This paper examines the effect of agricultural development on a country's overall development and growth experience. In most poor countries, large fractions of land, labor, and other productive resources are devoted to producing food for subsistence needs. This 'food problem' can delay a...

1. Introduction -- 2. Uzbekistan : economic gradualism and political stability -- 3. Kazakhstan : oil-boom economy -- 4. Tajikistan : civil war and its aftermath -- 5. The Kyrgyz Republic : the region's rapid reformer -- 6. Turkmenistan : the realm of Turkmenbashi the Great -- 7. Measuring...