Poverty, food security: Speakers call for participatory development

Contest govt’s claim of poverty reduction, increased food security

Speakers at a panel discussion have noted that a big chunk of the population was facing food insecurity and undernourished despite the country being food-sufficient, calling for participatory development and mobilisation of the poor.

They were speaking at a panel discussion titled “poverty, food security and public policy in Pakistan”, organised by the Centre for Policy Studies and Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, said a press release issued here on Thursday. The discussion aimed at generating a debate on challenges being faced by Pakistan for alleviating poverty and ensuring food security.



Rural Support Programmes Network Chairman Shoaib Sultan Khan presented an overview of participatory development while giving example of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in Gilgit-Baltistan which was replicated in many rural development interventions not only in Pakistan but also other parts of South Asia.

He identified social mobilisation a key factor in determining the success and failure of a particular programme. Drawing upon his experience in G-B, he said that mobilization of the poor was absolutely critical to enable them to participate directly in decisions that affect their lives. . “It is imperative to involve every household in the development process to lift people out of poverty by unleashing their potential,” Khan said.

Communication for Development Officer at Rural Support Programmes Network Sheeba Farooq said that though Pakistan was a food self-sufficient country, around 58 per cent households were facing food insecurity. She raised a question whether policies in Pakistan have been effective for improving food security? “Despite several interventions by the government and donors for reducing poverty the results are not very encouraging,” she said while quoting a World Bank data, according to which 22 per cent of Pakistan’s population lives below $1.25 a day. Innovative Development Strategies Chairman Dr Sohail Jehangir Malik highlighted that the government gives flawed projections by saying that poverty has decreased which was not supported by the rising food insecurity in Pakistan. He also underscored that a resilient system required people-centric approach and the aim should be to put the people at the centre of development.

Ministry of National Food Security and Research Secretary Seerat Asghar said that maximum investment should be diverted towards the agriculture sector as it was the mainstay of our economy contributing 22 percent to the GDP.

He highlighted that before the 18th Amendment, there were three ministries with the mandate for rural development, but all of them have been devolved to provinces. “Now there is no federal policy on food security and unfortunately no serious efforts are taken to engage the provincial governments for empowering a common man.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th,  2015.