NWFP, Fata, Balochistan most ‘food insecure’

ISLAMABAD: The NWFP, Fata and Balochistan are the most ‘food insecure region’ in the country while northern Punjab is the least.

Food accounts for about 60 per cent of total expenditure for an average farming household in Pakistan.

According to the findings of a baseline survey conducted by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and released here on Tuesday, there are a number of constraints to crop production, such as inadequate access to affordable credit, high cost of agriculture inputs like seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, unreliability of water supply and low returns on investments.

The survey was conducted between January and June last year in 1,012 villages in the four provinces as well as in AJK, Fata and the Northern Areas in collaboration with the Ministry of Food, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council and the Agriculture Policy Institute.

The focus of the survey was on household food security conditions, scope for enhancing crop productivity and opportunities to increase income for poor farmers of small and medium resource.

‘The data of the study confirms that education is a major determining factor in reducing household vulnerability and improving food security as educated family members are more likely to have higher incomes,’ said Wolfgang Herbinger, WFP’s country representative in Pakistan.

According to the survey, a majority of farmers use local non-improved seeds and the use of fertiliser is much less than the recommended levels.

The overall productivity levels are low in the country, except for northern Punjab.

Commenting on the survey report, Food Secretary Mohammad Ziaur Rehman said there was an urgent need to increase the supply of improved seeds. ‘Empowering small farmers and building their knowledge base through farmers field schools along with easy access to credit are basic requirements for increasing agricultural output,’ he added.

The survey said that 64 per cent of farm households in Sindh relied on off-farm employment, compared to the national average of 28 per cent.