The nearly 120-page report, titled "Farmers Have no Freedom: Abuse and Exploitation of Cotton and Wheat Farmers in Uzbekistan," was presented on February 17, 2026. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the agricultural sector based on dozens of interviews conducted between October 2023 and December 2025, as well as court materials, legislative documents, and media reports.
Achievements overshadowed by continued state control
The report acknowledges that the Uzbek government has made significant strides in recent years, notably by ending state-sponsored forced labor in the cotton harvest and initiating a broad Strategy for Agricultural Development for 2020-2030.
However, activists argue that despite these achievements, a "serious and coercive" level of state control remains. Under the current system, farmers must grow specific crops on state-leased land, meet rigid production quotas, and sell their harvest at fixed prices.
According to the report, farmers are in a very vulnerable position; they face threats, insults, and other illegal coercive measures. "The system prevents them from operating independently or having control over their working conditions, and in practice makes them subservient to the state, akin to employees," the report says.
Voices from the field
The report contains harrowing testimonies from agricultural workers across the country. One farmer from the Khorezm region, interviewed in November 2025, remarked: "It is as if we have become hired workers for someone, not landowners"
Another farmer from the Fergana region described it as having "a lot of bosses." He explained, saying "Everyone interferes with the farmer's work. Both the police and the prosecutor’s office."
The investigation found that those who fail to meet state quotas face severe consequences, including:
- Confiscation of land: Local authorities frequently use threats of land seizure to enforce quotas.
- Financial instability: Farmers often deal with delayed or non-existent payments from cotton-textile clusters and grain enterprises, yet the state rarely enforces court rulings in favor of the farmers.
