Tashirov noted that currently, banks meet the needs of the agri-sector and farmers by only 3-4%. "Everyone acknowledges this, yet the situation remains unchanged. This is a road to nowhere," he added.
He is convinced that without a radical reassessment of credit policy, it is impossible to talk about true independence in the food market. Instead of the current 3-4 billion soms allocated to the agri-sector, subsidies and loans of 30-40 billion soms per year need to be attracted for agriculture to become the engine of the economy.
"This is not just about helping individual farms, but about a strategic change in financial policy in favor of rural areas. A significant part of the population in Kyrgyzstan lives and works in rural areas, and this is not the periphery, but the foundation of the economy," emphasized Yusup Tashirov.
The banking sector also faced criticism from the expert. He stated that commercial banks have become a closed club, lending to the same borrowers with an already established collateral base. As a result, thousands of small and medium-sized farms remain without financial support, new processing projects are not launched, and the country's financial system ignores the needs of the majority of agricultural producers.
The situation is exacerbated by a historical transition: from 600 Soviet collective farms, Kyrgyzstan has come to a multitude of fragmented owners. Although private initiative has formally developed, the sector has become highly fragmented and poorly capitalized. Production bases in the regions have fallen into disrepair, and cooperative ties have been destroyed. Tashirov is confident that restoring processing and implementing modern technologies is impossible without significant investments.
Despite the existing difficulties, the republic has potential. With sufficient funding, Kyrgyzstan can fully meet the needs in eight key areas of food security—from crop production to deep processing. To achieve this, it is necessary not only to provide targeted assistance but also to develop a strategy for increasing lending, create special programs for small farms, and actively promote cooperation.
The "Agrodialog–2026" forum should become a platform for frank discussion: agriculture requires not cosmetic intervention, but a large-scale development strategy. This choice needs to be made today, considering more prompt decisions from neighboring regions. The government's decision on financial support for agriculture will determine whether the agri-sector becomes a reliable foundation for the country's security or remains a missed opportunity.
