October 30, 2002

Contact: Sarah Ray
802-443-5794
tfahey@middlebury.edu
Posted: October 30, 2002

MIDDLEBURY,
VT - Middlebury College will host a conference titled “Post-communist
Agrarian Reform in Eurasia: The Road Ahead” on Saturday, Nov. 16-Sunday,
Nov. 17. All events-three panels on Nov. 16 and a concluding discussion
on Nov. 17-will take place in the conference room of the Robert A. Jones
House on Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125). The conference
is free and open to the public.

Over
the past 10 years, agriculture in the former Soviet bloc has not responded
well to privatization and the introduction of market-driven forces-output
and productivity have fallen almost everywhere. According to David Macey,
a conference organizer and Middlebury College C.V. Starr Professor of
Russian and East European Studies, the purpose of the event will be to
identify institutions that support the development of agricultural markets.

The
conference will draw a wide range of academic and government experts from
both the United States and overseas to discuss the critical components
of agricultural progress: land ownership, financing, technical assistance
and the creation of new markets-particularly those that require products
from new or rehabilitated farms.

With regard to new markets, Macey commented, “When McDonalds built
a restaurant in Moscow, there was an immediate demand for certain types
of beef and particular kinds of bread and potatoes. The creation of this
outlet for new products had a positive ripple effect in the local farming
community. We need more situations like this.”

Panelists
will base their presentations on primary research but discussion will
focus on both the theory of transition as well as future agrarian and
agricultural development. Macey noted that the conference will be of interest
to those concerned with issues of development worldwide as well as post-communist
transition.

Macey’s
fellow conference organizers are Will Pyle, assistant professor of economics
at Middlebury College, and Stephen Wegren, associate professor of political
science at Southern Methodist University. For more information, contact
the Middlebury College Rohatyn Center

Complete for International Affairs at 802-443-5324, or conference organizers
David Macey at macey@middlebury.edu or Will Pyle at wpyle@middlebury.edu.

Events
Calendar Listings

Conference:
“Post-communist Agrarian Reform in Eurasia: The Road Ahead”
Middlebury College
Nov. 16-17

Saturday,
Nov. 16

9-11
a.m.
Panel: Land Privatization and Land Market
Chair: David Macey, Middlebury College
Panelists: Zvi Lerman, Hebrew University; Peter Bloch, University of Wisconsin-Madison;
Stephen Wegren, Southern Methodist University
Commentator: Daniel Bromley, University of Wisconsin-Madison

11:30
a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Panel: Rural Finance and Credit
Chair: William Pyle, Middlebury College
Panelists: Johan Swinnen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; David
Sedik, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Hamish
Gow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Commentator: Glenn Pederson, University of Minnesota

3-5
p.m.
Panel: Technical Assistance and Downstream Linkages
Chair: Michael Claudon, Middlebury College
Panelists: Nancy Cochrane, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research
Service; Malcolm Childress, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Stefan Osborne,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service
Commentator: Johan Swinnen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

Sunday,
Nov. 17

9-11
a.m.
Wrap-Up and General Discussion
Chair: David Colander, Middlebury College

All
events will take place in the conference room, Robert A. Jones House,
Middlebury College, Hillcrest Road off Route 125.
Admission is free.
For more information, contact the Middlebury College Rohatyn Center for
International Affairs at 802-443-5324, or conference organizers David
Macey at macey@middlebury.edu or Will Pyle at wpyle@middlebury.edu.