Agriculture 2022, 12, 1087. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12081087 www.mdpi.com/journal/agriculture Article Impact of Climate Change on Food Security in Kazakhstan Danmeng Wang 1,2 , Ruolan Li 1,2 , Guoxi Gao 1,2 , Nueryia Jiakula 3 , Shynggys Toktarbek 4 , Shilin Li 1,2 , Ping Ma 1,2 and Yongzhong Feng 1,2, * 1 College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China; 2019060015@nwafu.edu.cn (D.W.); 2020055068@nwafu.edu.cn (R.L.); 2021055137@nwafu.edu.cn (G.G.); 2020050046@nwafu.edu.cn (S.L.); 2020055113@nwafu.edu.cn (P.M.) 2 Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Circular Agriculture, Yangling 712100, China 3 College of Pharmacy, Astana Medical University, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan; nuriazhakula@mail.ru 4 College of Agronomy, S. Seifullin Kazakh Agro-Technical University, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan; shggs.ayken@mail.ru * Correspondence: fengyz@nwsuaf.edu.cn; Tel.: +(86)-029-87080736; Fax: +(86) 029-8709-2265 Abstract: Global food production faces immense pressure, much of which can be attributed to cli- mate change. A detailed evaluation of the impact of climate change on the yield of staple crops in Kazakhstan, a major food exporter, is required for more scientific planting management. In this study, the Mann–Kendall test and Theil–Sen Median slope were used to determine climate trends and staple food yields over the past 30 years; random forest was used to analyze the importance of monthly climatic factors; states were classified according to climatic factors through systematic clus- tering method; and lastly, the influence of climate on yield was analyzed using panel regression models. The upward trend in wind speed and potato yield throughout Kazakhstan was apparent. Furthermore, barley and wheat yields had increased in the southeast. We determined that for wheat, frostbite should be prevented after the warmer winters in the high-latitude areas. Except for July– August in the low-latitude areas, irrigation water should be provided in the other growth periods and regions. As similar effects were reported for barley, the same preventive measures would ap- ply. For potatoes, tuber rot, caused by frost or excessive precipitation in May, should be prevented in high-latitude areas; soil dryness should be alleviated during the germination and seedling stages in low-latitude areas; and irrigation and cooling should be maintained during tuber formation and maturation. Furthermore, hot dry air in March and April could damage the crops. Keywords: climate change; food security; Kazakhstan; yield of staple crops; planting management measures 1. Introduction Food security is essential for world peace and development and is the cornerstone of a community with a shared future for mankind [1]. In 2015, following the end of the Mil- lennium Development Goals (MDGs), the United Nations (UN) established the Sustaina- ble Development Goals (SDGs) to guide global development until 2030. The follow-up goal of SDGs is “Zero Hunger” and the objective is to eradicate hunger, achieve food se- curity, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agricultural development [2]. The pro- duction performance of major food exporters has attracted widespread attention owing to the importance of food security to the international community [3]. Climate change is closely associated to food security, and several attempts have been made to avoid the potential risks of climate change on crop production to maintain a stable food supply [4]. A study on the vulnerability of global crop yields to climate change shows that climate change could reduce global crop yields by 3–12% by mid-century and 11–25% by century’s end [5]. Climate change was found to negatively impact household food security in the Citation: Wang, D.; Li, R.; Gao, G.; Jiakula, N.; Toktarbek, S.; Li, S.; Ma, P.; Feng, Y. Impact of Climate Change on Food Security in Kazakh- stan. Agriculture 2022, 12, 1087. https://doi.org/10.3390/agricul- ture12081087 Received: 14 June 2022 Accepted: 22 July 2022 Published: 23 July 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- tral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Li- censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons At- tribution (CC BY) license (https://cre- ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).