Azerbaijan land reform plans risk dispossessing smallholders, expert warns

Proposed amendments to Azerbaijan's Land Code aimed at consolidating agricultural plots could leave small-scale farmers vulnerable to losing their land to large corporations, an expert has warned.

The draft bill, which is currently being debated in parliamentary committee sessions, would allow the government to merge, divide, or redraw agricultural boundaries.

While ministers pitch the policy as a way to boost efficiency, agricultural specialist Vahid Maharramov warned it could spark intense legal disputes and social unrest.

"If they merge lands under the guise of consolidation, it could create very serious discontent among property owners," Maharramov told journalists.

He suggested the state may use disputes to transfer land to "large farming enterprises and oligarch officials".

Under the new proposals, independent valuation companies would assess agricultural plots based on market value rather than physical size.

A farmer with two hectares (five acres) of land valued at 10,000 manats ($5,880; £4,700) could be forced to exchange it for a smaller plot of equivalent value, with cash compensating any shortfall.

Critics fear this process will lack transparency and strip smallholders of their livelihoods to the benefit of large-scale agro-parks.

Maharramov argued that government efforts should focus on basic agricultural infrastructure rather than structural shake-ups.

"People are not being supplied with irrigation water, and there is a shortage of production tools, including combine harvesters," he said.

He added that previous drives to establish large farms and agro-parks since 2013 had failed to increase overall productivity.

"They have seized the land, but they do not know how to work it," he said, adding that small farms are often easier to make productive if properly supported with water, seeds, and fertilisers.

The bill remains under discussion in parliament, with no date yet set for a final vote.