Climate change threatens food security

Minister underlines need to transform agriculture sector

ISLAMABAD:

Climate change has turned into the most significant hurdle in way of achieving sustainable development goals and millions of people are at risk of facing food insecurity and poverty, said Minister of Food Security and Research Fakhar Imam.

Speaking at an event titled ‘Agriculture and Food Security: Promoting Climate Smart Agriculture’ in Islamabad on Thursday, he said that agriculture was the foundation of food security in the developing world.

“Agriculture not only provides essential food for human consumption and feed for livestock but also gives raw materials for industry and value-added products for both domestic consumption and international markets,” he said.

He stressed the need to transform agriculture sector to such a vibrant and resilient scale that it could withstand the impacts of climate change and protect livelihoods of farming communities dependent on it.

Imam said that the Minister of National Food Security and Research, through the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), had conducted research and development activities on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA).

“Due to the excellent agricultural policies of the government, the production of wheat, rice, maize, sugarcane, potato, onion and groundnut increased to a record level despite the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2022.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.