Kazakhstan Imposes Quota on Wheat Exports Regional integration is often touted as a logical solution to problems like food insecurity, but it won’t necessarily solve a region-wide problem. By Catherine Putz April 19, 2022 Last week, Kazakhstan announced temporary quotas on exports of wheat and wheat flour, heightening regional concerns about food supplies. The quotas, which went into effect on April 15, will be in place until at least June 15 and limit exports of wheat grain to 1 million tonnes and wheat flour to 300,000 tonnes. Kazakhstan is a major global supplier of grains but an especially critical supply for its Central Asian neighbors. According to the International Grains Council (ICG), in the 2020-2021 season Kazakhstan exported an estimated 8.1 million tons (7.3 metric tons or tonnes) of wheat. In 2020, wheat accounted for more than a quarter of all Kazakh exports to Uzbekistan, for example. And in Tajikistan, Kazakh wheat is even more critical: Wheat alone accounted for more than 33 percent of all Kazakh exports to Tajikistan in 2020 and in that same year 96 percent of all the wheat Tajikistan imported came from Kazakhstan. According to RFE/RL, Tajikistan purchases nearly 1 million tons of wheat from Kazakhstan each year.