Participants get together for a photograph after the workshop. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The eight-day workshop has been organised by the International Centre for Development and Decent Work (ICDD) at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad.
The workshop is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Programme.
Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) in Food Security and Agriculture director Bashir Ahmad said that 60 per cent of the people facing poverty were farmers.
“Promotion of modern trends in agriculture will raise farmers’ incomes. Poverty is compelling the rural population to move towards cities. This is aggravating the problems in urban areas,” he said.
CAS Agricultural Policy Programme head Dr Jamil Khan said that Pakistan had become one of the most populous countries of world. “The country’s population is near the 188 million mark, with a growth rate of 1.95 per cent,” he said.
He said that 62 per cent of the people lived in rural areas. “Around 52.2 per cent of the Pakistani population is below the age of 20. Policy measures are needed to improve the income of the rural populations to avert poverty,” Khan said.
Dr Muhammad Ashfaq, the UAF Institute of Agriculture and Resource Economics director, said that the average farm-size was decreasing with increasing population. “Around 90 per cent of farmers own less than 12.5 acres. The ratio was 68 percent in 1972,” he said.
German scientist Andreas Burkert urged researchers to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to address the issues facing rural populations. “ICDD is actively working to increase livelihood opportunities in rural areas,” he said.
Dr Christoph Scherrer from University of Kassel, Germany, called for extraordinary measures to end poverty. He said interdisciplinary approaches would help serve humanity.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 19th, 2015.
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