Contemporary Life of Rural Kalmykia: On-Site Observations

Introduction. Small household farms are widespread enough in Kalmykia’s agricultural industry. Quite a share of local livestock products are those manufactured by such individual and household farms. Goals. The article aims to introduce outcomes of the expert survey, observations and interviews. Results. The work analyzes telephone survey data collected in the summer of 2020. The survey was attended by 100 proactive rural residents and ex-villagers that still stay in direct contact with their native rural localities. The paper also employs some unpublished materials collected during the research expeditions of 2019 and 2020, the latter being most useful in exploring daily practices of household farmers. The answers to our questions make it possible to assess their life satisfaction and current economic conditions. Special attention is paid to opinions of local rural experts regarding further development trends for corresponding communities.