The neighbouring Central Asian states of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic were formed following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Central Asian states have retained as international boundaries the former Soviet Socialist Republican (SSR) boundaries demarcated in Soviet times. Previously porous republican boundaries are now subject to strict border control measures which restrict the movement of inhabitants across the new international boundaries. Areas once subject to Soviet centralized planning rules are now subject to different laws and institutions on each side of the international boundary. The agricultural and rural sectors are fundamental components of the economies of former Soviet Central Asian states providing employment, basic livelihood and social security.1 Ethnic Kyrgyz minorities remain as Tajik citizens in Tajikistan and vice versa. Pastoralism continues to be an important cultural component of the way of life of the ethnic Kyrgyz. Livestock are often equated with financial security and constitute an important point around which the rural Kyrgyz organize their social relations. Social status and wealth are measured by the quantity of livestock a person or household possesses.2 Mountain pastures are the greatest source of livestock forage in both countries.