Why does the term "kolkhoznik" carry a negative connotation in our society? Why are people leaving rural areas while millions are funneled through the agricultural sector? These questions inspired Abylaikhan Akhmetzhanov to raise the prestige of farming and turn agriculture into a driving force of Kazakhstan's economy. Together with a Kazakh-Ukrainian team of young specialists, he founded Baibolsyn.kz — a platform for farmers, businesses, and other stakeholders in the agricultural market. In an interview with ER10 Media, Baibolsyn Solutions CEO and co-founder Abylaikhan Akhmetzhanov shared how his solution works and the challenges faced by the industry as a whole.
Follow Kazakhstan’s Startup Movement in the "100 Startup Stories of Kazakhstan", a collaborative project by ER10 Media and Astana Hub. This initiative highlights the most innovative Kazakh startups, showcasing projects that stand out for their creativity and impact. Among the heroes are Astana Hub residents, as well as creators of other innovative technological products and services. The content is available in Kazakh, Russian, and English.
Editor's Note: The phrase “Bai bolsyn” translates from Kazakh as “May it be rich.” The startup's name reflects the concept of ensuring abundant harvests for Kazakhstani farmers and contributing to the prosperity of the national economy through agricultural development.
Unexpected Insights
— What were you doing before founding the startup? Did you have your own business, or were you employed?
— I worked at Eurasia Group, the national distributor of John Deere in Kazakhstan, which I joined right after university. There, I explored new agricultural technologies. For instance, my colleagues and I updated approaches to agro-management, adapting solutions from John Deere and other global manufacturers to meet the needs of Kazakh farmers. This included developing new reports, analytics, and data interpretation. It was during this work that I first encountered niche problems that needed to be solved.
— Were you aware of such challenges before working with John Deere?
— Not at all. My knowledge of agriculture was limited to news reports, and I had no idea how the industry operated in practice. Real understanding only comes with practical field experience, and not in one season, as no two seasons are the same.
— What are the most common challenges faced by farmers across Kazakhstan?
— When it comes to agriculture, every stage of this complex industry involves some level of government support. In certain areas, the state fully regulates operations, while in others, the market handles everything independently. However, when it comes to technological processes, specific challenges emerge. One of the biggest is the weather — it remains the one factor entirely beyond human control. There is no proven and reliable method of managing weather. Even with irrigation systems aimed at reducing dependency on weather for providing crops with vital moisture during key growth stages, farmers often face setbacks. A short harvest period can derail the effort. This window, already shifting due to global warming, is further narrowing because of prolonged rains.
Editor’s Note: In agriculture, a harvesting window refers to the limited timeframe in which crops can be harvested with optimal efficiency and minimal losses.
When rains begin, operations halt for several days. Farmers must then wait for sunny weather to allow the grain to dry.
Other challenges include inadequate equipment and expertise. Incorrect selection of crop varieties, poor placement of machinery, or unsuitable setups can result in significant losses. But where can one learn the intricacies of farming? In Kazakhstan, there are no agricultural schools or courses comparable to MBA programs.
Resource issues, such as government support and others, also remain relevant.
“Transparent, Without Backroom Deals or Hidden Conditions”
— How does your startup enable such a leap forward?
— Baibolsyn.kz offers a digital platform that centralizes all the needs of farmers. Think of it as a hardware marketplace that brings together suppliers, manufacturers, services, and expertise. We don’t just connect parties but aim to create a critical mass of users to introduce new products and services. For example, we launched a livestock course to demonstrate the platform’s capabilities. This training covers everything from A to Z, with full transparency — no backroom deals or hidden conditions.
The year’s results highlight that effective product distribution solutions are among the most critical aspects of farming, alongside spring fieldwork and the harvesting campaign. Despite a record harvest across the country, farmers are facing a lack of markets and low prices for their produce. Profitability remains one of the fundamental success factors for any agricultural enterprise. Without agricultural businesses, there will be no farmers; without farmers, there will be no food security for our nation and its people. This chain of reasoning may feel overused, but the reality is clear: we need successful farmers who can sustain their work. Ultimately, this will lead to farms being passed down through generations, encouraging people to stay in rural areas. Farmers will improve village infrastructure, reducing the migration to cities. These changes will create a snowball effect, positively impacting Kazakhstan’s economy.
The partnership with the Farmers Association was an important step. This organization had been stagnant due to unclear roles and objectives. Our goal is to revitalize it through expertise, roundtable discussions, and community building. Farmers often lack the necessary knowledge and tools for their work. We address this by connecting them with expertise, facilitating knowledge sharing, and testing hypotheses in real-world conditions. As a result, I was entrusted with leading the Akmola branch of the association starting in December this year. Broad participation by farmers is crucial to account for different climate zones, crops, and equipment. Our mission to disseminate the knowledge and experience of successful farmers is now more relevant than ever. We have established a professional community of farmers in Kazakhstan to unite leading enterprises and experts. With Baibolsyn.kz, farmers can now easily access essential information resources and sales announcements.
