Ensuring food security and competitiveness of the agro-industrial complex

Garantindo a segurança alimentar e a competitividade do complexo agroindustrial

Abstract

The formation of the Kazakh national agricultural market is complicated by a sharp decline in government assistance to the country's agricultural sector, a decrease in the effectiveness of its regulation, a violation of economic relations between market entities, a drop in effective demand of the population, the disintegration of the economic space of the Commonwealth of Independent States countries, an increase in food imports. The presented study is aimed at considering the regulation of processes and the security of the grocery market and the support by the state of Kazakhstan for its own agro-industrial complex. The following research methods were applied in the study: analysis and synthesis of information, parsing of literature data on the subject of the study, and classification of information and data. The paper discussed the issues of regulating the development and safety of the food market and state aid for the agricultural industry of the republic. Local and international food security was thoroughly studied as a mechanism of national security. In addition, the basic principles were determined of guaranteed supply of the population with necessary foodstuffs at the national level, and food safety in a globalizing world, which has aroused special interest in the research on the competitiveness in the agricultural sector and its management system. The competitive ability of agricultural products from the perspective of economists is the ability to compete on price terms and quality parameters while ensuring steady growth in sales volumes in the internal and external markets. The agro-industrial complex is an important segment of diversification. This research is of practical value for scientists who work and conduct scientific activities in the fields of public catering, agriculture, and the food industry.

Keywords:  Agricultural Market; Economic Relations; Food Market; Food Safety

Resumo

A formação do mercado agrícola nacional do Cazaquistão é complicada por um declínio acentuado na assistência governamental ao setor agrícola do país, uma diminuição na eficácia de sua regulamentação, uma violação das relações econômicas entre as entidades do mercado, uma queda na demanda efetiva da população, uma desintegração do espaço econômico dos países da Commonwealth of Independent States e um aumento nas importações de alimentos. O estudo apresentado tem como objetivo considerar a regulamentação dos processos e a segurança do mercado de alimentos, e o apoio do Estado do Cazaquistão ao seu próprio complexo agroindustrial. Os seguintes métodos de pesquisa foram aplicados no estudo: análise e síntese de informações, análise de dados da literatura sobre o assunto do estudo e classificação de informações e dados. O documento discute as questões da regulamentação do desenvolvimento e da segurança do mercado de alimentos, e da ajuda estatal para o setor agrícola da república. A segurança alimentar local e internacional foi estudada minuciosamente como um mecanismo de segurança nacional. Além disso, foram determinados os princípios básicos da garantia de suprimento da população com os alimentos necessários em nível nacional e a segurança alimentar em um mundo globalizado, o que despertou interesse especial na pesquisa sobre a competitividade do setor agrícola e seu sistema de gestão. A capacidade competitiva dos produtos agrícolas, do ponto de vista dos economistas, é a capacidade de competir em termos de preço e parâmetros de qualidade, garantindo um crescimento constante dos volumes de vendas nos mercados interno e externo. O complexo agroindustrial é um importante segmento de diversificação. Esta pesquisa é de valor prático para os cientistas que trabalham e realizam atividades científicas no campo da alimentação pública, da agricultura e do setor de alimentos.

Palavras-chave:  Mercado Agrícola; Relações Econômicas; Mercado de Alimentos; Segurança Alimentar

Highlights

• Regions play the main role in solving the problem of sustainable development of agri-food markets and enlargement of the self-sufficiency of the population with food

• An agri-food market is a specially equipped and reserved place used to provide services to create suitable terms for the sale of agricultural goods

• Regional food safety is the provision of sufficient nutrition resources to the population on a regional basis within a country

1 Introduction

Agri-food markets occupy a special place in a market economy, the main features of which are the specifics and properties of goods (products of agricultural origin, raw for industrial processing and foodstuffs). Regardless of whether agricultural production develops or not, there are agricultural and food markets in any country anyway, because they provide food to the population and implement socio-economic policies. Agri-food markets are complex organizational and production systems closely related to other markets in the agricultural sector (Panfilov & Andreev, 2018).

An agri-food market is a specially equipped and reserved place used to provide services to create suitable terms for the sale of agricultural goods. Due to the tense economic and international situation, food security is currently a priority of state policy. An effective competitive agricultural production is the strategic objective for the country that ensures national food security and the sustainable functioning of agricultural markets, which are one of the factors of the integrated development of the agrarian sector of the economy (Kerimkhulle et al., 2023). The current agri-food market is an integral part of the economy and occupies an important position in the system of markets since it covers the manufacturing and sale of agricultural finished goods and raw (Kravchenko et al., 2019).

