ABSTRACT
Economic theory assumes that competition in an open and free land market under a market economy will in the end allocate land to the most efficient farmers, because they as the most efficient producers will be able to afford the (rising) prices for land. A change in the use of land and natural resources can best be measured by changes in crops and the change in use of fertilizers, the choice for fallow land and a more conscious use of agricultural land with respect to environmental effects. If the emphasis is on the food security paradigm then the element of change in resource use will mainly focus on changes in agricultural production. In a transition country, indicator for change in resource use is a change in efficiency in land use by farms of the various types. Kyrgyz agriculture suffered from the transition and production shrank considerably from 1990 to 1995, before picking up again in 1996.
