Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia dominated by the majestic Tian Shan snow-capped mountain range. A former Soviet Republic, the country gained independence in 1991. Although it has since made some economic progress, almost 40 percent of the people remain below the poverty line and an estimated 47 percent are food-insecure. One of the main reasons large parts of the population are locked in a cycle of poverty and hunger is that the country is frequently exposed to natural disasters shocks such as earthquakes, mudslides and flooding combined with dilapidated infrastructure and a complex ethnic and political environment.
Already a food deficient country, Kyrgyzstan suffered a crippling drought that destroyed the harvest in 2008 and was followed by the harshest winter in 40 years. Energy blackouts and food shortages for weeks on end combined with a significant drop in remittances and soaring food prices have pushed food insecure households over the edge.
The economic recovery process that had started in late 2009 came to a grinding halt in April 2010 when former President Bakiev was overthrown in a violent uprising leaving a caretaker government in power until elections took place in October 2010 and a government was formed in December of the same year. The April events had led to inter-ethnic tensions that engulfed the southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad in June 2010 causing tens of thousands to flee across the border to Uzbekistan. Around 300,000 people were displaced within the country, large parts of Osh were destroyed and lives and livelihoods were lost. While the vast majority of refugees and internally displaced people have since returned, the physical, economic and social schisms born out of the violence will require long-term assistance to rebuild infrastructure, livelihoods and, above all, trust.
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