Milking Success: How Dairy Farming Is Improving Lives in the Kyrgyz Republic

A typical day for Zamira Makeyeva begins at six in the morning. She milks her cows, feeds them, and tends to the calves. The milk collector arrives, and Zamira has her milk strained and poured into a tanker truck for delivery to a processing plant.

Just four years ago, Zamira would have never imagined she would have become a livestock farmer, staying at home to care for her four children after a brief stint working at a local shop. Everything changed when representatives from the Integrated Dairy Productivity Improvement Project (IDPIP) visited her village of Ak-Kochkor in the Kyrgyz Republic’s Issyk-Kul region, inviting local residents to try their hand at raising cows.

"I signed up right away. We gathered 25 people, and I became their leader. That’s how I began to learn and work," Zamira recalls, her determination evident. Through training organized by the project, Zamira learned how to properly care for dairy cows and achieve high milk yields. She received an interest-free loan to build a cow shed and purchase livestock. Zamira explains, “In 2020, I took out a loan of 68,000 soms (roughly $1,000). I was able to repay this loan from the income generated from selling milk." Her operation now serves as a model for training other dairy farmers.

Zamira is one of 8,500 dairy farmers in the country who got their start through IDPIP and have seen their lives transformed.

New Methods Bring Greater Opportunity

"Milk brings in good profits. We sell it, and with the proceeds, we buy feed and cover our expenses. Moreover, if calves are born in spring, they’ll be big by fall. We then auction them to pay for our children's university education and use the remaining money for other needs," Zamira proudly shares. Selling calves has become a major source of income for her.

For the past four years, farmers in Zamira’s area have utilized veterinary services for artificial insemination, boosting both the quantity and quality of calves being born. Farmers only pay about $3.50 for the genetic material from elite bulls sourced from abroad, while IDPIP covers the veterinary service, which costs around $14. "For residents of a poor, remote village, this represents significant savings," Zamira stresses.

Artificial insemination technician Ulan Imanbyaev has visited Zamira's farm multiple times. He notes, "Farmers in the region are eager to utilize this service. In just a few years, 4,900 improved breed calves have been born in Issyk-Kul region due to artificial insemination.”

This creates tangible impact for local dairy farmers. ”These improved breed are more profitable to sell because they are larger and gain weight well," Zamira emphasizes.

And they also produce more milk, bringing in more income that is driving reinvestment and creating new opportunities for local dairy farmers.

Developing Markets, Ensuring Food Safety

To succeed, dairy farmers in the Kyrgyz Republic must have demand from stable markets for their products. Beyond boosting dairy production, the IDA-supported IDPIP has facilitated the establishment of milk collection, quality testing, and processing enterprises. These initiatives are helping build value chains across communities, creating jobs, improving food safety, and producing goods for export.

Zhainagul Asakeyeva, a milk collector for a dairy plant in Pokrovka, frequently visits Zamira’s farm. She drives through nearby villages to collect fresh milk daily.

But Zhainagul does more than just collect, she also performs rapid milk analysis with specialized equipment. Before pouring milk into her tanker truck, Zhainagul tests for freshness and the presence of prohibited additives, ensuring a higher standard of food safety. "If we accept sour milk without testing, it can spoil the entire tank collected from the whole village, so this testing is crucial. The benefits of these devices are immense," explains Zhainagul. She maintains a detailed log of deliveries, including the quality and quantity, which is essential for accurate payments to farmers for their raw product.

Milk collection trucks like Zhainagul’s operate early in the morning and in the evening, coinciding with milking times across villages. The milk is then transported directly to the processing plant, where it undergoes further testing by laboratory technicians taking samples from each tank. Only after passing all these tests does the raw milk enter production, where it is transformed into butter, kefir, sour cream, and cheeses.

"To make high quality products, we need quality raw materials. With the equipment we received, we have achieved good results. People have come to understand the importance of delivering pure milk without dilution or falsification," relays Kuluipa Juzumalieva, head of the dairy processing plant in Issyk-Kul.

Thanks to this degree of quality and testing, dairy-based goods from plants like Kuluipa’s are being sold domestically and abroad, a boon for the country’s economy. These efforts to boost dairy production and processing in villages and towns across the Kyrgyz Republic’s Issyk-Kul, Naryn, and Talas regions are fostering a more inclusive and resilient agricultural sector—one where economic opportunities are truly flourishing.