EXPRESS TRIBUNE LAHORE:
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Standing Committee on Agriculture recommends the Fauji Foundation to set up roads, canal systems, and electricity infrastructure in corporate farming areas under the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), which were identified for investors, especially in the Cholistan belt.
The Convenor of FPCCI Agriculture Standing Committee, Chaudhry Ahmad Jawad, said the military and federal government are determined to take up the agricultural sector under SIFC, which is positive for the country, but the infrastructure for investors has not yet been seen. It needs to be sped up, he said.
Jawad mentioned that under the banner of the SIFC, the Fauji Foundation has created a company to help manage corporate farming projects, and many local companies are signing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs).
Read: FPCCI-SCC to collaborate
He further stressed that we must understand we are at a crucial crossroads regarding agriculture. The current situation is such that the country’s population is growing at a higher rate than food production. In this year’s international ranking of the Global Hunger Index (GHI), the country ranked 92 out of 116 nations, with its hunger categorised as ‘serious.’ Pakistan currently faces a scenario in which it is largely food-sufficient but not food-secure.
Despite Pakistan being ranked 8th in wheat production, 10th in rice, 5th in sugarcane, and 4th in milk production, a 2019 report by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed that nearly 37% of households in Pakistan are food insecure. In the three years since the SBP’s report, matters have only worsened. Food price inflation in Pakistan has been in double digits since August 2019. According to figures published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the cost of food has been 10.4-19.5% higher than the previous year in urban areas and 12.6-23.8% in rural areas.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2024.
