3.1.1. The Prevalence of Malnutrition in the Republic of Kazakhstan
According to the 2018 FAO WHO estimates the total number of people in the world suffering from malnutrition or persistent lack of access to food increased by almost 17 million in 2017 compared to 2016. Until recently, there has been a downward trend in malnutrition in Asia; however, there has been a significant slowdown at present.
Table 1 provides information on the assessment of the level of food insecurity among the population of the Republic of Kazakhstan according to the “Food Insecurity Experience Scale” (FIES). Based on the presented data, there is moderate and severe food insecurity among the country’s population at the level of 5.3%, while severe food insecurity is observed among 1.9% of the country’s population. The indicator of severe food insecurity on the FIES is slightly higher in Central Asia to 2.5% in 2017 [
1], which is 1.1% higher than in the Republic of Kazakhstan. However, the severe form of food insecurity was higher in 2019 than the data for previous years in the Republic of Kazakhstan (by 0.2% and by 0.5% compared to 2018 and 2015–2017).
The lack of food security among the population of the Republic of Kazakhstan can be explained by the high level of malnutrition.
Table 2 represents the data on a high prevalence of malnutrition among the population in the Republic of Kazakhstan over the past 5 years (2015–2019), which exceeds this indicator for the period 2011–2014 by an average of 2%. At the same time, the prevalence of malnutrition was 2.6% lower in 2017 in the Republic of Kazakhstan compared to this indicator in Central Asia (6.2% in 2017) [
1]. It should be mentioned that the prevalence of malnutrition among the urban population is 1% higher (2019) compared to this indicator for the rural population, which indicates a higher food supply for the rural population of the country, apparently due to self-sufficiency from farms.
According to statistics, about 50 million children under five years old suffer from malnutrition worldwide (FAO, WHO, 2018). Moreover, almost every tenth case of child malnutrition accounts for Asia and Oceania as a whole. According to the source (UNICEF, WHO and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank. 2018. UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group Regional and Global Joint Malnutrition Estimates, May 2018 Edition [
9] significant changes from 2012 to 2017 for this indicator in Asian countries (excluding Japan) have not been recognized—at the average rate of 9.7% of children under five years old suffer from wasting.
Most cases occur in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan where every seven out of ten children are affected by malnutrition [
10].
Figure 1 reveals the high degree of malnutrition among children under 5 years of age in the Republic of Kazakhstan (2006–2015). Overweight is in first place in terms of prevalence among children under 5 years of age (9.3% in 2015). It should be noted that this indicator is significantly lower compared to 2006 and 2010 by 2% and 4%, respectively. However, the share of overweight children in the Republic of Kazakhstan significantly exceeds this indicator in the world (5.4% in 2012 and 5.6% in 2017) and in Asia (4.5% in 2012 and 4.8% in 2017). A growth delay is in second place in terms of prevalence among children under 5 years of age. A deviation from the norm in stunting was noted in 8% of children in 2015, which is 4.8% and 5.1% lower compared to 2006 and 2010. The growth gap among children under 5 years old is significantly lower in the Republic of Kazakhstan than the values of this indicator in the world (24.9% in 2012 and 22.2% in 2017) and in Asia (27.1% in 2012 and 23.2% in 2017) [
1].
The prevalence of wasting is in third place among children under 5 years of age, in particular 3.1% according to 2015 data, which is 0.7% and 1% lower compared to 2006 and 2010. The share of children suffering from wasting is significantly inferior in the Republic of Kazakhstan than in the world (7.5% in 2017) and in Asia (9.7% in 2017) [
1]. Children under 5 years old are underweight in a minor degree: 2% in 2015, which is 2% and 1.7% lower compared to 2006 and 2010. Thus, for the period 2006–2015, there has been a positive tendency in all indicators of malnutrition among children under 5 years of age in the Republic of Kazakhstan. There was no observation of a significant difference in the prevalence of malnutrition (−0.7%) over this time, while there was a slight increase in the prevalence of severe wasting (+0.1%). However, there is a positive trend in the prevalence of underweight (−2%), stunting (−4.8%) and overweight (−2%).
However, severe malnutrition is observed among young children in the Republic of Kazakhstan. According to data for 2015 year, children from 0 to 5 months were more amenable to various forms of wasting (13.7%) in the Republic of Kazakhstan, where 4.9% with a severe form of deviation from the norm [
11]. This can be since there are differences in rates of severe food insecurity among men (5.7%) and women (6.3%) in Central Asia [
1]. This can negatively affect indicators of malnutrition in young children in women of childbearing age.
A child who is moderately or severely wasted has an increased risk of death. A conducted analysis in 2013 exhibited that about 12.6% of all deaths among children under the age of five were associated with wasting, where 7.4% were with severe forms [
1].
Figure 2 demonstrates information on mortality of children under 5 years of age in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Obviously, the infant mortality rate in the country has significantly decreased over the past 10 years and amounted to about 1%, however, the indicator is still at a fairly high level: about 10 infant deaths per 1000 births [
11].
