Cyprus

The Cyprus food insecurity challenge

Compared with many countries, Cyprus does not face widespread famine or visible hunger. The issue is subtler: hidden hunger and affordability problems. Lower-income households may get enough calories, but they struggle to buy high-quality fresh produce, fish, and protein as prices rise.

Recent Eurostat data show food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation in Cyprus has repeatedly outpaced overall inflation, with a notable spike back to about 5% annual food inflation in late 2024, putting Cypriots among those in the eurozone with the sharpest food price increases.

At the structural level:

• Cyprus is self-sufficient in many fruits, vegetables and livestock products, but remains a net importer of cereals, beef, and dairy, and fully dependent on imports of staples like sugar, rice, coffee and tea.
• The country also relies heavily on imported agricultural inputs - fertiliser, animal feed, fuel and machinery—and imports a significant share of edible oils and other products from volatile markets such as Ukraine.

When global prices spike or supply chains are disrupted (as seen during the pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war), Cypriot consumers feel it quickly in supermarket aisles.

Farmers’ unions have recently warned that if Cyprus does not reduce its dependence on rainfall and climate-sensitive water supplies, it may move from food price inflation into genuine food insecurity for certain products.

Water, climate and the smallholder squeeze

Cyprus sits on the front lines of climate change. Rainfall has dropped about 15% over the past 90 years, while average temperatures in Nicosia have climbed nearly 1.8°C – roughly double the global average.

For agriculture, that translates into:

• Chronic water scarcity, even with one of Europe’s highest dam-to-population ratios
• Stronger competition between tourism, cities and farms for limited freshwater
• More frequent droughts that hit yields for water-intensive crops and feed

Research shows that climate change is already cutting into agricultural water availability; irrigated crops in particular are at risk unless alternative water sources and smarter allocation are developed.

Smallholder farmers - who make up roughly 90% of holdings, many under five acres are especially exposed. They face:

• High costs for irrigation water, especially when reservoirs are low and desalinated water must fill the gap
• Rising prices for imported fertilisers, feed and fuel
• Weather-related crop losses, with millions of euros in compensation paid in recent years for damage from extreme events
• Difficulty passing their costs on to consumers in a market dominated by large retailers and competition from cheaper imports

As one farmers’ representative put it in 2025, “you can’t cut water from farmers to supply golf courses and hotels” - not if you want long-term food security.

What the government is doing

Being an EU member, Cyprus shapes its food and agriculture strategy through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The CAP Strategic Plan 2023–2027 and accompanying national rural development programmes aim to:

• Renew the productive potential of agriculture
• Support farmers’ incomes and competitiveness
• Promote climate-smart, resource-efficient practices
• Attract younger generations into farming and maintain rural social cohesion

New strategies for “sustainable growth and competitiveness” in agriculture are backed by around €455 million in EU and national funds to modernise farms, adopt new technologies, and promote quality local products.

On the water side, the government is doubling down on desalination and water reuse. Desalination plants already provide about 70% of drinking water, and plans call for expanding both fixed and mobile desalination capacity, while subsidising hotel-level desalination and upgrading aging water networks that lose up to 40% of water through leaks.

Cyprus has also joined with other Mediterranean EU states (the “MED9”) in calling for coordinated action on drought, climate risks and agricultural resilience, highlighting the need for innovation, digital tools and better risk-management schemes for farmers.

All of this is important but climate projections suggest that even more emphasis on water-smart, land-efficient local food production will be needed, especially for fresh produce.

Rising food prices and the burden on households

Even when food is available, affordability is a growing concern. Repeated episodes of elevated food inflation, especially for perishable goods, hit low-income households hardest.

Key dynamics include:

• Imported cereals, oils and inputs tie local prices to volatile global markets
• Tourism and higher-income demand can push up prices for fresh produce, meat and fish in retail outlets near tourist areas
• High energy and desalination costs can filter through into retail food prices indirectly

As costs rise, some Cypriot families trade down: less fresh fruit, vegetables and lean proteins; more refined grains, cheap oils and processed foods. That pattern risks worsening “hidden hunger” - micronutrient deficiencies despite adequate calories.

