ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan termed food security as one of the biggest challenges being faced by Pakistan, saying that the country should start taking measures to tackle the problem from today.
The prime minister, in his address to the National Kissan Convention in Islamabad today (Thursday), said that Pakistan imported four million tonnes of wheat last year, which dented the country’s foreign exchange reserves at a time of a shortage of dollars.
He added that it was unsustainable for the country to keep on going like this. “The rate at which our population is increasing, we need to ask in the next 10, 15 years how will we create food for such a massive amount of people?” said the premier.
PM Imran pointed out that around 40 percent children in the country did not reach their full height nor did their brain develop fully because they did not receive enough nutrition.
The premier said to tackle the problem, the government is launching a nutrition programme under the Ehsaas programme. “The plan will focus on ensuring that the diet of children till the age of three is complete so they are not stunted,” he added.
The prime minister pointed out that availability of pure milk was also a major issue. He said initial investigations had pointed out contamination and dodgy practices such as counterfeit milk production.
He lamented that children were not receiving the most basic thing needed for their growth in its pure form, saying restrictions to control such issues had led to price increases and that showed Pakistan’s milk production lagged behind other countries.
Elaborating further, he said that a small section of the society “captured” the country when it was created. “The leaders that we got did not work on inclusivity,” he added.
Pointing out disparities in education, justice and more, the premier said no one in the past had thought about the common man or the weak segments. “The same happened in our agriculture. Most of our farmers have small land holdings,” he added.
Citing China’s example and how it had managed to raise people out of poverty, the premier reiterated that if the country remained as it was, then food security would become an issue of national security.
PM Imran said the government now intended to not only help farmers but also facilitate them through research and guidance on seed development and which crop would be best suited for an area.
He mentioned a number of measures in this regard such as interest-free loans, direct subsidies through the Kisan Card, training for small-scale farmers, cultivation of idle land, zoning, interactions with farmers associations and better transport and storage facilities.