— What does your platform include?
— The platform has several directions:
- Classifieds and Marketplace — Offers additional services for promoting goods and services.
- Education — Includes online courses (six more programs are currently in development), offline group training, and study trips across Kazakhstan and abroad to explore global practices.
- Comprehensive Hardware Solutions — We assist clients by addressing their challenges with ready-made solutions, integrating various tools and technologies into a single package.
— Where do you get your revenue from?
— The website’s revenue model is based on paid ad promotions, creating and highlighting supplier pages, and offering custom store pages (similar to satu.kz, but with branded designs, personal dashboards, and more). We build unique sales funnels for these stores. From the hardware team, we generate revenue through the traditional supply of goods and services, focusing on automation systems and precision agriculture technologies for farmers. Some products also cater to other client categories. For instance, automated systems for fuel receipt and release are valuable for enterprises with their own oil depots and fuel consumer pools. This also extends to additional consulting services such as audits, product integration and more for production environments.
— How is your startup technically structured?
— Programming Languages: Python, JavaScript.
Framework: Django.
Database: PostgreSQL.
Search and Filters: ElasticSearch.
Route Calculations: OpenStreet Maps.
— Tell us about your team.
— Our team consists of more than 30 members. As CEO, I am responsible for hardware and face-to-face solutions. My co-founder, Alexander Mashchenko, is a specialist in digital tools and a former employee of one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural enterprises. He leads the development of our marketplace. We believe that a comprehensive approach — supporting farmers through expertise, technology, and community — will help advance agriculture in Kazakhstan.
Customized solutions for everyone
— Does your startup provide solutions for both enterprises and individual farmers?
— Yes, we work with B2B, B2C, agricultural holdings, and individual farmers. Our product is highly versatile and suits professionals at any level within the agricultural industry.
A beginner with no land can take our training courses to understand market realities using the marketplace.
Small-scale farmers can utilize the marketplace, join the community, and gain clarity about their challenges. We also offer a unique service: enterprise audits. Even a farmer who handles all operations might not realize where invisible losses occur. For instance, they might have postponed upgrading their tractor for eight years. An audit covers financials and numerous additional aspects. It often turns out that a tractor costing 130 million tenge isn’t as expensive as it seems, paying for itself within 2.5 seasons. With a new tractor and community support, farmers can diversify their crop rotation and transition to more profitable crops, which is critical in today’s environment. Kazakhstan’s heavy reliance on spring grain crops creates a shared vulnerability: poor weather means no harvest nationwide, while favorable conditions lead to a surplus. In such cases, the government must allocate additional subsidies for drying, logistics, and other measures to maintain the competitiveness of the produce. This approach merely puts out fires rather than following a clear strategy.
— What if I’m not a farmer but want to become one? What can you offer me?
— We have a team of experts ready to help. Many of our services were developed in response to specific requests. Initially, we invested in certain hypotheses that ultimately didn’t work out, causing us to lose time, even though they succeeded in neighboring countries. This experience led us to focus on what farmers genuinely need right now, and we’ve started providing exactly that.
— Do You Have Competitors in Kazakhstan?
— No unified solutions like ours currently exist. However, the market’s growth depends on its diversity, so there’s potential for many innovations. Regarding marketplaces, we often joke that Telegram and WhatsApp chats are our competitors, as people frequently sell grain through them. Our advantage lies in the specific range of services we offer. We validate every listing to ensure our marketplace remains trustworthy.
When it comes to hardware solutions, there are official distributors of John Deere technologies and standalone navigation systems. However, we focus on tailoring solutions to meet the specific needs of Kazakh farmers, adapting existing technologies to suit their requirements.
Farming in the Spotlight!
— Are you currently operating only in Kazakhstan?
— For now, yes, but we plan to expand.
— What is your mission?
— Our mission is to make the agricultural business simpler, more attractive, efficient, and profitable using the latest technologies and trends. We aim to re-establish agriculture as a driver of Kazakhstan’s economy, enabling it to flourish and secure its place in the country’s safety and stability. Additionally, we want to elevate the status of farmers, moving them away from the negative stereotype of "kolkhozniks." In Kazakhstan, this term carries a dismissive tone, as if farmers are engaged in unpromising work in rural areas, spending their days in mud, while office workers in polished collars are seen as doing meaningful work.
— If your startup was associated with a sport, what would it be?
— If a marathon were a team sport, that’s what I would choose. A startup is like a never-ending race — a continuous drive to achieve your goals.
