From herd breeding to land farming

In 1996, the last kolkhozes of Kyrgyzstan were dismantled. Country dwellers found themselves with small parcels of arable land and even smaller herds, the remnants of the collective ones. In an effort to facilitate the restructuring of economic activities, the government designed new types of private agricultural enterprises. This chapter examines the creation of such private agricultural enterprises in a village situated in the Aktalaa region. It analyses the social uses of descent and kinship and focuses on their role within the newly introduced economic institutions.