The Struggle for Land in the Middle East and Central Asia

Market-oriented reforms in Central Asia and the Middle East have in some cases led to the establishment of property rights for low-income farmers, but in other cases have led to their repeal.

by Brent Hierman

“Busy as we are from childhood tilling Mother Earth, we peasants have no time to let any nonsense settle in our heads. Our only trouble is that we haven’t land enough. If I had plenty of land, I shouldn’t fear the Devil himself!”

More than a hundred years after the publication of Leo Tolstoy’s How Much Land Does a Man Need? these words st…