Kazakhstan, FAO highlight need to jointly combat land degradation, desertification
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov has met today Qu Dongyu, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), who arrived in Kazakhstan to participate in the 2025 Astana International Forum, Kazinform News Agency reports citing primeminister.kz.
The parties discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during the highest-level talks in 2024, as well as topical issues and workplans in line with the Kazakhstan-FAO Partnership Program.
Special attention was given to the prospects for deepening cooperation in agricultural processing and boosting exports of high-value-added agricultural products.
Olzhas Bektenov emphasized that agriculture is one of the key sectors of national economy, adding that Kazakhstan exports its agricultural products to 80 countries and is ranked 32nd among 113 countries in the Global Food Security Index.
In 2024, the country reported 13.7% rise in gross agricultural output.
“In the nearest years, Kazakhstan intends to boost agricultural processing sector and raise the share of high-value-added products to 70%,” he said.
The Prime Minister then said that the country plans to build new and modernize the existing processing enterprises.
“In the next three years, we plan to implement more than 600 investment projects in agri-food sector worth more than $4.8 billion,” Olzhas Bektenov highlighted.
Kazakhstan is interested in exchange of advanced agritechnologies and development of scientific approaches to production, he stressed.
For his part, Qu Dongyu highly appreciated Kazakhstan’s potential and expressed confidence in further deepening of interaction.
He said that Kazakhstan possesses vast land resources, rich agrobiodiversity and strategic position at the heart of Eurasia.
In his opinion, Kazakhstan has enormous potential to become a global leader in the field of sustainable agriculture.
He noted that being the world’s ninth largest country, Kazakhstan has all chances and ambitions to turn its agricultural systems into the driving force of sustainable development, economic growth and environmental responsibility.
He highlighted that FAO is proud of strong partnership with Kazakhstan and intends to further support the country in the achievement of food security, promoting innovations and sustainable solutions for future generations.
One of the priorities of Kazakhstan-FAO cooperation is the implementation of digital solutions in agrarian sector.
Kazakhstan initiated creation of AI-based geoinformation system and FitoSpace unified digital platform to combat and prevent locust spread. The platform will help improve accuracy of monitoring, minimize use of pesticides and reduce ecological risks.
The sides pointed out the need to further develop veterinary system and biosecurity.
The prospects for strengthening the interaction in sustainable management of water resources were also discussed.
Kazakhstan has already begun exploring the opportunities of creating a separate Kazakhstan-FAO partnership program on water resources management.
The sides also highlighted the need to jointly combat land degradation and desertification.
Kazakhstan is keen on expanding cooperation with FAO in implementation of initiatives, in particular, in the regions vulnerable to droughts and dust storms.
In general, the activity of the FAO in Kazakhstan is aimed at assisting in development of national strategic documents in the field of development of the country’s agricultural complex.
Presently, FAO’s portfolio of projects in Kazakhstan includes more than 55 initiatives - 33 completed and 22 ongoing projects.
Earlier, the Kazakh Prime Minister held a meeting with President of the Bundesrat of the Federal Republic of Germany, Anke Rehlinger, who arrived in Kazakhstan on an official visit.
