From “agrarian oligarchs” to a fair system: Tokayev on reforming the agro-industrial sector

Kazakhstan’s authorities are launching a reset of agricultural policy, placing emphasis on the consolidation of small farms and a revision of subsidy mechanisms. In an interview with the Turkistan newspaper, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that the country must move away from extensive support toward real efficiency of public spending and the development of export potential in livestock production.

The government has begun developing mechanisms to unite farmers. According to the country’s leadership, cooperation is capable of addressing the sector’s systemic problems: increasing labor productivity, bringing producers closer to sales markets, and establishing long-term supply chains with consumers.

The Head of State emphasized that the prerequisites for creating successful cooperatives exist in virtually every village. This includes pooling farmers’ efforts to organize summer grazing, as well as the collection and processing of agricultural products—milk, meat, wool, and hides. Tokayev described this process as an evolution from a “survival mode” to economic prosperity and an ideology of creation.

At the same time, the President stressed the inadmissibility of administrative pressure. The cooperative campaign must be based exclusively on explanatory and organizational work, with any elements of coercion strictly excluded.

Special attention in the interview was given to financial aspects. Kazakhstan’s agro-industrial complex receives unprecedented levels of state support, the scale of which surprises even colleagues from neighboring countries.

In 2023, the volume of concessional lending reached 1 trillion tenge.

In 2024, 580 billion tenge were allocated for these purposes.

However, the President pointed out a serious imbalance: over the past decade, government support has increased tenfold, while gross agricultural output (from 2015 to 2024) has grown only 2.5 times. According to Tokayev, this gap indicates insufficient efficiency of investments.

Moreover, the current distribution system has created inequality. Large market players—often referred to as “agrarian oligarchs”—are in a privileged position, receiving the bulk of subsidies, while small farms face a shortage of financing. The Head of State instructed the government to address this imbalance, noting that while subsidies are necessary, they should not foster dependency in rural areas.

Assessing sectoral achievements, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highlighted record levels of grain and flour exports and the expansion of supply geography in crop production. A similar breakthrough is now required in livestock farming.

Referring to global trends, the President cited forecasts indicating that by 2035 global consumption of red meat will increase to 233 million tons, while import demand will reach 27 million tons. Kazakhstan aims to occupy the niche of a major meat supplier, primarily targeting the rapidly growing markets of Asian countries. This objective became the central theme of the Second Forum of Agrarians held last November and will define the sector’s development strategy for the coming years.