As hyped as hemp is right now, it is not a new trend. Humanity has relied on it as a multifaceted super‑material for thousands of years. In ancient Mesopotamia, circa 8,000 BCE, people were already weaving fibers from this powerful plant. And in Kazakhstan, hemp was used to manufacture ropes over five millennia ago. However, prohibition reached this distant country (back then part of the Soviet Union) in 1934, when unauthorized cultivation of any kind of cannabis was banned.
But not everything was left behind: Kazakhstan decided to look back in order to move forward, and in April of this year, it legalized industrial hemp cultivation. The move, beyond symbolic, was highly pragmatic, given that in only three months the country began producing high‑security hemp‑based paper, destined for passports and official IDs.
This was announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and ratified by President Kassym‑Jomart Tokayev himself, who signed the new law this year after parliamentary approval.
“The main product will be high-security paper, which is a valuable export commodity used for the production of identification documents such as passports and other special forms,” explained Azat Sultanov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, as reported by The Times Of Central Asia.
In this scenario (and many, many others), hemp could not be more ideal: it grows easily, robustly, and with historic roots in Kazakh soil. The only requirement is that the harvest must meet the legal THC threshold of 0.3%. A global standard that varies—some countries allow up to 2%—but in this case, will serve to boost a green, legal, and exportable industry.
The play is significant: Kazakhstan has already begun issuing licenses for industrial hemp cultivation, with the northern region becoming the main production hub. In fact, according to the Russian Interior Ministry, 93% of Russia’s cannabis alreadycomes from Kazakhstan.
And the business looks promising. According to a recent report by Fact.MR, the global industrial hemp market could reach USD 25.7 billion by 2034, with an annual growth projected at 14.5%. Other estimates place it even higher.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan is getting ready to enter the global game with “passports made in hemp.” And as if nothing happened, the very plant that once made Bronze Age rope is returning to take things seriously—and officially—this time stamped with seals, signatures, and sovereignty.
Photo by Uladzislau Petrushkevich on Unsplash
