On October 23, 2020, Business Community Contribution to Food
Security Conference (SDG 1 "No Poverty" and SDG 2 "Zero Hunger") was
held to coincide with World Food Day.
The event,
organized as part of theS DGs and Business Discussion Platform, was
attended by Bakytgul Khambar, Director of ERI Center for Strategic
Research and Sustainable Development.
The expert of the Economic
Research Institute spoke about the main approaches and institutional
foundations for ensuring the implementation of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals in Kazakhstan, noting that each new inhabitant of the
Earth requires additional resources and food.
According to her,
since 2015, there has been a negative picture of the annual increase in
the number of hungry people around the world, today this figure has
reached 690 million people, or about 9% of the world's population.
However, a significant proportion of undernourished people live in
developing countries.
Khambar also said that the world Bank
estimates that significant annual investment in rural and urban areas is
needed to eliminate hunger by 2030, which could average about USD 267
bln.
Speaking about the situation in Kazakhstan,
she noted that the critical issue is food security and "hidden hunger",
that is, malnutrition, obesity, and micro-nutrient deficiencies.
Ensuring food security depends primarily on sustainable agricultural
development. She also noted the special importance of business in
ensuring sustainable development and called on everyone to actively
engage in SDGs implementation. During the conference,
such issues as physical and economic availability of food, food quality,
and solving food security issues through the development of small and
medium-sized businesses in rural areas were discussed.
Speakers:
Kairat Nazhmidenov, the Head of the UN FAO Office for Relations and
Partnerships in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Aikhan Sultan, the
representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, Alexandra Akkirman, the
Manager for Government and Public Relations of Coca-Cola International
Company in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Assel Akhmedova,
Communications Manager of Philip Morris Kazakhstan, Svetlana Mauteeva,
the Head of Nur Farm of Burly district of West Kazakhstan region, the
Leader of SDG 1 "No Poverty".
Alexandra Akkirman
reported on the Coca-Cola Belesteri project, in the framework of which
women annually receive grants to launch their own small businesses,
especially in the agricultural sector. Assel Akhmedova, in turn,
presented the experience of a farming project in the village of Chilik,
Enbekshikazakh district of Almaty region, which the company has been
sponsoring for the past few years. The project introduces research and
innovative approaches in vegetable growing, including the use of
beneficial insects as natural regulators of pest numbers, as well as the
use of exclusivel.organic fertilizers in greenhouses. In
general, food security is an urgent challenge for all of humanity.
According to the latest data, 821 million people worldwide suffer from
malnutrition, which threatens the goal of ending hunger. By 2030, UN
member-countries plan to double agricultural productivity by introducing
modern farming methods.
For reference:
the Initiator of the project is SDG-2030 in Kazakhstan Public Institute,
established by a group of NGOs: Expo&Women International
Organization, G-Global Green Economy And Development Coalition and
Agricultural Union of Women of Kazakhstan, Alliance of Volunteers of
Kazakhstan in partnership with international partners - Philip Morris
Kazakhstan, and СоcaCola International Company.
