new mood of optimism is building on the steppes of Central Asia where the harsh lessons of moving almost overnight to a market-led economy hit traditional sheep production particularly hard.
        In Kazakhstan alone, up to 36 million sheep formerly kept the home market and other parts of the former Soviet Union supplied with wool, pelts, and mutton. Now there are just eight million remaining in the national flock--the difference being equivalent to the complete elimination of sheep in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan put together.
         Other neighboring new republics, which also reared and exported the wool, pelts, and meat from large numbers of small ruminants, have likewise seen their agricultural sectors suffer from a common economic downturn in traditional markets. As their outlets evaporated, farmers were forced to respond with equally dramatic cuts in herds and flocks - a critical erosion of valuable genetic resources.
        Before the demise of the Soviet Union, there was a continuing market demand from member countries for many different qualities of pelt and wool. One of the typical fat-tailed sheep in the region is the Karakul. It is extremely well adapted to the harsh and changing conditions of the steppe, partly because of its ability to draw on stored energy in times of scarcity. The Karakul sheep industry, devoted to pelt production, dominated the steppe regions of Uzbekistan and parts of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Pelts were produced from newly born lambs - the most expensive astrakhan coming from deliberately stillborn lambs for which older ewes destined for culling were used for the final time.
         Pelts were marketed throughout the Soviet Union and other countries under its influence as well as in the luxury Western market which was, and still is very easily saturated. Only a few thousand pelts are required each year by buyers for the fashion industry. Now this tiny specialist trade in astrakhan to adorn only the very wealthiest of couture buyers is just about all that remains of the once substantial export market which disappeared along with the Soviet Union.
        Large areas of the republics were also devoted to wool production from a number of indigenous sheep breeds improved by crossbreeding with imported fine-wool types such as the Merino. Once again the principal outlet for this wool was formerly the large Soviet Union market and the associated countries.

infrastructure is now in virtual decay since output from the new smallholders is insufficient to maintain it on anything like the same levels as before. This is coupled with similar disruption to the production of seed for forage and arable crops, and difficulties in obtaining new farm machinery. The result? A fall in productivity of the remaining crops and more people drifting away from rural areas to the cities in search of work.
           Now the national agricultural research systems (NARS) in the emerging republics, assisted by ICARDA and its other partners, are working to redirect privatized production to fit the new market scenarios. This will provide flock owners not only with much-needed opportunities to raise their incomes but give them confidence to rebuild and upgrade the remaining flocks.
          ICARDA specialists, in cooperation with the national research centers in each country, will be looking at the potential for targeting the remaining regional and national market demand with new production strategies. This will include investigation of benefits from increasing lamb meat production rather than mutton from older animals as in the past. With some breeds there is scope to produce milk for yogurt and cheesemaking, particularly in areas where there is a consistent supply of extra feed available--known as crop/livestock interaction zones.
Central Asia harbors one of the largest blocks of irri

gated areas of land in the world and some of this borders with sheep production areas. By exploiting the ability of this cropping land to grow high energy forage and feeds to supplement natural grazing, there is intensification potential for the production of meat and meat products. In these areas, in particular, there is scope to extend lactation periods to maximize the production of both high quality lamb and milk derivatives.
          Full assessment still has to be made, however, of the market potential. Personal purchasing power is low in the troubled former Soviet Union so one alternative international market may be found by looking eastwards to China's expanding economy. There are further interesting niche markets for sheep meat that could be developed in the Gulf States and in West Asia, particularly at times of religious celebration when there are peaks of demand frequently leading to imports from outside the regions.
           The potential of the sheep production base is promising and genetic diversity in Central Asia is still ample. In addition, an extensive knowledge base has been accumulated in sound national research centers. This will make it easier to reorient new production systems tailored to supply specific market requirements.
          ICARDA is participating in a number of projects relating to Central Asia and its livestock production, among them the IFAD-funded project, Integrated Feed and Livestock Production in the Steppes of Central Asia. The Center is working with scientists from research institutes in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. These projects will develop a natural resource management approach integrating different disciplines with the aim of improving the income of farmers through sustainable production systems and appropriate management of the valuable production base.
          By using this approach, the collaborating project teams will not only look at the prospects for breed improvement, better management practices, and at developing new markets and support structures. They will also consider matters such as property rights that have also become a major issue in the republics since privatization took place.


Dr Luis Iniguez is Small-Ruminant Scientist in the Natural Resource Management Program at ICARDA. He is coordinator of the IFAD-funded project on Integrated Feed and Livestock Production in the Steppes of Central Asia.

         However, under the free market system this wool produced in Central Asia is not currently able to match that from Australia and New Zealand for quality and price on a crowded world market. With their long experience of this wider market, the Southern Hemisphere countries are also able to employ their more sophisticated marketing expertise to maximum effect.
         Under the Soviet system, State-run flocks in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan very often ran to several thousand head. These large flocks were maintained under rotational grazing patterns that exploited both the range-based and cultivated feed resources. Due to privatization, the large collective and State farms were dispersed into numerous small flocks with a severe impact on the pastoral sheep management and feeding system in Central Asia.
         There had been organized support under the Soviet Union for an infrastructure that saw to it there was an ample supply of mechanically-harvested fodder to keep sheep in top condition during the bleaker winter months. The centrally-based system also made certain there were sufficient shepherds as well as transport to ensure the sheep could follow their traditional seasonal pattern of migration.
         From the semi-arid plains of southern Kazakhstan, for instance, the flocks would follow a four-season migration system taking them from winter quarters in the sandy dunes of the northern desert to spend spring from March onwards on the semi-desert steppe where lambing and shearing takes place. In June the trek up to mountain meadows started for the shepherds who live in the traditional yurts. In the autumn, the flocks return to a different area of the semi-desert steppe for the annual cull. They move on before the first heavy snowfalls back to the dunes at the end of an annual journey which is often over 300 km.
           Many of the privatized farmers now have as few as 5-20 sheep in their flocks, particularly in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan where privatization has been more intense. Few farmers have larger flocks and most have abandoned their seasonal migration in favor of keeping these small flocks around their home villages where overgrazing and land degradation is commonplace. The loss of support services such as ready access to veterinary advice has increased the possibility of disease affecting the flocks.
         Other knock-on effects have been severe. It has proved impossible to retain the same level of organized breeding services as before, threatening the genetic quality of the remaining animals. The production support   

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