Oil rents have driven Kazakhstan's growth so far, but reliance on oil alone will not produce a long-run level of growth close to Kazakhstan's potential. Kazakhstan has a potentially strong comparative advantage in agriculture, being endowed with one of the world's highest arable land masses per capita and having sufficient fiscal resources to invest in the sector's development, as well as having political commitments to supporting it. However, the country remains a net food importer, owing to challenges such as inefficient farm size, highly variable cropping conditions, water scarcity, poor public infrastructure, and fragmented value chains. The study helps to focus and possibly re-orient Kazakhstan's current budget outlays in agriculture of up to 1.5 billion EUR annually. Until 2017, ADB spent 160 million EUR in Kazakhstan on financial assistance and projects in the area of agriculture.
The full text of the study can be downloaded in English and Russian languages here. Find the full ADB press release from 28 August 2018 here.
IAMO teams up with Asian Development Bank to support economic diversification in Kazakhstan
On Thursday 28 August 2018, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched a diagnostic study in Astana (Kazakhstan) arguing that Kazakhstan should accelerate reforms towards economic diversification and take advantage of the country’s large export potential. IAMO researchers Martin Petrick and Saule Burkitbayeva together with ADB economist David Raitzer contributed one of the key chapters focusing on agricultural sector reforms.
