Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan
Abbasi on Tuesday directed the Ministry of National Food Security
and Research to work on a policy framework to ensure food security in the
country.
The PM was being briefed at the PM Office by Minister for National Food
Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan and senior
officials on the agriculture sector.
He was told that Pakistan’s agriculture sector was contributing 19.5% to the country’s gross domestic product
(GDP) and it employed around 42% of the labour force, agriculture had a 57.5% share in the total
exports and the growth rate of the sector stood at 3.46% in
FY 2016-17. The prime minister said that the government’s aim was
sustainable growth of the agriculture sector as it was the mainstay of the national economy.
He also directed the ministry to take the issue of low investment in the sector (compared to the
pre-devolution scenario) to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to ensure allocation of greater resources to the sector by provincial as well as federal governments. The Prime Minister said proposals to increase productivity and crop diversification — keeping in view the local demands and meeting various other challenges including climate change — should also be part of the framework along with promotion of research and development by various organisations of the ministry in line with international best
practices.
The PM stressed that the state must ensure a fair return to farmers for their efforts by adopting a sustainable policy framework and that small farmers should be the focus of the agriculture policy.
