Every 15th person in Kyrgyzstan suffers from malnutrition, that is, the human diet contains insufficient amounts of nutrients or a person consumes excess amounts of food. Every 14th child under the age of five is overweight, and every 6th adult is obese. Around the world, issues of ensuring food security and...

In Kyrgyzstan, a FAO pilot programme is enabling local farmers to supply food for schoolchildren’s meals

It is estimated that about half of the world’s obsolete pesticides can be found in the former Soviet Union, with many of them stored throughout Central Asia. As an important centre for agriculture, particularly cotton production, the subregion was a heavy user of pesticides. What remain are inappropriate burial sites,...

Installing solar panels on foresters’ houses and educating children and youth on sustainability and environmental protection – these are two recent ways in which Kyrgyzstan, together with FAO, has set about upscaling its sustainable forest management. Solar panels are gaining popularity as an affordable and clean source of energy, and now,...

Young people have key roles to play in helping achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. With this in mind, FAO is actively trying to involve young people in taking actions for a better future. One of the ways recent FAO has done this is through an annual youth camp held...

Kyrgyzstan has all the ingredients needed to be a leader in the production of high quality fruit and vegetables – its unique soil and climate create a perfect environment for horticulture. That’s why the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Industry and Melioration of the Kyrgyz Republic, with the technical and consultative support...

As a landlocked country infused with rivers, springs and freshwater lakes, including the world’s second-largest high-mountain lake, Issyk-Kul, the Kyrgyz Republic has an abundance of freshwater resources for aquaculture. Having realized this, the country has been making its path, with the help of FAO, to develop this to a full-scale...

A programme that helps rural women in Kyrgyzstan gain access to new economic opportunities has received significant financial support from the Swedish government. The USD 5 million contribution from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) will help expand the Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural...

Supporting the Kyrgyzstan government’s pursuit to unleash the country’s export potential, FAO is conducting a one-day workshop today in Bishkek to discuss with participants how to diversify agrifood exports and to enter the European and Chinese agricultural markets. The broad range of participants could have a large positive effect on Kyrgyz exports. The...

Geographical indication (GI) schemes can play a special role in promoting sustainable rural development, improving farm income and opening new export potential. Natural factors such as soil, climate and plant varieties play a major role in producing a unique product. Usually, GIs comprise knowledge and skills passed on from generation...

Agricultural development in Kyrgyzstan is being hampered by farmers’ lack of access to quality seeds, finance and market information, according to a new FAO assessment of value chains and the agribusiness environment. Additional factors slowing the development include scattered production and the prevalence of production cooperatives over service ones, said the...

Meeting for the second time, Kyrgyz stakeholders gathered this week in Bishkek to advance the country’s national criteria and indicator set for sustainable forest monitoring. The exercise, carried out under a joint project of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and FAO, is especially important today; Kyrgyzstan is currently...

This capacity building project has been accepted for funding by the United Nations Development Account (UNDA), under the 10th tranche. The timeframe of the project is 2016-2019. The objective of this project is to strengthen the national capacity of five target countries (Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan) to develop national...

A logistics centre was opened today in northern Kyrgyzstan’s Kemin district to aid in supplying local schools with fresh agricultural produce. An initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the centre should improve the quality of school meals and secure a sustainable market for local...

Quinoa, once a staple food of only the indigenous people in the Andes, has become a darling of food aficionados around the world in recent years. So popular it has grown that even some fast food restaurant chains have now dishes and salads with it on their menus. Its exceptional...

Despite serious influences of climate change on food security and farm income, there is insufficient research in Central Asia on the impact of climate change on agro-ecosystems, farm incomes, and analysis of the potential adaptation strategies. There is very limited use of integrated assessments critical for analyzing environmental, economic and...

By pooling the ideas and knowledge of technical experts, partners, and concerned national institutions, Kyrgyzstan aims to prepare a high-quality proposal for financing by the Green Climate Fund. A three-day national facilitation workshop on Green Climate Fund readiness and project formulation – hosted and organized by Kyrgyzstan’s State Agency on...

This is the policy brief drawn from a longer review that analyses and summarizes impact evaluation findings that focus on the interaction between agricultural interventions (including rural extension services, rural development, natural resource management, access to markets, subsidized credit, investment grants, access to improved seeds and fertilizer subsidies), and social...

Cooperatives are a relatively recent business model, dating back only to the 1840s, but their short history has been full of twists and turns. Today, in countries once part of the Soviet Union, cooperatives operate under a wide variety of laws, regulations and tax codes. Now those laws, civil codes and...

This is a compilation of case studies written by AFA members who implemented FFF projects in 2015-2016. The cases reflect the struggles, the actions and the lessons learned by AFA members in organizing and building the capacities of their members in forested landscapes, at village, commune or district/town levels, in...