The functions of the market include: establishing economic relations between its subjects, regulating the structure of production, and stimulating the introduction of the achievements of scientific and technical progress into production. Thus, the content of the market is manifested and implemented through its functions, which include: informational, intermediary, price, regulatory, stimulating, and social ones. The reimbursement of public expenditures on food manufacturing is the essence of market relationships founded on the equivalence of exchange and satisfaction of consumer needs (Letyagina et al., 2021; Shahini et al., 2023).

Regions play the main role in solving the problem of sustainable development of agri-food markets and enlargement the self-sufficiency of the population with food. Many economic, natural, resource, and social factors influence any agricultural market and its infrastructure. The Kazakh agricultural market is formed spontaneously in the context of financial and industrial instability of economic subjects, a reduction in the supply of local products combined with a reduction in production, uncontrolled price growth, fierce competition and low solvency of the people (Aitkazina, 2013; Tarshilova et al., 2017).

The progress of the national agri-food market of Kazakhstan is complicated by a sharp decline in government support for the country's agricultural complex, a decrease in the effectiveness of its regulation, a violation of economic relations between market entities, a drop in effective demand of the population, the disintegration of the economic space of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, an increase in food imports. It operates in conditions of weak infrastructure, a large number of intermediary structures, and imperfection of the regulation of market relationships between producers of agricultural goods, processors, and trade. At the same time, the production potential of the agricultural economic sector allows, with rational use, ensuring food security and creating significant export resources, increase in employment in agriculture and the incomes of agricultural producers, and stability of the agricultural and food market (Shashyna et al., 2018; Ighoshemu & Ogidiagba, 2022).

The financial security and competitive ability of production constantly interact with each other (Gizzatova, 2009). Also, these indicators are integral components of the agrarian and industrial complex and its individual industries. The competitive ability in the market is the main indicator of the developmental level of the agricultural complex, and financial security is a prerequisite for its being. The decline in competitiveness poses a threat to economic security, while economic security is a prerequisite for ensuring and improving competitiveness (Kazakovtseva & Gumarova, 2014; Sannikov, 2017).

The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and opportunities in the development of Kazakhstan’s agri-food market and the support provided by the state to its agro-industrial complex. The research aims to fill a critical gap in the existing literature by comprehensively investigating the factors leading to the decline in governmental support for Kazakhstan’s agro-industrial complex, the diminished effectiveness of regulations governing the agri-food market, and the disruption of economic relations among market participants. The novelty and importance of this study lies in its comprehensive examination of the multifaceted challenges and opportunities within the development of Kazakhstan’s agri-food market.

2 Materials and methods

The food market can be considered as a system of agricultural production, processing and distribution, exchange and consumption, or as a complex economic system in which many characteristics inherent in market relations are closely interrelated and interact. Food safety is one of the most urgent national security problems. For every person, food security is one of the necessary guarantees of the real, not declared, right to life. For society, this is the most important guarantee of social and political stability, and the harmonious development of all its strata. For the functioning of the state, food security is considered as a general economic factor, which plays an even greater role in the deeper crisis of power and the economy. During the research, the following methods of research were applied: synthesis and analysis of information, study of scientific data from literary sources on the research topic, as well as classification and systematization of data.

Synthesis is a method of research, the main purpose of which is to combine individual parts of the system under study, as well as its elements into one system. In the theory of organisation, any analysis contains two main procedures: dividing the whole into parts, as well as improving the functioning of each of these parts. Using the synthesis method, this scientific study examined the international experience of food security research and the long-term experience of developed countries in this field.

An analysis is an imaginary division of an object or phenomenon into its constituent parts, which is, the allocation of individual parts, features and certain properties. Only in their unity, analysis and synthesis give a complete and comprehensive knowledge of reality. The analysis gives knowledge about individual elements, and synthesis based on the results of analysis, combining these elements gives knowledge about the object as a whole. The methodology of the system approach to the design of organization management systems allows you to put a specific goal and a set of system tasks at the forefront. Using the analysis method, the international experience of food security study and the long-term experience of developed countries in this area were subsequently studied.

