkswagen Foundation (Volkswagen Stiftung) earmarked 0.5 million euro to fund a new IAMO research project titled "Institutional change in land and labour relations of Central Asia´s irrigated agriculture" (AGRICHANGE). International observers of Central Asia and locals widely agree that economic transformation has progressed only slowly since political independence. In agriculture, failed reform attempts are fairly evident. However, the extent of land reform, the degree of state control and the resulting land and labour relations vary considerably across the region. Therefore the key idea of the project "AGRICHANGE" is to study these differences empirically.
By using the example of two regions with irrigated agriculture, South Kazakhstan and Samarkand in Uzbekistan, the researchers investigate issues of rural planning practices, farm organization and rural entrepreneurship. Through the promotion of theory development and the integration of local universities in an international scientific network, the project aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of institutional change. "AGRICHANGE", to start in July 2015, is conducted under German management of IAMO in cooperation with the Kazakh National Agrarian University in Almaty, the Samarkand Agricultural Institute and other international partners from different social science disciplines.
Volkswagen Foundation promotes new IAMO research project
