Risk plays an important role in agricultural decision-making, particularly in those regions that are remarkably exposed to natural hazards and underdeveloped input and output markets. This is especially true for crop production in CIS countries where many farms have to deal with low liquidity and sharp continental climate at the same time. The discussion paper analyses the results of expert interviews, a workshop with key-informants and a farm survey which investigated production conditions, risk attitudes and risk management techniques with respect to the requirements of a functioning crop insurance system in Kazakhstan.