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Remittances and Livestock Management in Agropastoral Households in Rural Kyrgyzstan: Telecoupled Impacts of Globalization ☆

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Agropastoralism and international labor migration are livelihood strategies that are interconnected as dominant ways of life across rural Kyrgyzstan. A prevalent rural livelihood strategy—agropastoralism—is closely tied to agrarian semi‐nomadic ways of life that link families and communities to the surrounding mountain environment. Another livelihood strategy—international labor migration—links or telecouples communities and income streams to transnational family structures, international labor markets, and distant economies. This article examines four hypothetical relationships between key elements of these two livelihood strategies. The relationship between remittances, pasture access, and livestock holdings is examined by analyzing 1,815 household surveys from southern rural Kyrgyzstan. We find remittances and livestock holdings have a significant positive relationship when a household is receiving a large amount of remittances, but not when the remittances received are modest. We also find that access to more distant, productive pastures is positively associated with the receipt of any amount of remittances. These findings demonstrate the ways in which migration and remittances can impact livestock management and agropastoral livelihoods at different levels of remittance reception.

Source: Rural Sociology

DOI: 10.1111/ruso.12552

Authors: Christian Kelly Scott, Elizabeth A. Mack, Guangqing Chi, Kamilya Kelgenbaeva, Geoffrey M. Henebry

Institutions: Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University, International University of Kyrgyzstan

Language: English

Topic: Migration and Labor Dynamics

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: No poverty, Zero hunger, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,350