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Post-Conference Session: Socio-Economic Farm and Household Data Sets on Central Asia: Which Data Is Available and How Could It Be Used?
Time:
Friday, 20/June/2025:
1:30pm - 3:30pm
Session Chair: Martin Petrick, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Location:Conference Room II
Session Abstract
Session motivation: In recent years, there has been a growing effort to collect micro-level data on farms and rural households in Central Asia. These datasets offer valuable insights into agricultural practices, rural livelihoods, and socio-economic dynamics in the region. However, their use by academic researchers, policymakers, and other analysts remains limited. Several challenges contribute to this underutilization, including institutional or technical barriers to data access, the complexity of raw datasets requiring advanced analytical skills, and a lack of awareness regarding the types of research questions these datasets can help address.
This session aims to take stock of recent and ongoing data collection initiatives in the region, fostering discussions on how to improve data accessibility and usability. By bringing together researchers, data providers, and potential users, we seek to highlight best practices for making data publicly available while ensuring ethical and legal compliance. Additionally, we will showcase three specific data collection initiatives, providing insights into their scope, methodologies, and potential applications.
A key objective of this session is to facilitate an interactive exchange with the audience. Participants will have the opportunity to voice their needs and requirements regarding access, usability, and formats of socio-economic farm and household datasets. This discussion will help inform future data collection and dissemination efforts, ensuring that datasets are more effectively tailored to the needs of researchers and decision-makers working on Central Asian agriculture and rural development.
The session comprises a 5 minutes introduction of the session idea, followed by three presentations of surveys from Central Asia (each 15 minutes). The presentations will be followed by a 10-minute feedback from a discussant, and finally by 20-minute Q&As.
Presentations
Life in Kyrgyzstan study
Damir Esenaliev
Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), Germany
The Life in Kyrgyzstan (LiK) Study is an open-access, longitudinal survey conducted since 2010 to examine household and individual welfare in Kyrgyzstan. The study tracks 3,000 households and 8,000 individuals across all seven oblasts and the cities of Bishkek and Osh, providing nationally and regionally representative data on demographics, income, migration, employment, agriculture, and well-being. The most recent wave was conducted in spring 2025. Data is collected through tailored questionnaires in Russian, Kyrgyz, and English and is freely available for non-commercial use via the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Since 2015, the annual Life in Kyrgyzstan Conference in Bishkek has brought together researchers and policymakers to discuss regional socio-economic trends. Recent initiatives, including a new webinar series, further expand knowledge exchange. The LiK Study is a key resource for advancing empirical research on Central Asia’s development challenges.
AGRICHANGE/SUSADICA farm survey
Abdusame Tadjiev
Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Germany
The AGRICHANGE/SUSADICA Data is a unique, panel survey dataset on agricultural development in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, collected through two waves in 2019 and 2022. The dataset includes information on farm structures, decision-making, sustainable agricultural practices, land tenure perceptions, and agricultural intensification. Covering 963 farmers in 2019 and 901 in 2022 across key agricultural regions, it enables impact analysis on policy measures, technology adoption, and institutional change. The SUSADICA Data Reuse project, building on the Volkswagen Foundation-funded SUSADICA doctoral program, aims to improve access to this data by enhancing documentation and storage while providing training for researchers in Central Asia. The project fosters data-driven policy research by offering structured tutoring on data analysis and evidence-based research. Hosted by IAMO and Justus Liebig University Giessen, the initiative ensures that the dataset remains a key resource for advancing empirical research on sustainable agricultural transformation in Central Asia.
UzFarmBarometer farm manager survey
Nodir Djanibekov
IAMO, Germany
The UzFarmBarometer is a comprehensive farm survey conducted in November 2024 across four provinces of Uzbekistan, interviewing 1,225 farm managers. This survey provides a nationally representative dataset on farm structures, production decisions, and the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, with a focus on behavioral and economic drivers of decision-making. The project aims to enhance evidence-based policymaking by tracking key farm-level parameters and assessing constraints to the adoption of modern agricultural technologies. It accounts farmers’ perceptions about policy environment, prospects of economic development, climate change, weather risks and socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics of farm managers. The survey was conducted through a collaboration between the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) and Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT). The dataset is used for researchers, policy analysts, and development organizations seeking to support sustainable agricultural transformation in Uzbekistan.
Central Asian data user perspective
Bakhrom Mirkasimov
Westminster International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Representing the view of current and potential data users from Central Asia, Westminster International University in Tashkent has positioned itself as a data hub and center of excellence for quantitative analysis of economic development. This intervention addresses constraints, challenges, and opportunities in using survey data sets and alternative (innovative) data source in Central Asian higher research and education.
Western academic data user perspective
Sabine Liebenehm
University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Sharing insights from the use of internationally acknowledged and long-standing data collection initiatives, this contribution focuses on the requirements and expectations of international data users of data originating from Central Asia, in terms of relevant research areas, methodological standards and options, data quality and documentation, and research ethics.