Figure 3 shows the gender difference in the mortality rate among young children in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Obviously, boys are more prone to child mortality (by 3.2% more cases among male children on average) [
11].
Figure 4 and
Figure 5 exhibit the mortality rate of young children in the Republic of Kazakhstan, depending on the place of residence. According to the data, the infant mortality rate in rural areas is slightly higher than in urban areas, apparently due to the insufficient level of medical care and limited access to health care services in rural areas. There is a positive trend in the reduction of child mortality in rural areas, for instance the indicator was reduced by about half in 2019 compared to 2010.
Figure 5 shows the regions in the Republic of Kazakhstan where the infant mortality rate exceeds 1.2%—Atyrau and Kyzylorda (based on 2019 data). At the same time, the lowest indicator of 7.62 infant mortality was observed in Nur-Sultan [
11,
12].
According to FAO 2018, the absolute number of the world’s population suffering from malnutrition increased from about 804 million in 2016 to almost 821 million in 2017. This trend is prompting the global community to intensify its efforts to achieve targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2.1) and ensure the poor and vulnerable population, including infants with access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food year-round by 2030. It is apparent that, in the next 5–10 years, strong measures must be adopted to regulate the number of children suffering from wasting in the country in order to reach the set level of below 5 and 3% by 2025 and 2030, respectively. In addition, the dynamics of the prevalence of malnutrition, combined with rapid population growth, will cause a growth in the total number of undernourished people [
1].
There is no doubt that providing the Kazakh population with basic foods following approved consumption rates, considering the change in the population of the country will bring about the elimination of malnutrition [
13].
3.1.2. Population of the Central Asia (CA) and the Republic of Kazakhstan
Central Asia is an extremely large region with a total surface area of more than 4 million square kilometers, which is sparsely and unevenly populated. Central Asia has a population more than 60 million, in comparison, Central Asia covers an area that exceeds the territory of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh combined [
3,
14,
15]. According to FAO stat 2018, about 72 million people counted in Central Asia, and about 1 billion 726 million people in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh in total, that is 24 times the population in Central Asia.
Figure 6 reflects the uneven distribution of the Central Asian population among the countries of Uzbekistan—45% (over 32 million people), Kazakhstan—25% (over 18 million people), Tajikistan—13% (over 9 million people), Kyrgyzstan—9% (over 6 million people) and Turkmenistan—8% (slightly less than 6 million people).
Figure 6 represents the dynamics of population change for the period 2009–2019 to assess the level of self-sufficiency in food products in the Republic of Kazakhstan. There has been an increase in the Kazakh population growth over the past 10 years by about 2.6 million people, mainly due to the urban population growth (a rise of about 2.3 million people), while the rural population has remained practically unchanged (a rise of about 0.3 million people) (
Figure 7). The data reveal the predominant migration of the Kazakh population to cities causes the irrational use of agricultural resources in the Republic of Kazakhstan, particularly due to the lack of human resources in rural areas.
The World Bank (WB, 2013) reported a low level of life quality for an average person in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The limited access to basic social services and the necessary infrastructure is caused by low population density and uneven distribution of the population living in urban and rural areas. Despite the relatively high human development index, a significant part of the Kazakh population is unemployed or employed in the informal sector, causing a high poverty rate. This tendency is exacerbated by the lack of access to basic public services, electricity, basic foods, and drinking water in certain regions [
16].
3.1.3. Food Self-Sufficiency of the Republic of Kazakhstan
The estimation of the self-sufficiency of the Kazakh population in basic foods was executed over the past 10 years to assess the food security in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Figure 8 exhibits the dynamics of changes in the production of dairy products in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2010–2019. It is shown that there is a decrease in the number of dairy products produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2012. Besides, the volume of output of dairy products in 2010 was achieved again after 2016. The stable upward tendency in this indicator by 2019 facilitated the volume of dairy production in 5965 thousand tons, which is 584 tons and 1114 tons higher than 2010 and 2012.
Figure 9 presents statistical data on the amount of meat products produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2010–2019. Stable growth in meat production since 2012 has allowed production to increase by 474 and 465 tons from 2010 and 2012, respectively.
The assessment of the self-sufficiency of the Kazakh population in basic foods was executed by taking the amount of dairy and meat products produced in 2019, as well as the physiological need for food following approved based consumption rates in the amount of 301 and 78.4 kg of dairy and meat products per years, respectively [
13]. The obtained data are represented in
Table 3 and
Table 4. It should be noted that
Table 3 reflects only those regions where self-sufficiency in dairy products was reported above 0% (Nur-Sultan, Shymkent).
The data presented exhibits a high degree of self-sufficiency of the Kazakh population in meat products (117.6%); however, self-sufficiency in dairy products is at a low level (0.1%). Thus, Kazakhstan is confronted with a structural imbalance in raw materials and socio-economic problems, such as excessive dependence on the export of raw milk and products based on it [
17]. This problem can be solved by increasing the rate of development of agriculture, through the development of camel breeding in Kazakhstan with the intervention of state regulation in this issue.