The Central Asian republics a" Kazakhstan, the Krygyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan a" are transitioning from centrally planned economies to market-oriented systems. This volume addresses the process and policy reforms these countries face and how the reforms may impact agricultural development in a region that has experienced varying degrees of economic growth over the fifteen years since independence. It offers expert policy research and analysis and provides research-based information for generating policy recommendations that are relevant to each country as well as similar evidence from other transitional economies, including China, Vietnam, and selected Eastern European countries.

Suresh Chandra Babu is a Senior Research Fellow and Program Leader at the International Food Research Policy Institute (IFRPI), in Washington, D.C. where he coordinates its research and outreach programs in Central Asia. He has trained more than 1,000 policy analysts and has consulted with international organizations such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and UNICEF. Dr. Babu received his Ph.D. in economics from Iowa State University in the United States.

Sandjar Djalalov is a principal researcher at the Center for Efficient Economic Policy in Uzbekistan where he conducts research on production, marketing, investment, and consumption behavior of different types of farms in Uzbekistan and Central Asia. He is also a senior lecturer in the Tashkent Institute of Engineering for Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization. Dr. Djalalov received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Macroeconomics and Social Investigation in Tashkent in Uzbekistan.

Achieving sustainable agricultural development is at the forefront of the poverty reduction objective of the Central Asian republics - Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Since independence, the countries of the Central Asian region have undergone a series of transition from centrally planned economies to a more market oriented system. Wide-ranging policy reforms have been implemented, although in varying degrees, in the five Central Asian countries. Despite great efforts by the countries and the external advice and efforts of international agencies to help them to follow a dynamic growth path, the progress in policy reforms has been frustratingly slow. Generating momentum to reorient the approach and the sequencing of policy reform packages will require rethinking of the policy reform process. This is particularly so in the food, agriculture, and natural resource sectors. This further requires improved understanding among the policymakers, donors, and international agencies of the impact of policy alternatives so that policy reforms and the speed with which they have been implemented are consistent with the objectives and the social and political realities of individual countries in the region. Involving the local policy research community in identifying critical issues and challenges, setting priorities among them for food and agricultural and natural resource policy research and analysis, and implementing joint research studies is the best way to generate knowledge on the impact of policy reforms and to increase ownership of policy design and implementation.