Uzbek farmers fight losing battle against government control

A farmers’ cooperative in Uzbekistan is fighting against a court-ordered closure in a case that highlights the government’s stifling control over the country’s cotton-dominated agricultural industry.

The Oltin Tola Boston cotton-growing cooperative was created by 44 farmers in Ellikalla District of northwestern Karakalpakstan in February 2022. The farmers united with an idea to have more control over who to sell their produce to and at what price.

Under the current regulations cotton growers can sell their produce only to specific cotton-textile clusters assigned by local authorities.

The Oltin Tola Boston cooperative came under official pressure soon after its registration, and by the end of 2022 it had only 17 remaining members, according to the Germany-based Uzbek Forum for Human Rights (UFHR).

More serious and open pressure began after the cooperative successfully processed and sold its 2023 harvest.

In September government inspectors told the Oltin Tola Boston cooperative that it could not exist in an area where there were cotton-textile clusters already operating, the UFHR said.

The inspectors also accused the cooperative of failing to register its contracts with the government. The cooperative was also told its storage facilities did not meet official requirements.

In November, an economic court ordered the cooperative’s closure over the alleged violations. The farmers have appealed the decision.  

In a joint statement with Human Rights Watch last week, the UFHR said the court order was in violation of the rights to freedom of association and to organize.

The statement quoted Mihra Rittmann, senior Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, as saying that the authorities’ move would “serve as a major setback to Uzbekistan’s agricultural reform agenda” and the country’s declared commitment to its international labour and human rights obligations.

Independent Uzbek economist Yuliy Yusupov has said that the government is not interested in giving freedom to farmers.

The reason, he said on his Telegram channel, is the government’s desire to maintain “corrupt, monopolistic control over farmers” and farmland.

“The system on the one hand allows billions to be made through exploiting farmers, making them grow a crop that does not give them good revenue,” Yusupov said.

“On the other hand, it gives huge powers to officials to take away [from farmers] and redistribute farmland, under the pretext of having to meet cotton targets. This gives them additional corrupt income.”

The approach also causes irreparable damage to the environment and farmland fertility because of the heavy exploitation of land for growing a monoculture, with the use of chemical fertilizers, Yusupov added.

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