Classification is a general scientific method of systematization of knowledge aimed at organizing the totality of studied subjects in various fields of reality, knowledge, and activity into a system of subcontracting groups (classes), according to which these objects are distributed based on their similarity in some essential properties. Using this method, functions of marketing were determined within the confines of the integrated competitive management system.

The scientific literature was also analysed on the subject of the study. The works of researchers such as Kerimova et al. (2015), Ospanov et al. (2015), Litvinova (2020), Maslova et al. (2019), Nikitin & Neuymin (2018) were considered. The works of these researchers were reviewed and analysed in detail. The analysis and study of these works contributed to a detailed study of issues related to the agro-industrial market of Kazakhstan and some other neighboring countries.

3 Results and discussion

Today, various audiences discuss the food situation in the country: from hearings in the State Duma to meetings of regional and local administrations of the country, as well as in media and scientific publications. There are also more than a dozen definitions in the scientific community, but in general, they come down to the point that food safety is “the ability of a state to provide the population with sufficient and sustainable nutrition” (Papelo et al., 2000, p. 29) (Figure 1).

Figure 1
Four-point concept of food safety.

The key characteristic of the concept of stable food supply remains unchanged in all definitions with certain differences in the proposed interpretations of food security.

Territorial food security is divided into international, regional, national and local. International food safety refers to the provision of the population with necessary food resources throughout the world. National food safety is the provision of necessary food resources within a country. Regional food safety is the provision of sufficient nutrition resources to the population on a regional basis within a country. Food security is usually ensured by full, partial and imported food security. The complete food security, if a country fully supplies the people with its own foodstuffs, may be concluded. In turn, if the country cannot independently supply the people with food, and supplies are made at the expense of other countries, there is a dependence on food imports. Partial food security is characterised by balancing between complete security and dependence on imports, that is, a country partially provides the population with its own products, and partially with imported ones.

Because the sustainable food supply has most components of the concept of food safety for a long period, it was proposed to divide food security into stable, unstable and absent. Currently, research is of particular interest in food security in the globalized world. The concept of “globalization” is debatable and multifaceted. The following scientific interpretation of the concept is widespread in the scientific literature: “Globalization is the process of increasing the interconnection between the economies of the world” (Belikova, 2019, p. 64). The international experience of food security research and the long-term experience of developed countries in this field showed that such surveys should be conducted at least once a year and include the main issues related to food security to obtain timely and objective information on the above-mentioned problem. At the same time, the burden on respondents should be minimised.

The country’s food independence is at threat of reality if this danger is not properly realised and radical measures are not taken to eliminate it. First, this requires a positive influence of the state on the agrarian sector of the economy of the country. The state control tasks of agribusiness are:

• agricultural production development;

• provide the country’s food safety;

• adjustment of markets for agrarian goods, agricultural raw and foodstuffs;

• improvement of food supply to the people;

• ensuring economic equality between agriculture and other sectors of the economy;

• approximation of the income levels of workers in agriculture and other sectors;

• internal producer protection.

Comprehensive governmental support of the agrarian economy is a common world practice. Kazakhstan requires not only a radical increase in the volume of such assistance. The question should be more profound: the state should be not just a “sponsor”, but also a specific participant in production, economic and social processes. The state bodies must take into account the demand and consumption of foodstuffs by the people to know the real situation in the agricultural market and develop the necessary direction of manufacturing. Government contracts are necessary for socially important food products, which then will be sold at basic prices on the market to prevent speculative fraud (Prylipko et al., 2023).

In modern economic realities, the problem of guaranteeing the national food safety of Kazakhstan is complex, and directly correlated to the stable macroeconomic formation of the country, its capabilities to implement a socially-oriented policy, to steadily raise the standard of living of the people, to use the pluses of the international division of labour in agrarian manufacturing (Zhunusova, 2013). Increasing the competitiveness of agribusiness should be associated with the main external and internal factors mentioned above, improving the quality of labour and products, reducing overall expenses, and ensuring the economic availability of food for a wide range of the population. The management system of the agrarian sector should be guided by this. The essential elements of the control system are considered by most scientists to be: laws, principles, goals, tasks, functions, structure, methods, personnel, technical support of management, and the mechanism of its implementation (Shchetinina, 1999).

