ABSTRACT
Dissolution of the state farms, decontrol of markets, and other large-scale economic changes that swept through Kazakstan in the first half of the 1990s had very direct effects on the way livestock were managed. These changes have in turn affected the productivity of livestock, with implications for the people dependent on livestock as well as for the national output of this sector. The principal adjustments in management have been in the way livestock are fed over winter, the breeds that are kept, the seasonal movement of animals to different pastures, and the level of veterinary support. These changes are described in this chapter, which assesses the impact of the new feeding regimes and animal health status on sheep productivity. The chapter concludes with a simple model that highlights the impediments to sheep management following privatisation and offers some pointers for the future.
