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Agriculture Food

Kyrgyz Sugar Farmers Being Ruined By Imports

Favorable weather conditions will allow Kyrgyz farmers to harvest a large beet crop this year. However, this will not stop the flow of imported sugar, as local production capacity covers only 65% of domestic needs. Cheap sugar imported from Russia and Kazakhstan could bankrupt farms. The sugar beet harvest in Kyrgyzstan usually begins in October-November, when processing begins. According to the ministry of agriculture, local farmers do not fully supply sugar beets to processing plants. Therefore, sugar has to be imported from Russia and Kazakhstan, jeopardizing the country's food security. Farmers themselves argue that cheap imports make beet cultivation unprofitable. Today there are about 3,000 beet farms in Kyrgyzstan, but their number is rapidly decreasing as it is becoming increasingly difficult to survive in the market. Nevertheless, the government is trying to rectify the situation by giving farmers 7 billion som ($78.6m) in soft loans. "If we talk about crops, they are not bad now. Only the lazy will be able to spoil the harvest. The weather conditions are excellent this year: there is moisture, not much heat, but enough, and beet is doing well. I think the harvest will be above average this year," Chui region farmer Mirgasym Allakhveranov told The Times of Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan should stop importing sugar from abroad and rely only on its own production, he said. The situation, he thinks, is exacerbated by the actions of resellers who export beets out of the country. "For the farmer it is very good, when they export beets (abroad), it means that the price will increase. But for the population it is not very good, because then the price of sugar rises. There is less sugar in the country and deficit begins. Naturally, traders, who have a special nose for these things, immediately raise prices," Allakhveranov added. According to official data, since the beginning of 2024, Kyrgyz authorities have already imported 10,800 tons of sugar worth $6.4m. The figures show that Kyrgyz stocks of the product are dwindling. Earlier, the ministry of agriculture submitted for public discussion a draft law proposing a ban on sugar exports until early fall. "The population's demand for the year is 145.7 thousand tons, in order to avoid a market price frenzy, as well as taking into account the temporary bans on the export of cane or beet sugar from Russia and Kazakhstan, it is necessary to establish a temporary ban on exports until the new harvest," reads the draft government resolution. To fully supply Kyrgyzstan with granulated sugar, about 20,000 hectares of beets must be planted each year, processing plant owners say. This year, 15,000 hectares were planted despite government subsidies. Farmer Mirgasym Allakhveranov said that in the 1960s, Kyrgyz beet was considered the best in Central Asia. Scientists worked to create a root crop that yielded a good harvest. But the methods they developed no longer exist – farmers buy seeds in Europe that are not always suitable for the local climate. This affects beet yields and leads to a...

Food Uzbekistan Economy Export/Import Healthcare Kazakhstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Kyrgyzstan

Central Asians Not Bananas About Bananas

According to the agricultural trade publication East Fruit, Central Asians have little taste for bananas. Kazakhstan has the highest consumption rate but with an average of 4.5 kg of fresh bananas eaten per person, per year, comes nowhere near Uganda where each year, individuals enjoy a whopping 270 kg of bananas. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are fast catching up with Kazakhstan whilst in Tajikistan, the annual banana consumption per head is only 2.3 kg. In Turkmenistan, it appears that many citizens never touch the fruit. Lagging far behind its neighbours, a very modest 160 grams are consumed per head, per year; a figure which according to East Fruit analysts is even lower than that recorded for North Korea. Not surprisingly, countries with the highest banana consumption tend to be those where the fruit is grown and exported and by way of explaining the above data, Andriy Yarmak, an economist in the investment department of the Unites Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated, "Such a low consumption of bananas in Central Asian countries is due to the distance of the countries from the port infrastructure, which makes logistics very expensive. In addition, many countries in the region have high tariff and non-tariff barriers that prevent the import of exotic fruits into these regions. The third factor is the relatively low prices of local fruits, especially in the season of their mass production.”

Food Social Central Asia Tajikistan

Food Aid for 1.5 Million People in Tajikistan

To help families in Tajikistan, increasingly in need of food supplies, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has allocated $7 million to the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) The funding will help meet both the needs of vulnerable sectors of the population and strengthen the local government's capacity to combat the effects of persistent price increases. In Tajikistan, the UNWFP currently guarantees access to good nutrition for over 120,000 people in 24,000 households. According to the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM), it was estimated that 1.56 million of the country's citizens people went hungry in 2023. Since then, circumstances have changed for the better. Acute food insecurity amongst the population fell to 16 percent from 20 percent. Nevertheless, WFP monitors continue to keep a watchful eye on household food security and market conditions, and are ready, if needed, to raise additional funds to feed families.

