Kazakh president proposes development of agricultural cooperatives

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has proposed to develop agricultural cooperatives in the country, the press service of Akorda reported.

On September 7, President Nazarbayev was on a working visit to the Akmola region of Kazakhstan, where he held a meeting with heads of the grain producing regions of the country, as well as with farmers.

"The main goal is to make agriculture highly efficient and bring it to export with the processing sector. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to change the structure of agriculture, the core of which should become strong cooperatives. This, in turn, provides a wide field for business," Nazarbayev said.

He also stressed the importance of developing supporting services such as veterinary aid, transportation, and the storage of agricultural products.

The Kazakh President believes that in order to boost the agricultural sector, the country needs to create favorable conditions for attracting investors engaged in the processing of commodities.

"It is important to increase the cost of the agricultural product through its processing, as well as to increase added value," he noted.

Nazarbayev also stressed the importance of increasing the efficiency of use of agricultural lands. In this regard, he noted the importance of a prudent attitude to rural labor and facilitation of land transactions.

The Kazakh president also said that the demand from neighboring countries for Kazakh agricultural products amounts to 210 billion tenges ($861.5 million), and added that his country enjoys great potential to meet this demand.

Kazakhstan is an important producer and exporter of high-quality wheat. The average annual production stands at about 13 million tons, but output is highly dependent on weather and in recent years has fluctuated between 10 and 17 million tons.

However, agriculture in Kazakhstan still remains a small-scale sector of Kazakhstan's economy. Agriculture’s contribution to the GDP remains under 10 percent, occupying only 20 percent of labor. At the same time, more than 70 percent of its land is occupied by crops and animal husbandry.

Only 25 million hectares of the country’s total 35 million hectares of arable land are used today.

The government is taking the necessary measures to develop this sector. President Nazarbayev instructed the government in February 2015 to continue taking such measures as part of Kazakhstan’s anti-crisis measures and to increase the funding of agribusiness entities.

In this regard, the government has adopted the "Agribusiness 2020" program for agricultural development covering 2013-2020, which includes all types of government support.

The measures have so far showed bright results. Agricultural production has doubled in Kazakhstan over the last five years, while agricultural exports over the past five years have increased 1.6 times, up to $3 billion. Investments in fixed capital in agriculture have reached $1 billion, a growth of over 16-percent.