As the most important part of the land reform component, privatisation in the agricultural sector is gradually moving towards the established parameters. Since the implementation of the 3rd stage of restructuring in the agricultural sector, 185 large-scale farms have been reorganised into 2,670 dehkan farms including 562 collective dehkan farms.

The problem of indebtedness of agricultural enterprises remains very prominent. The issue of farm debts is closely linked to the crediting of cotton production.
In the framework of the ADB project "Farm debts settlement", progress has recently been made towards solving questions of water resource management, particularly in developing the legal basis for new management mechanisms: step-by step transfer to river basin management and the establishment of water user associations.

All stakeholders in the land reform coordination group agree that:

• Progress in land reform and poverty reduction are closely linked;
• Increasing transparency in, and awareness of, land reform, developing an improved legal basis and streamlining enforcement are key to achieving better results in land reform;
• The re-labelling of kolkhozes and sovkhozes as collective (land-share based) dehkan farms has brought little or no change to agricultural production patterns. It perpetuates inefficient farming practices and the uneven distribution of the farming income;
• Individually and family-held farms should have direct decision-making power, the land should be demarcated on the ground, and recorded in land registers and land use certificates. Only then will alternative agricultural services and financing emerge. Freedom of choice would boost efficiency and foster sustainable and profitable farming, with benefits fairly distributed.

(Based on: Information Platform on Tajikistan 2004; PRSP Monitoring Department 2005. Report on 2nd phase of implementation of PRSP)