BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 20. Kazakhstan has
expanded its total sown area to 23.8 million hectares in 2026, up
180,000 hectares from the previous year, with oilseed crops
occupying 4.3 million hectares, the government's report says.


According to the report, grain and legume crops account for 15.8
million hectares, or 66.4% of the total sown area. Oilseed crops
cover 4.3 million hectares (18.1%) and fodder crops 3.3 million
hectares (13.9%). In the livestock sector, cattle numbers rose 5.8%
to 9.3 million head, horses grew 7.4% to 5 million, and camels
increased 3.6% to 312,000. Meat production in carcass weight grew
5.5% to 559,000 tonnes, cow's milk output rose 2.4% to 1.9 million
tonnes, and egg production grew 7.9% to 2.4 billion units.


Trend's analysis
shows that the expansion of oilseed area to 4.3 million hectares
reflects a structural shift in Kazakhstan's cropping pattern that
has accelerated sharply over the past four years. In 2025,
Kazakhstan ranked as the world's sixth-largest exporter of
sunflower oil and the second-largest supplier to the Chinese
market, with oilseed export revenues reaching a record $963 million
- four times the 2021 level. The government's 2026–2028 roadmap for
the oil and fat industry targets a further 60% increase in export
revenues, aiming to exceed $1.5 billion and break into the global
top three for sunflower oil exports. Sunflower oil output has
already increased 2.3 times compared to 2021, surpassing 752,000
tonnes in 2025.


Kazakhstan's annual oilseed processing capacity stands at five
million tonnes, and the country ranks among the top three suppliers
of sunflower meal to the EU and is among the world's top ten
exporters of sunflower oil. It is also the EU's second-largest
supplier of durum wheat. The 4.3 million hectares under oilseeds in
2026 represents roughly 86% of the total processing capacity
utilization ceiling - meaning further expansion of processing
investment, such as the $1.5 billion Fufeng corn deep-processing
plant and the $650 million Dalian Hesheng grain facility announced
under the 2026–2028 agri-investment roadmap, will require continued
acreage expansion to remain fully supplied with domestic raw
materials.


The livestock data show a broad-based expansion rather than
concentration in any single species. Horses growing 7.4% - the
fastest rate in the dataset - is notable: Kazakhstan has the
world's largest horse population relative to its size, and horse
meat and kumys (fermented mare's milk) are significant export
categories to Central Asian and Russian markets. The 5.5% growth in
carcass-weight meat production, combined with growing pig (10.3%)
and poultry (1.3%) numbers, points to a diversifying protein supply
base. However, 60% of meat and 80% of milk production still come
from household and family farms - a structural fragmentation that
limits productivity gains and export competitiveness. The
government is developing new agricultural cooperation legislation
to encourage farmers to consolidate into cooperatives, which would
enable closer integration with large anchor export projects and
improve the throughput of small farms into formal processing
chains.


Additionally, investments from international financial
organizations could significantly contribute to the overall trend.
In a meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana, EBRD
President Odile Renaud-Basso announced that the EBRD expects its
total investment in Kazakhstan to reach 1.3 billion euros this
year.







"Kazakhstan is one of the EBRD's most important countries of
operation. This year, we are seeing a very high level of investment
activity. We have already signed agreements for projects worth more
than $1 billion. Taking into account the projects currently under
preparation, we expect our total investment this year to reach 1.3
billion euros. This will be the highest annual investment volume in
the history of the EBRD's operations in Kazakhstan," Renaud-Basso
said.


Meanwhile, EBRD Director and Head of Energy Eurasia (covering
Türkiye, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia), Sule Kilic,
said in an exclusive interview with Trend that the bank has mobilized 4.2 billion
euros for Central Asia's energy sector and financed more than 6.5
GW of renewable energy capacity across the region, helping
integrate solar and wind generation into national power
systems.


Speaking about Kazakhstan, Kilic said the country's national
grid operator, KEGOC, remains one of the EBRD's key partners.


"Since the 1990s, we have supported seven KEGOC projects, most
recently the Integration of the West Zone Project, which connects
the previously isolated western power zone with the rest of the
country via more than 600 kilometres of high-voltage transmission
lines," she said.