Food

Kyrgyzstan Becomes an Industrial Producer of Black Caviar

Until recently Kyrgyzstan has not produced or exported black caviar -- but by the end of 2024 the republic will have made several tons of it. Today Kyrgyzstan is breeding different species of sturgeon fish, which produce black caviar. Female fish purchased 4-5 years ago have now reached sexual maturity, and can produce a high volume of black caviar. Fish farm owners believe it is much cheaper to produce caviar in Kyrgyzstan than in Kazakhstan or Russia because of the better climatic conditions. "Sturgeon [reach maturity] in 4-5 years in our country, while in Russia it takes 8-10 years," the Kyrgyz fisheries association commented. One of Kyrgyzstan's fish companies said that as of a week ago, the country was not on the world's black caviar production lists. But today they are already harvesting caviar using the so-called 'lifetime method'. That means the caviar is simply squeezed out of a live fish. Therefore, from one fish it's possible to harvest caviar several times over the fish's lifetime. According to the producers, such caviar is usually larger in size and discernible by taste. "At the moment we are not talking about dozens, but hundreds of kilograms of caviar. By the end of 2024, tons of products will be produced, which will soon be available for sale on the shelves of domestic stores. At the moment, work is underway to produce cans and stickers," said Kyrgyz meat company ichthyologist Alexander Dytynyak. Meanwhile, black caviar exports from Kyrgyzstan to Russia have already begun. According to Russian Customs Service data, black caviar from Kyrgyzstan was not supplied to the Russian market at all until 2022, when 1.7 tons of it were sent. Experts from the food oversight agency Rosselkhoznadzor suspect that the caviar supplied to Russia is not actually produced in Kyrgyzstan, but is re-exported from Europe. To verify these speculations, the Russian inspection body inspected Kyrgyz fish farms last year. However, not all enterprises agreed to let Russian specialists in. "The refusal to participate in the inspection confirms the validity of Rosselkhoznadzor's claims and the possibility of supplying products from third countries under the guise of Kyrgyz products," the Russian agency reported. Last year, representatives of the European Union (EU) also noted the growth of caviar exports from Europe to Kyrgyzstan. According to them, after the introduction of economic sanctions against Russia, exports of the delicacy from Europe to Kyrgyzstan increased many times over.

Turkmenistan Food Export/Import Central Asia

The Cost of Bread and Flour in Turkmenistan is Steeply Rising

According to local media, bread and flour are becoming much more expensive in Turkmenistan’s state stores. The price of a kilogram of flour is being quoted at 3.5 manat ($1 at the state rate or $0.18 at the black market rate), instead of the one manat ($0.30 at the state rate or $0.05 at the black market rate) previously. Similarly, the cost of a loaf of bread has increased to 2.5 manats ($0.72 or $0.13) from one manat ($0.3 or $0.05). The food ration limit has stayed the same despite the price increases: one person can still only purchase three loaves of bread and five kilograms of flour. In Turkmenistan, state and private stores have entirely different prices. Private stores offer everything, but many families often cannot afford the goods. Although the prices in state stores are significantly lower, scarcity is a common issue, and there's a rationing quota that caps the quantity of goods sold to each individual. Additionally, lines frequently form in state stores because of the influx of customers looking to purchase bread at reduced prices. This occasionally leads to sad consequences; according to Turkmenistan’s domestic mass media, a woman was killed in a fight in the Tashkhovuz region last summer while purchasing subsidized flour. People in Turkmenistan prefer to purchase flour imported from Kazakhstan over local flour found in state stores, in part due to the country's growing demand for flour and bakery products, according to a report by Tukrman News. For instance, people in the Maryam region claim that Kazakh flour costs just slightly more and is of higher quality. A 50-kilogram bag of local flour costs at least 180 manat ($51.50), while the price of Kazakh flour is 200 manat ($60.10). However, according to some shoppers, Turkmen flour smells bad and looks gray in color. It is not available in infinite quantities: there is still a five-kilogram per person ration quota in place. According to people cited by Turkmen news, in addition to the price of bread and flour, prices for fertilizers, irrigation water and leases for the use of state equipment have increased several times. Unfortunately, farmers who rent land from the government aren't receiving any additional income from the increase in retail purchase prices.

Food Italy pasta

Italian Agricultural Holding Enters Kazakhstan Market

The Italian holding Bonifiche Ferraresi, which produces and markets agricultural products, has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Kazakhstan’s Agrofirm TNK. This was the result of negotiations between the Kazakh minister for agriculture, Aidarbek Saparov, and the management of Bonifiche Ferraresi in Rome last week, the Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture reported. Agrofirm TNK produces agricultural products on 400,000 hectares of land in the Akmola region, northern Kazakhstan. At the first stage of their partnership, the Italian and Kazakh companies intend to exchange experience regarding technology, seeds, and employee training. At the next stage they plan to develop processing, including pasta production. Forty enterprises currently produce pasta in Kazakhstan, the largest of which use durum wheat flour as a raw material, which has a high content of protein and iron. Traditional Italian pasta is made from this type of flour. “Kazakhstan has every opportunity to increase pasta production and exports, since it has its own raw material base. In 2022, Kazakhstan produced 15.6 million tons of soft wheat and 833 thousand tons of durum wheat, of which about 400,000 tons were exported to Italy, which is enough to increase the volume of pasta production, including in order to expand exports,” Mr Saparov said during the negotiations. The minister also told the Italian partners about the favorable investment climate in Kazakhstan, pointing out that investors can directly enter into an investment agreement with the Kazakh government to implement large investment projects, and receive certain benefits and preferences.