Food minister to call meeting to discuss SDGs

Despite sufficient produce, many people have no access to food, says WFP

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister of National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan has decided to hold a meeting of all provincial agriculture ministers to discuss the priority issues laid down under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for eliminating hunger and reducing poverty.

The minister took the decision after meeting World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director David Kaatrud, who called on the minister on Monday to discuss ongoing WFP programmes in Pakistan.

“To place all initiatives on one page, it was decided that the minister would call a meeting of the provincial agriculture ministers so that priority issues are adequately addressed,” said an official in the ministry.

The WFP regional director highlighted broader parameters of the Zero Hunger Programme and the SDGs in Pakistan. He praised the role of Pakistan as the largest contributor among host governments to the WFP globally.



Bosan, while appreciating the role of WFP in Pakistan, pointed to the discordance within donors because of which the goal of poverty reduction seemed elusive.

Furthermore, both parties acknowledged a lack of coordination between federal agencies and provincial governments and the need to develop better liaison.

Bosan outlined the WFP’s assistance for conducting a food security analysis in Pakistan and the formulation of national food strategy.

In the analysis, WFP representatives noted that although the country had a surplus food production, there was sufficient population with no access to adequate food and faced the threat of food insecurity.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2016.

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