When forming a competitive management system for the agrarian and industrial complex, it is expediently to take it into account, based on the following elements:

• the control unit (management subsystem): The Government (at the level of the state), the Ministry (at the level of the economy sector), regional governments, municipalities and the economic organisations, which are present on the market;

• the object of management (managed subsystem): production, technological, financial and economic cycles, which form the competitiveness of products (works, services) at all manufacturing stages of the process: production and sale of products;

• management bodies should be differentiated and perform general and specific functions in the competitive management system;

• the main goal of the management entities is to develop such control effects, in which the state of the management object will meet the criteria for the effectiveness of the activities of organizations of the agrarian and industrial complex;

• any decision-making process for managing competitiveness can be considered as an unstructured problem.

Any market analysis consists of a systematic study that identifies all the circumstances related to real and potential competitors and market partners. Information about the resources of enterprises producing similar goods is also necessary for analysing the market situation; the actions and intentions of competitors, the raw material zone, and the development of the market situation. To ensure comparability of information, competitive research should focus on the same areas that should be the subject of an analysis of their own potential: competition goals; their possible strategies; the current position of competitors; financial opportunities; and other aspects (Berdykulova et al., 2021). The analysis should also focus on consumers, suppliers, intermediaries and infrastructures. To obtain the most reliable information, it is necessary to identify the market segments that should be the subject of analysis.

Planning of activities throughout the entire product life cycle, organisation and control of execution, and evaluation of the results of the product competitiveness management system can be carried out by the planning and economic services of the agro-industrial complex in cooperation with marketing services (Shahini et al., 2022). To ensure competitiveness, these services should use a variety of strategic and tactical techniques, developing both operational and strategic development programs and plans. Within the confines of the integrated competitive management system, the marketing service should perform the following functions:

• market capacity and trends research;

• market segmentation, consumers and their preferences for the quantity and quality of products;

• analysis, forecasting and evaluation of potential sales opportunities and competitors' activities;

• search for new strategic economic zones; determination of directions to improve the competitiveness of goods and production.

Production should be one of the most significant conditions of a quality management system based on standardisation and certification (Hasanli et al., 2022). Standardisation and certification are the basis for producing high-quality products in the agro-industrial complex. Certification allows implementation of a unified approach to assessing the quality of various goods and makes it possible to guarantee stable production of the required level of quality since it covers the manufacturing organization and product quality. The certified quality system of enterprises allows for determining the range of reliable partners and increases the competitiveness of your products. When buying, consumers choose the necessary product from a variety of different products and purchase one that meets their financial potential, requirements and needs.

Thus, competitiveness is determined only by those products that are of significant interest to buyers and ensure that their needs are met better than those of competitors. Not all other product parameters outside these boundaries can be considered unrelated to the specific conditions in which they are evaluated. Therefore, exceeding norms, standards and rules usually not improve the competitiveness of products, since, from the buyer's point of view, such an excess seems useless and leads to higher prices without increasing consumer value. Quality management should be an important part of production management. The goal of product quality management is to ensure that it meets the social needs of society (Kendyukh, 2014).

It is necessary to develop its own food base, protect the domestic producers of agricultural products, change the structure of agricultural production following market demand, and increase the quality of agricultural products to improve the level of food security in modern conditions. All this can be achieved only by combining a system of state measures with the use of internal reserves of the agro-industrial complex based on its adaptation to the market conditions of the economy (Omarkhanova et al., 2022). To address these challenges, it is necessary: the formation of an import substitution system; the development of interregional relations; the widespread use of advanced technical means and new technologies; a rational combination of large, medium, and small-scale production; advocate of the interests of food manufacturers, and consumers; the organization of efficacious cooperation the government, business and science. Thus, the food market and its effective development should become the basis for the provision of the food safety of the nation and should be considered the most important condition for the sovereignty, national security, social stability of the state, its independence in international relations (Akimova, 2015).

On the international level, food safety is measured by two criteria: the amount of world stocks of grain that remain until the next harvest (60 days, or 17% of the annual consumption of grain, is considered safe); world grain production on average per capita (1000 kg of grain per capita is considered safe). The food safety concept should be described at both the national and regional levels in a system of criteria and indicators that comprehensively characterise its current state, dynamics and trends. This system results from the objective needs of food security management at the regional level; formalised criteria and indicators are of special significance to quantify the food safety of a particular region. Such indicators can serve as a basis to compare the state of food safety in individual regions and in the whole country, as well as to formulate the goals of government control of the agrarian and food market and make management decisions (develop an action plan for the strategic and short-term perspective) (Karshalova et al., 2017).

