On February 21, 2024 the Ministry of Agriculture in the Kyrgyz Republic hosted a dynamic meeting that brought together project experts from the “Value Chain Agrofinance Project” with the dedicated team and members of the Flour Millers Association.

During this enlightening session, project experts Almaz Davletov and Victor Kiriyak shared valuable insights into the importance and unique aspects of standards and product certification schemes.

Engaging in lively discussions, participants received clear answers to their questions about certification schemes for quality management and food safety. The experts clarified the concepts behind standards and certification schemes, highlighting key players and ways in which producers can receive assistance in implementing these vital measures. Special attention was given to explaining how technical support from the “Value Chain Agrofinance Project” can be accessed to facilitate the implementation of quality management and food safety standards and certification schemes.

This meeting served as a collaborative platform, fostering mutual understanding between project experts and the Flour Millers Association, with the shared goal of enhancing and streamlining standards and certifications within the Kyrgyz Republic’s agricultural sector.

An introductory workshop on international standards and certification schemes for food quality and safety, such as ISO 9001, ISO 22000, GLOBAL GAP, Good Aquaculture Practices, EU ORGANIC and FAIRTRADE, was held within the framework of the Value Chain Agro Finance project in Kyrgyzstan.

The workshop aimed to familiarize enterprises’ representatives – members of the Association of Fishery Producers of Kyrgyzstan – with international quality standards, their implementation and to help them select reasonable and appropriate standards. The participants were further provided information about the Project activities, e.g. about the promotion of enterprises’ certification, selection criteria and ways to obtain technical assistance on implementation of food safety and quality standards and certification schemes.

The workshop was held in Tokmok and was attended by representatives of six fisheries of Chui region. It included an in-depth discussion on the implementation of international standards at the stages of incubation, growing and processing of fish, to facilitate further export of fish products.

“At this seminar we received a lot of useful information about food safety standards and their implementation as well as learned more about the proposed certification possibilities of enterprises. It was a good seminar, in the future we plan to use the information received in the development of our business”, said Kalys Zhumabaev, who participated in the seminar and works for “Asia Plus” company.

The Project plans to organize similar seminars for food producers on the certification of enterprises according to international standards in order to increase their export potential in the sector.

Note: The Value Chain Agro Finance Project in Kyrgyzstan was launched on April 25, 2023 and provides support to farmers and value chain actors to introduce new advanced technologies for the production and processing of agricultural products, to introduce international quality standards for products, and to access long-term agricultural investment loans in local currency.

The Project’s budget is EUR 37 million and the Project is co-financed by the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the German Development Bank (KfW).

The Value Chain Agro Finance Project is implemented by the German consulting company GOPA AFC (in consortium with the CAIConsulting) with the support and participation of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic.

On December 11 we held a working meeting in Bishkek under the “Value Chain Agro Finance” project. Among the participants were heads of agricultural clusters, business associations and specialized structural units of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic.

During the meeting, the project team presented the project activities and provided information on the technical support for enterprises which are processing agricultural products. Moreover, we informed about the implementation of international food safety standards, product quality and certification schemes.

“It is important for us to bring key information about the activities of the “Value Chain Agro- Finance” project to the participants of agricultural VCs and to get feedback and expectations from the project. The working meeting was dynamic and, what is pleasing, with active involvement of the participants, which shows the high interest and importance of the project implementation in the Kyrgyz Republic”, says Team Leader Victor Chiriac.

The project aims to introduce advanced agricultural production technologies, including green, resource-saving and climate change-resistant technologies as well as processing and distribution technologies in the agri-food sector. Moreover, it introduces international certification systems and aims to integrate farmers into value chains.

The total budget of the “Value Chain Agro -Finance” project, co-financed by the European Union, the European Investment Bank and the German Development Bank (KFW) is 37 mio EUR.

