Pakistan turns to wheat imports amid agriculture hurdles

January 04, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan has shifted from an exporter to an importer of wheat, one of its main cash crops as its agriculture sector struggles to overcome hurdles including poor market access, outdated farming practices, and, thanks to climate change, increasingly frequent droughts and floods, Bloomberg reported.

As in neighboring India, the majority of Pakistan’s farmers are smallholders, making it difficult to implement change at scale.

“We have land. We do not have resources. And we do not have technology,” said Sabbah Uddin, an analyst and farmer. “We lack a coherent strategy.”

Over the years, as Pakistan’s population has also expanded, pushing the government to look outward to meet its food needs.

The average wheat yield for the past five years, 2.9 tons per hectare, is 17% lower than India, 49% lower than China, and 47% lower than the European Union.

Continued reliance on a fraying industry, combined with the threat of a changing climate, is “now raising serious concerns about the food security,” said Abdul Wajid Rana, a program leader at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Islamabad.

Corporate farming under the Green Pakistan Initiative is one avenue to boost crop yields.

Late last year, Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding with Kuwait for $10 billion worth of projects, including some focused on food security.

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