Browse Data and Analysis

Central Asia is a diverse, important corner of the world and a growing market for U.S. goods. Agricultural imports from the world for Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan totaled $11.6 billion in 2023 and have nearly doubled over the last three years, with the United States as the 11th largest trade partner at $196 million.

Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, is expected to drop by more than 50 percent in marketing year 2024/25, due to extended dry spells associated with the El Niño event. Almost a million hectares of corn have been destroyed by the drought that forced the Zambian President to declare a “National Disaster and Emergency”.

On December 7, 2023, the Veterinary Service at the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic informed the U.S. Department of Agriculture in writing that they will no longer accept the U.S. Department of Agriculture's, Food Safety Inspection Service, 9060-5 Meat and Poultry Export Certificate of Wholesomeness. USDA is actively working to resolve this issue.

Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, is expected to grow by 23 percent to 3.3 million metric tons (MMT) in marketing year (MY) 2023/24, mainly due to an upsurge in planted area.

Since December 2022, rainfall across most of Iraq has been positive, expected to result in favorable yields and increased production for winter crops wheat and barley, with rice expected to rebound this summer for marketing year (MY) 2023/24.

Despite lower production in marketing year (MY) 2022/23, Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, will be sufficient to meet domestic demand. Zambia’s corn crop is forecast to decline by 25 percent to 2.7 million metric tons (MMT) in MY 2022/23, after producing a record crop 3.6 MMT in MY 2021/22.

On May 17, the Government of Iraq (GOI) announced higher purchase prices for locally-produced wheat in an effort to incentivize farmers to market their crop to the Ministry of Trade. On June 8, the GOI also passed a food security bill that allows the government to use public funds to meet urgent food needs, including issuing tenders to import wheat.

Continued drought and water shortages is affecting economic activities in Iraq, especially grain production in 2022. The Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture cut agricultural cropping in irrigated areas to 50 percent less than the previous year due to shortages in surface water.

Zambia produced its largest corn crop on record in the 2021/22 MY. This bumper corn crop of 3.6 million tons follows on Zambia’s third largest corn crop of 3.4 million tons produced in the 2020/21 MY.

This report contains summaries of relevant decisions and documents from the Armenia-Belarus-Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan-Russia Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) meetings, published between November 21, 2020, and July 22, 2021, that impact EAEU food and agriculture policy.

The Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture recently released its 2021 plans for total planted area of summer crops – corn and rice – following approval by the Ministry of Water Resources.

Effective April 15, Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture issued a number of decisions to restrict the transshipment of wheat and barley inside Iraq to limit the entry of crops from unknown sources.