An assessment of the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the agro-food sector of Kyrgyzstan

In mid-2009 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) commissioned some urgent research aimed at a snapshot assessment of the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the agro-food sector of Central and Eastern European and Central Asian countries. The objective was to propose policy options which can be applied by the FAO and other public authorities to lessen the undesirable effects of the current or future crises in the agro-food sector. This paper reports the results of the research conducted in Kyrgyzstan on three agricultural sub sectors: wheat, sunflower and dairy. About 70 in-depth interviews were conducted with major stakeholders such as farmers, traders, processors, banks and government officials in different regions of the country. The crisis had an impact on Kyrgyz agro-food sector value chains, though different stakeholders responded differently. Agricultural producers and processors were affected by the crisis, and farmers were affected more than other stakeholders. By contrast, the impact on the banking sector vis-à-vis agriculture was quite minor: a small increase the risk premium on credit. The Government has been making efforts to mitigate the consequences of the crisis, support local producers, and especially farmers growing wheat, but these have been largely ineffective.