BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 19
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
The implementation of all planned projects in 2021 will be carried out in close cooperation with authorities of Kazakhstan, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) told Trend.
FAO assistance in Kazakhstan is shaped by a new FAO Country Programming Framework (CPF) for 2021-2025, which is now being finalized for Kazakhstan.
“Jointly prepared with the Government and other partners, the CPF reflects relevant priorities in national development plans, including Strategy 2050 which cites global food security and depletion of natural resources as key challenges. The modernization of agriculture is a major element of the strategy,” the FAO said.
The FAO noted that the implementation of all planned projects in 2021 will be carried out in close cooperation with the Government of Kazakhstan, namely the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources, Ministry of Trade and Integration, national institutions as well as development partners and other institutions and centers under the above-mentioned ministries.
“For instance, one of the top priority projects is "Elaboration of the State Program 2022-2026 (including the Concept) of Agro-Industrial Development", under which FAO provides technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture in analyzing the current State Program of agro-industrial complex, the development of the concept and the State Program of the agro-industrial complex for the next period. Being the lead developer of such a high-level strategic document FAO is mainstreaming the food systems approach and sustainable development principles into the program,” the FAO said.
Two other priority projects in Kazakhstan are connected to the sustainable management of natural resources.
FAO is implementing a Global Environmental Facility funded project on “Integrated natural resources management in drought-prone and salt-affected agricultural production landscapes in Central Asia and Turkey (`CACILM2`)”, and is finalizing the preparation of the $7 million projects with World Bank – “Kazakhstan Resilient Agroforestry and Rangelands Project”. These projects are focused on the demonstration of the approaches, technologies and practices for tackling the adverse effects of climate change like soil degradation, droughts and changes in precipitations.
“Another priority project is “Promotion and exchange of good practices on the use of digital technologies in agriculture for further upscaling” that will document and assess the economic feasibility of digital technologies in Kazakhstan and will provide recommendations on the accelerated implementation of digital technologies in Kazakhstan,” the FAO.
In the framework of the project "Development of international agro-food hub and investments for agriculture", FAO will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Trade and Integration to promote Kazakh products in foreign markets, as well as the development of domestic and foreign trade, the FAO said.
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