Kyrgyzstan’s Efforts to Ensure Food Security in the Context of Climate Change

Publication date: 28 January 2026

On 22 January 2026, Bekten Bekbolotov, Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic, participated online in the International Conference “Health and Nutrition in a Changing Climate”, held in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat.

In his remarks, Bekten Bekbolotov emphasized that for Kyrgyzstan, as a country highly vulnerable to climate change, food security as well as public health and nutrition remained top priorities and required a comprehensive, cross-sectoral approach.

Special attention was given to the implementation of the One Health concept, the development of resilient agri-food systems, and the strengthening of regional cooperation in the face of climate change.

The speaker noted that Kyrgyzstan had significantly strengthened its legal and regulatory framework on food security, was successfully implementing the State Food Security and Nutrition Program, and currently provided hot meals to more than 80% of schoolchildren.

Kyrgyzstan reaffirmed its readiness to further cooperate with international partners in addressing climate challenges and in sustainably improving public health and nutrition.

In Kyrgyzstan, the One Health Program on pandemic prevention, food system resilience, and ecosystem health in Central Asia is being successfully implemented with funding from the World Bank. The program is being implemented by a quadripartite group comprising the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with financial support from the World Bank, and the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC) acting as the program coordinator.