World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Overview

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.