Clear criteria and foodstuffs security indicators are the keys to the implementation of a food safety policy. In the meantime, the initial average people's income per capita, the surplus of food grain (first 20%, and then 16% of the total annual consumption), the share of imports in food resources (which to a greater extent characterises the country's food self-sufficiency than the level of nutrition of the population) has now expanded and become more complex. In the field of food safety of Kazakhstan, the criteria for foodstuffs security of the country can be (Figure 2):

Figure 2
Food safety criteria.

• the degree of contentment of the physiological demands of the human body in the components of a certain energy saturation of the food diet, its compliance with the requirements for the permissible content of harmful substances in food residues;

• the level of financial and physical accessibility of foodstuffs for various social groups of the people;

• stability in the food market (which, in our opinion, should eventually be replaced by stability and solvency of the population);

• the degree of independence of the food and resource supply of the agrarian and industrial complex of the republic from import supplies;

• the level and pace of development of agricultural manufacturing;

• operational and strategic food stocks.

It is necessary to use qualitative and quantitative specifications to assess the supply of food products (Figure 2).

The national food safety of the state can be considered guaranteed if there is no food crisis in the case of stopping food products from abroad on the territory of the country, which is achieved by a high share in the consumption of domestic agrarian raw and foodstuffs. The country’s food security is determined by multiple factors. First, food availability for the people, and the degree of market saturation. Kazakhstan’s agricultural sector has all the possibilities and conditions for fully meeting the needs of the domestic agricultural market. Second, the affordability of foodstuffs, is primarily limited by the ability of the people to buy goods. In this connection, the Government takes measures to control the rise in prices of agricultural goods and regulation of customs tariff policy as part of the anti-crisis program. To protect the domestic market from imports, it is planned to increase customs fees for the import of foodstuffs produced in the republic. The next factor is food safety, and the fourth is the import substitution of agricultural products, without which there can be no question of the food security of the republic.

In the Global Food Security Index 2022 (2022), Kazakhstan ranked 32nd, improving its position by 5 points. The index amounted to 72.1 points – more than Hungary (71.4 points), South Korea (70.2 points), Malaysia (69.9 points), and Turkey (65.3 points). Significant improvements are noted in supply adequacy (62 points improvement), food security policy commitments and access (51 points improvement), and agricultural trade (22 points improvement). Despite the improvement of Kazakhstan’s position in the index, the weakness is the change in average food prices, for which Kazakhstan ranked 97th, as a result of which the position on affordability fell to 49th place.

The experience of developed countries shows that the border of food safety is at the extent of food imports of 18% to 35% of demand. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Kazakhstan imports about 40% of dairy products, 29% of meat, and about 43% of fruits and vegetables. That is, the country is heavily dependent on food imports, which poses a real threat not only to the state’s foodstuffs but also to its economic security. The ecological situation on the planet is no less important. Environmental degradation is a threat to all sectors of the economy, but the greatest damage is certainly caused to food production (Koshebayeva et al., 2018).

Kazakhstan’s agricultural sector plays an essential role in the country’s economic, social, and environmental development. Approximately 75% of the country’s territory is suitable for agricultural production, but only about 30% of the land is currently under agricultural production (International Trade Administration, 2023). In 2021, the agricultural sector accounted for approximately 5.1% of Kazakhstan’s economic production, and the total value of Kazakhstan’s agricultural output was approximately USD 8.4 billion in the same year. Kazakhstan is Central Asia’s largest grain producer and only significant exporter, with wheat, barley, cotton, and rice being the country's major crops. Livestock products, including dairy goods, leather, meat, and wool, also comprise an important share of agricultural production. According to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) international rating, out of 123 countries exporting organic products to the EU member states, Kazakhstan ranks 9th (Bielecki, 2022). The focus now is orienting agriculture towards import substitution and developing exports of high value-added products, particularly for the beef sector. However, it is unclear from the search results what the current level of competitiveness of Kazakhstan's agricultural products is.

