Turkmenistan's Animal Farm Plans
Turkmenistan's Animal Farm Plans
As the Turkmen authorities make efforts to boost livestock farming, NBCentral Asia commentators say the first step needs to be obtaining accurate data on the current state of this sector.
At a January 15 cabinet meeting, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov said the country needed to develop the livestock sector. He urged farmers to increase meat production this year in order to create “an abundance of food”.
Historically, the Turkmen were predominantly nomadic livestock breeders rather than settled farmers. These days, though, the country has to import over 50 per cent of its meat and poultry from the United States, Iran, Russia and Kazakstan. The authorities would like to reduce these imports and believe the rural economy is more than capable of meeting domestic demand.
At the same time, NBCentral Asia commentators say a number of preconditions will have to be met if this is to be accomplished.
An economist from Dashoguz region in northern Turkmenistan points to an urgent need for a census of livestock, as there are no precise figures available on the number of animals owned by farmers.
Under the late president Saparmurat Niazov’s rule, who died in 2006, close to 90 per cent of the livestock that had earlier been the common property of Soviet collective farms was transferred to farmers, officially under a kind of lease arrangement.
At present, it is difficult to identify what shape the livestock sector is in because there is no clear system for keeping track of animal numbers, official statistics are kept confidential, and it is commonplace to claim exaggerated production figures.
The economist summed up this air of unreality as follows, “Under Niazov we managed to ‘reach’ a figure of 19.5 million sheep, and now Berdymuhammedov says we have to increase this to 19.8 million.”
NBCentral Asia analysts say ambitious targets alone will be of no use until they are founded on accurate statistical calculations and sound economic planning.
This year, the government has set farmers a target of increasing meat production by nine per cent, which it says will result in a total of 563,400 tons of meat.
Yet according to one economic expert in Ashgabat, a cabinet meeting last June was told that half-year meat production totalled just 180,000 tons. Assuming that figure is credible, he said, the country probably produced around 360,000 tons of meat over the whole of 2008.
Thus, the 2009 target would represent a year-on-year increase of something like 50 per cent rather than nine 50 per cent.
“Official statements concerning the meat production indicate that the government is not confused about its own figures,” said the economist.
A media-watcher from Lebap region in eastern Turkmenistan says farmers want the government to do its bit to help them with loans, machinery, and modern meat processing technologies. That needs to happen before there can be any talk of substantial improvement, he said.
An official from Turkmenmallary, an association of livestock farmers, insisted everything needed to increase production was already in place – farmers had long years of experience, they do not pay tax on their animals, large areas of pastureland are available, and the state has the resources to set up state-of-the-art farms.
“All that’s needed is to exploit these things intelligently,” he added.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
At a January 15 cabinet meeting, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov said the country needed to develop the livestock sector. He urged farmers to increase meat production this year in order to create “an abundance of food”.
Historically, the Turkmen were predominantly nomadic livestock breeders rather than settled farmers. These days, though, the country has to import over 50 per cent of its meat and poultry from the United States, Iran, Russia and Kazakstan. The authorities would like to reduce these imports and believe the rural economy is more than capable of meeting domestic demand.
At the same time, NBCentral Asia commentators say a number of preconditions will have to be met if this is to be accomplished.
An economist from Dashoguz region in northern Turkmenistan points to an urgent need for a census of livestock, as there are no precise figures available on the number of animals owned by farmers.
Under the late president Saparmurat Niazov’s rule, who died in 2006, close to 90 per cent of the livestock that had earlier been the common property of Soviet collective farms was transferred to farmers, officially under a kind of lease arrangement.
At present, it is difficult to identify what shape the livestock sector is in because there is no clear system for keeping track of animal numbers, official statistics are kept confidential, and it is commonplace to claim exaggerated production figures.
The economist summed up this air of unreality as follows, “Under Niazov we managed to ‘reach’ a figure of 19.5 million sheep, and now Berdymuhammedov says we have to increase this to 19.8 million.”
NBCentral Asia analysts say ambitious targets alone will be of no use until they are founded on accurate statistical calculations and sound economic planning.
This year, the government has set farmers a target of increasing meat production by nine per cent, which it says will result in a total of 563,400 tons of meat.
Yet according to one economic expert in Ashgabat, a cabinet meeting last June was told that half-year meat production totalled just 180,000 tons. Assuming that figure is credible, he said, the country probably produced around 360,000 tons of meat over the whole of 2008.
Thus, the 2009 target would represent a year-on-year increase of something like 50 per cent rather than nine 50 per cent.
“Official statements concerning the meat production indicate that the government is not confused about its own figures,” said the economist.
A media-watcher from Lebap region in eastern Turkmenistan says farmers want the government to do its bit to help them with loans, machinery, and modern meat processing technologies. That needs to happen before there can be any talk of substantial improvement, he said.
An official from Turkmenmallary, an association of livestock farmers, insisted everything needed to increase production was already in place – farmers had long years of experience, they do not pay tax on their animals, large areas of pastureland are available, and the state has the resources to set up state-of-the-art farms.
“All that’s needed is to exploit these things intelligently,” he added.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
