ABSTRACT
Restructuring of the livestock sector in Turkmenistan has already had marked economic impacts on the pastoralists. This chapter shows that these impacts vary by location and by the wealth status of pastoral households. Those living deep in the interior of the desert have distinctive constraints as well as opportunities compared to those living nearer the centres of population, irrigated land and major transport routes. There is now a disparity in the size of private flocks and herds among pastoral households, since the ceiling was lifted on the number of animals which a family may privately own. The margins of costs and returns from livestock now differ with the scale of operation, as some households have been able to accumulate more animals since reforms introduced in the 1990s. Differences in livestock wealth are also reflected in consumption patterns at the household level.