Researchers and scientists from different countries studied the issues and principles of providing the people with necessary foodstuffs at the national level, and food safety in a globalized world. One of the articles described the key economic indices that characterize the current level of foodstuffs safety of Kazakhstan throughout its independence years. The authors note that the analysis carried out led to the conclusion that the republic was highly dependent on the importation of most types of food of various categories. In spite of the significant progress of the Kazakh agrarian and industrial complex over the entire period of its independence, the competitive ability of agricultural goods is still at a low level. According to the author, the key reasons hindering the development of the agrarian sector of the country are the lack of effective cooperation between agricultural subjects; lagging behind in the development of production technologies; non-compliance of most types of foodstuffs with modern international standards; low profitableness of agrarian manufacturing. The article identifies the principal trends and formats of increasing the competitive ability of agricultural foodstuffs of Kazakhstan as a main factor in providing the country's food safety (Kerimova et al., 2015).

The following paper is about the analysis of the agrarian sector of Kazakhstan, which is considered as a factor of provision the competitive ability of the Kazakh economy as a whole, and a factor of providing foodstuffs safety inside the republic. The authors analysed the competitive ability of the agriculture of the republic in the era of globalization, which includes the processes of integration into the Customs Union based on statistical data in the article. The authors also studied the challenges and perspectives of the agrarian sector of Kazakhstan, and gave examples of some factors that hinder the competitive ability of the agrarian and industrial complex and capabilities in it. Evaluate the competitive ability of the agriculture of the country within the limits of the regional merger, such factors were analysed as a mutual trade structure of the Customs Union member countries by major product groups (taking into account mutual trade in agricultural goods) and the share of the republic in it; manufacturing and release of agricultural crops and animal products, their efficiency (the level evaluation of agrarian goods per person employed in this sector); state assistance and subsidies to farmers-producers, as well as the absolute versus relative values of investment in the agrarian and industrial complex of Kazakhstan. The study showed that the part of the republic in the agricultural food market of the Customs Union was insignificant, as well as the low level of competition in the domestic agricultural market due to restrictions and problems hindering the growth of the agrarian sector. To increase the competitive ability of foodstuffs from Kazakhstan in the agri-food market of the Customs Union and increase its share, the article provides recommendations for solving problems (Ospanov et al., 2015).

The aim of the next considered work was to define the prerequisites and demonstrate the feasibility of the partnership of Russia and Kyrgyzstan in the field of business in the agricultural machinery market in the context of the formation of the Agro-Industrial Complex (AIC) 4.0 and to draw up recommendations of the creation of suitable infrastructure support. The author used the SWOT analysis methodology to determine the prerequisites and difficulties on the way to building agro-industrial complex 4.0 in Russia and Kyrgyzstan and to determine the prospects for cooperation between these two countries in the field of business in the agrarian machinery market in the current realities and assess the need to create special infrastructure support. As a result, the conclusion is made about the objective need for Russia and Kyrgyzstan cooperate in the field of creation of agro-industrial complex 4.0, conditioned by general laws and problems of their formation – a low level of foodstuffs safety and innovative development of the economy. Within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), favourable conditions have been created for the implementation in practice of the cooperation between Russia and Kyrgyzstan, on the foundation that this collaboration is appropriate. The specifics of these states make this cooperation promising, making it possible to solve common goals, using the capabilities of each partner. Thus, Russia has ample capabilities to create and provide the logistical business infrastructure in the agricultural machinery market in the context of the transition to agro-industrial complex 4.0, and Kyrgyzstan has the industrial and power infrastructure. For effective cooperation between Russia and Kyrgyzstan in the field of creating infrastructure support for business in the agrarian machinery market under the conditions of creating agro-industrial complex 4.0, it is necessary to adhere to the conceptual model presented by the developers, which will make it possible to rationally use the possibilities of the two sides. This will provide Russia and Kyrgyzstan have the necessary technological assets for creating the agro-industrial complex, capable of ensuring its highly competitive ability in the world market and solving the problem of foodstuffs safety (Litvinova, 2020).

Another paper examines the ways of becoming agriculture in Russia, the results of reforms on import substitution in the agricultural sector of the economy and the provision of the country's foodstuffs safety. The authors showed the distinctions of consumption by the basic types of foodstuffs, depending on people's ability to pay. The article analyses the import substitution problem related to the granting of the agro-industrial complex with the domestic material and technical base. It should be noted that the duration of the process of import substitution of various agricultural products largely depends on the efficiency of the organizational and economic mechanism in the agricultural sector. The capabilities for growth in the agrarian sector by capturing the part of the market occupied by imported products is limited. With the implementation of import substitution reforms, it was possible to create conditions related to the growth of agricultural exports as well as move away from being dependent on the import market to increasing export volumes (Maslova et al., 2019).