The “Value Chain Agro -Finance” project was officially launched on April 25, 2023 and is implemented by the German company AFC Agriculture and Finance Consultants, in consortium with CAIConsulting, with the assistance and participation of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic. The project will work with partner financial institutions and agricultural SMEs, processing companies and other value chain stakeholders through tailored technical assistance.

The project is implemented within the framework agreement between the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany on financial and technical cooperation for 2015-2016 (ratified by the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic No. 66 of May 20, 2016).

From October 20^th to 22^nd, 2023, Agroprom hosted the “Agro-Expo 2023” exhibition and forum in Bishkek. The event brought together all active participants in the agricultural market, including farmers, agricultural enterprises, and financial institutions.

The “Value Chain Agro Finance” project, co-funded by the European Union, the European Investment Bank, and the German Development Bank (KfW), actively participated in the event and presented the project’s opportunities for the development of the country’s agro-sector. The project was represented by Akimbek Bektenaliev, a capacity development expert in agricultural finance. He participated in a panel discussion on agriculture finance and also answered visitors’ questions at the project stand in the exhibition hall.

“I learned about this significant project today and am pleasantly surprised by the opportunities it will offer. I am looking forward to the opening of registration for participation, and we will definitely apply with our company, Poliv.KG. I hope we can secure financing” noted Chubak Boykonov, a visitor of our project stand and the director of Poliv.KG.

In recognition of the project’s active participation in the event, we were awarded a participant’s diploma and were invited to further engage with the exhibition’s host, the Association for the Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The “Value Chain Agro Finance” project was launched in April 2023. With a total budget of 37 million euros, it will assist farmers and value chain enterprises in adopting advanced agricultural production and processing technologies, implementing international quality standards, and gaining access to long-term agricultural investment loans in the national currency.

The project is implemented by AFC Agriculture and Finance Consultants in consortium with CAIConsulting and with the support and active participation of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic.

On 4 July, 2023, a roundtable discussion on the “Value Chain Agro Finance” project was held, in Bishkek.

The event was attended by 26 representatives of Kyrgyzstan’s agribusiness sector actively contributing to the development of the sector: farmers, representatives of agro clusters, business associations, processing companies, local agricultural advisory organizations, international donors of the project and government agencies.

“For the success of agriculture in Kyrgyzstan it is necessary to enter international markets, but our products must meet all international standards, so we need to consolidate all market players into one chain and build it correctly. So we need to consolidate value chain agro finance (VCAF) participants to achieve these standards and strengthen their interaction in the VCAF.

At the moment, our farmers are constantly facing sales problems and this situation is only getting worse every year. The global market requires high standards and Kyrgyz companies need to meet them. For this purpose, it is very important to develop a value chain and projects like this are very good to give all the necessary tools: knowledge, technology, financial resources“, says Tilek Toktogaziev, Chairman of the Association of Berry Growers of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Participants jointly discussed the methodology for selecting the agro value chains that will be supported by the project. During the roundtable, they assessed in groups the selection criteria, bottlenecks in the value chains, and possible solutions to identified problems. Following the discussions, the participants expressed their approval of the selection criteria and for the selected value chains for further support of the project.

The “Value Chain Agro Finance” project was launched on 25 April 2023 with a total budget of 37 million Euro. The project aims to strengthen existing agricultural value chains in the Kyrgyz Republic by supporting the adoption of best agricultural practices, competitive post-harvest handling methods and access to long-term agricultural investment loans in local currency for small and medium-sized agro-industrial enterprises.

The total budget of the project is 37 million euros and is provided by the European Union, the European Investment Bank and the German Development Bank (KFW).

European Union funds in the amount of 5 million euros of the total project budget are allocated to support the agricultural finance sector and enable farmers and agribusinesses to upgrade equipment and apply modern technology in their operations.  The funds for lending to farmers, processors and other value-chain participants, are provided by the European Investment Bank and the German Development Bank (KFW) in the total amount of 31 million euros.

The project is implemented by AFC Agriculture and Finance Consultants  in consortium with CAIConsulting  with the support and active participation of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic.