Cooperative development in Central Asia

This paper was prepared within the “Cooperatives and their alternatives” component of the Agrarian Structures Initiative (ASI) which a regional program of FAO in Europe and Central Asia. The purpose of this paper is to introduce Central Asian policy makers to the Western paradigm of service cooperative and to explore the constraints – both physical and ideological – to faster development and acceptance of cooperatives. We also discuss the need for a complete reorientation of the government’s approach to cooperative development. The main message is that the government should focus on provision of public goods, such as information, education, and training in the cooperative arena, and desist from interfering in allocation of credits and financial support, which in the past led to inefficiency and rampant corruption.