ASTANA – Government officials approved Nov. 6 a 2018-2021 roadmap draft to ensure a domestic food supply for the nation’s capital.
Arman Evniyev. Photo credit: primeminister.kz.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev directed the Ministry of Agriculture to develop the stable supply of domestic food products to Astana, for which a two-year road map was initially drawn out.
The 2017-2018 road map for Astana’s food belt spanned 17 districts of the Akmola region and four districts of the Karaganda region, said First Vice Minister of Agriculture Arman Evniyev.
Thirty-six milk stations, 56 feeding grounds and one meat processing plant were set up in the Akmola region in 2017. In 2018, 19,400 tonnes of meat, 1,500 tonnes of sausage products, 41,600 tonnes of processed milk, 601 tonnes of butter and 651 tonnes of cheese and cottage cheese were produced.
In the Karaganda region, 38 feeding grounds and 12 meat processing plants were set up in 2017 and eight milk stations were created in 2018. This year, 10,700 tonnes of meat, 3,500 tonnes of sausage products, 9,500 tonnes of processed milk, 368 tonnes of butter and 1,243 tonnes of cheese and cottage cheese were produced.
Evniyev also reported that 92 projects within 50 kilometres of Astana were identified and implemented, which the Ministry of Agriculture’s project office monitored on a weekly basis.
The 2018-2021 draft roadmap centres on developing production within the food belt zone, ensuring a stable supply of food products from other regions that are not feasible to produce within this zone, building trade and logistics infrastructure and implementing protections against unsafe products.
At the meeting, Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev specified areas of improvement regarding the draft roadmap.
Although the roadmap addresses food availability, the prices at which products reach the final consumer must not be overlooked. The agriculture and national economy ministries and city akimats (administration) are to keep the food belts’ prices under special control.
In addition, more than 20 measures on Astana’s stable food supply were put forward in the updated road map, for which the ministries and city akimats are to establish performance indicators to assess efficacy. Also, construction of Astana’s wholesale distribution centre is to continue at a quicker pace, according to the latest roadmap.
