ABSTRACT
For Kazak livestock producers, the demise of communism has proved to be nearly as traumatic as its creation. Kazakstan supported over thirty-five million sheep in the late 1980s. By 1999 – following independence, economic reform and privatisation – less than ten million sheep remained. Nearly three-quarters of the national flock has disappeared in the last decade. In the twentieth century, only forced collectivisation under Stalin has had such a devastating impact on stock numbers and rural prosperity.
