Expert: Kyrgyzstan Self-Sufficient in Only Five of Nine Essential Food Products

Academician of the Kyrgyz National Academy of Sciences Zhamin Akimaliev has said that Kyrgyzstan currently produces enough of only five out of nine essential food items to meet domestic demand.

Akimaliev said that the essentials for food security include grain, potatoes, meat, dairy, eggs, vegetables, vegetable oil, sugar, and fruits and berries, The Caspian Post reports via Kyrgyz media.

While the country has long met local demand for milk, vegetables, and potatoes, it now also fulfills domestic requirements for sugar and meat.

Yet the expert cautioned that imports still play a major role in supplying the remaining four items-especially grain. He noted the comparative decline: in the 1980s-90s, Kyrgyzstan produced up to 1.5 million tons of wheat per year, exceeding its 1 million ton demand. Today, production has dropped to about 600,000 tons, leaving nearly 45 per cent of grain consumption reliant on imports from Kazakhstan and Russia.

Akimaliev urged a return to stronger wheat cultivation, especially expanding winter wheat acreage, which is more resilient to external disruptions. He also highlighted the country’s low self-sufficiency in vegetable oil-only around 20 per cent-and proposed increasing the planting of oilseed crops, including sunflower, safflower, soybean, flax, and rapeseed, by two to three times.

The academician described Kyrgyzstan’s current stance as an important advance in the agro-industrial sector but emphasized that achieving full food security requires concerted policy support, investment in resilient crops, and strategic planning.