Why sustainable local agriculture matters

Cyprus cannot and probably should not aim for full food autarky. But expanding sustainable, high-value local agriculture is central to:

• Buffering global shocks by reducing reliance on imports for at least some fresh produce and staples
• Stabilising prices by shortening supply chains and cutting freight and middlemen costs
• Protecting natural resources, especially water and soil, through regenerative practices and smart farming
• Creating rural jobs and opportunities for young farmers in a sector that is increasingly tech-driven and export-oriented

With climate change accelerating, the priority is to move from water-intensive, input-heavy systems to more efficient, diversified and drought-resilient production models.

This is where partnerships between Feed An Island, Crop Circle Farms and local actors in Cyprus and the wider Mediterranean can make a meaningful contribution.

How Feed An Island & Crop Circle Farms can partner with Cyprus

Feed An Island and Crop Circle Farms specialise in compact, circular farm and garden systems designed for islands: high yield per square metre, drastically reduced water and fertiliser use, and modular “farm-in-a-box” deployment. Those features line up closely with Cyprus’ needs and policy directions.

1. High-yield micro-farms for vegetables and herbs

Crop Circle designs arrange crops in spiral or circular beds, optimising plant spacing, sun exposure and root-zone overlap. For Cyprus, where many holdings are under 5 acres and fragmented, these systems could:

• Turn small plots or corners of existing fields into intensive vegetable and herb hubs
• Supply local markets, restaurants and hotels with fresh, branded “island-grown” produce
• Be tailored to drought-tolerant Mediterranean staples—tomatoes, peppers, leafy greens under shade, herbs, carobs, prickly pear under the perimeter, etc.

2. Water-smart irrigation and climate resilience

By pairing circular beds with drip or subsurface irrigation, mulching and micro-climate design (windbreaks, shade sails, living hedges), Crop Circle systems can deliver:

• Up to 50–90% reductions in water use compared with traditional open-field rows (based on similar climate-smart systems)
• Better resilience in drought years, helping farmers maintain yields even when reservoirs and groundwater are stressed

These approaches dovetail with ongoing national work on smart irrigation, recycled water use, and water-efficiency research in agriculture.

3. Pilots aligned with CAP and Med9 priorities

A Feed An Island–Crop Circle partnership could:

• Launch pilot sites in collaboration with Cyprus’ Department of Agriculture, local cooperatives and universities, focusing on regions already experimenting with regenerative practices
• Integrate digital monitoring—soil moisture sensors, yield tracking and remote data - supporting the EU’s digital and smart-farming goals
• Design projects that qualify for CAP eco-schemes or rural development funding, easing adoption for smallholders

Because the technology is modular, it can also be replicated across other Mediterranean islands facing similar water and import pressures - Crete, the Balearics, Sicilian communities and beyond.

4. Community, school and hotel gardens

Beyond commercial farms, Crop Circle gardens can support:

• School gardens that teach climate-smart agriculture and nutrition while providing fresh produce for canteens
• Community gardens in peri-urban areas, offering vulnerable households access to fresh vegetables and herbs
• Hotel gardens that reduce food miles for high-end cuisine and showcase Cypriot agro-innovation to tourists - while desalination-linked hotels shoulder some water costs, as the government already envisions.

Feed An Island can help design, install and train local teams to run these sites, leaving long-term capacity on the island.

A Mediterranean opportunity

Cyprus is not alone. Many Mediterranean islands face the same nexus of drought, tourism-driven demand, import dependence and price volatility. That makes Cyprus both a high-need case and an ideal demonstration hub for solutions that can be scaled regionally.

By pairing policy tools (CAP, Med9 cooperation, water-infrastructure investments) with on-the-ground innovations like Crop Circle farms and gardens, Cyprus can move from reacting to each drought and price spike to shaping a more resilient, sovereign food future.

In that vision, Feed An Island is not an outside saviour but a technical and design partner - working alongside Cypriot farmers, researchers, and communities to grow more food with less water, on the land they already steward.

If the island seizes that opportunity, “clean and green” Mediterranean agriculture won’t just be a slogan; it will be visible in every circular bed of tomatoes, herbs and greens feeding families from Paphos to Famagusta.