“We’re still in Soviet
times in the economy of agriculture,” (Yusup Kamilov) explained. “Cotton, rice,
and wheat are a government monopoly. That means money and capital are not
working properly here in Uzbekistan.” The environment suffers as a result.
Many Uzbekistani farmers cannot
choose what they can grow or where they can sell. Cotton growers, for instance,
must sell their entire harvest to the regime, forgoing competitive prices for
their goods and locking them into state-enforced poverty. Due to the
semi-nationalized agricultural system, the government also charges little for
water—certain water-intensive activities, including the flooding of fields,
carry no cost to farmers. Waste is enormous. With no systemic incentives to
conserve water, investments in technological improvements to the agricultural
economy are scant. Sources in the country’s U.N. office fret that almost no
drip irrigation exists in Uzbekistan. Unsurprisingly, many Uzbekistani farmers
have decided to opt out of the collectivized economy, trying their luck
elsewhere. As Steve Swerdlow of Human Rights Watch explained, it is common for
farmers to abandon their land and head to neighboring Kazakhstan for work.
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