The becoming and development of the agri-food market are accompanied by objective difficulties that have different origins at all levels: national and regional. The solution to the key task of satisfying the needs of the people in affordable and high-quality agricultural goods largely lies in the sphere of promoting products to the final consumer and accompanying difficulties (Yaroshenko et al., 2020). In this respect, the researchers of the following considered work concluded that the agrarian market in its current form was the most difficult side of the activity’s agricultural manufacturers from Russia. The current restrictions on the export of agricultural goods from some states have given a certain leap in the development of the agrarian and industrial complex and the increase in the competitive ability of foodstuffs. All in all, the self-sufficiency of Russia with food production has risen over the period 2013–2017, the tasks were fulfilled by the Doctrine of Food Security to ensure grain, vegetable oil, sugar, potatoes, and meat. However, the production of eggs, vegetable, fruit and berry products, and cattle breeding remains difficult tasks.

In the meantime, there is a steady dependence on the domestic agro-industrial complex for the import of seeds and planting material, breeding stock, etc., which makes it impossible to talk about full-fledged import substitution. At the same time, governmental support comes to the fore for the modern conditions for the development of science and innovative technologies that can give a certain level of interconnection between all market participants, and regulating land relationships. Interregional trade is an important area of the creation of the agricultural market in this sector of the economy. This requires a significant improvement in the production and logistics infrastructure, the creation of a positive climate for investment, the reorganization of major funds, as well as the solution of personnel and demographic issues in the country. Despite this, the region has all the necessary conditions to attract investment for the development of the agrarian and industrial complex and meet the demand in the internal agricultural market thanks to domestic producers (Nikitin & Neuymin, 2018).

4 Conclusions

In conclusion, agri-food markets play a pivotal role in the economy, marked by the uniqueness of their goods encompassing agricultural produce, raw materials for industrial processing, and food products. Irrespective of the stage of agricultural development, these markets are vital components of nations, ensuring food provision and facilitating socio-economic policies. These markets, intricately linked to the broader agricultural complex, constitute complex organizational and production systems. The growth of Kazakhstan's national agri-food market is beset by formidable challenges, including a pronounced decline in governmental support, diminishing regulatory efficacy, strained economic relationships among market participants, dwindling demand, and the repercussions of the CIS dissolution. Economists posit that the competitiveness of agricultural products hinges on their ability to compete based on price metrics and quality attributes, all the while maintaining consistent sales growth in both domestic and international spheres.

The agro-industrial complex, as a vital diversification segment, requires a tripartite focus on augmenting productivity, enhancing competitiveness, and reinforcing the food belt, a critical factor tied to ensuring food availability, bolstering inner and outer influences, improving work and product quality, and curtailing overall costs. The integrated development of the food belt system is geared toward achieving predetermined benchmarks in production quality and cost, thereby optimally catering to consumer needs while ensuring reproductive efficiency. In this trajectory, food safety assumes a multi-tiered hierarchical system with clearly defined objectives. Central to these objectives is the overarching aim of making foodstuffs accessible to all strata of the population, predicated on their income levels, thus enabling individuals within specific communities, countries, and regions to procure sufficient quantities of high-caliber household sustenance that aptly satisfy needs and extend maximum serviceability.

The objective of the study was achieved by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and opportunities in the development of Kazakhstan’s agri-food market and the support provided by the state to its agro-industrial complex. The article makes a noteworthy contribution by thoroughly examining the intricate factors underlying the decline in governmental support, the diminished effectiveness of market regulations, and the disruption of economic relationships within Kazakhstan’s agri-food market. Additionally, its emphasis on the often-overlooked dimension of food safety adds a critical perspective to the discourse.

• Cite as: Jumabayeva, A., Tuleubayeva, M., Kanagatova, D., Kunanbayeva, K., & Sekerova, A. (2023). Ensuring food security and competitiveness of the agro-industrial complex. Brazilian Journal of Food Technology, 26, e2023079. https://doi.org/10.1590/1981-6723.07923
• Funding: None.

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Edited by

• Associate Editor: Silvia P. M. Germer.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  04 Dec 2023
• Date of issue
  2023

History

• Received
  21 June 2023
• Accepted
  23 Oct 2023