Federal Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain has said that food security has moved beyond being an agricultural concern and has become an issue of national security.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Pakistan Agricultural Coalition’s (PAC) Agri Connections Conference and Expo at the Lahore Expo Centre on Friday, he said agriculture remained a key pillar of Pakistan’s economy, contributing 26% to GDP and supporting the livelihoods of more than 100 million people.
Rana Tanveer said the challenges facing farmers were intensifying, with increasingly frequent and destructive floods damaging crops, killing livestock and wiping out years of farmers’ hard work.
“Heat waves are arriving earlier and lasting longer,” he said, while highlighting growing concerns over water availability.
According to the minister, Pakistan had more than 5,600 cubic metres of water available per person annually at independence, but the figure has now dropped below 900 cubic metres, placing the country among water-scarce nations.
Rana Tanveer noted that agriculture was a provincial subject, but stressed that ensuring food security was a national responsibility that required collective efforts under the Constitution.
“Our farmers have never let this country down,” he said, adding that they had continued to produce food despite floods, droughts and other difficulties. He said the government and other stakeholders must support farmers through improved research, greater access to financing, fair markets and consistent policies.
SBP highlights barriers to agricultural financing
During the second day of the conference, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Deputy Governor Salimullah said agriculture was among the most critical sectors of the economy.
Speaking during a session titled “Building the Access to Finance Ecosystem for Pakistan’s Farmers,” he identified three major constraints limiting farmers’ access to finance.
The first, he said, was the high level of risk faced by farmers and the absence of adequate protection, particularly effective insurance coverage. He said inadequate insurance not only exposed farmers to greater financial uncertainty but also made banks more hesitant to extend loans to the agricultural sector.
The second major challenge was the limited availability of accredited warehouses. Salimullah said much of the agricultural value chain remained informal, making it difficult for banks to exercise adequate control over commodities and agricultural produce used as collateral.
He identified access to finance as the third major constraint, noting that weaknesses in insurance and warehousing further contributed to the problem. He said efforts were underway to develop an ecosystem that would make banks’ interventions and investments in agriculture commercially viable.
Gulf investors eye Pakistan’s meat sector
A session on “Investment Successes in Livestock” featured Omar Sagga, Chairman of Taraf, a Jeddah-based meat trading company with more than two decades of experience in importing and distributing fresh, chilled and frozen lamb, goat, beef and camel meat, as well as cattle-rearing and fattening operations.
Sagga spoke about growing interest among Gulf investors in Pakistan’s meat-processing industry. He said Pakistan offered significant potential because of its human capital and livestock resources, but stressed that investor interest alone did not guarantee investment.
According to him, the wider business ecosystem must provide sufficient confidence for investors to commit capital.
Dairy sector offers major revenue potential
Pakistan Dairy Association Chairman Usman Zaheer Ahmed said the scale of the country’s dairy industry made it an attractive investment opportunity.
He said Pakistan produces around 72 billion litres of milk annually, making it the world’s fourth-largest milk producer.
Ahmed said the potential extended beyond attracting investment, arguing that greater formalisation of the dairy sector could also significantly increase government revenues.
He estimated that formalising and taxing even half of the informal sector at a minimum rate of 5% could generate around Rs250 billion in annual government revenue, while the full potential could approach Rs500 billion.
Technology and shrimp exports discussed
The conference also featured a special session on developing the foundations for Pakistan’s shrimp exports, along with a roundtable between investors and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on investment opportunities in agriculture.
A session on the future of agricultural technology included a presentation by Jehiel Oliver, CEO of Kenya-based Hello Tractor.
Oliver said the company was seeking to expand agricultural mechanisation in Pakistan, noting that public-sector initiatives such as the Green Tractor programme and local original equipment manufacturers, including Al-Ghazi Tractors and Millat Tractors, were supporting domestic manufacturing.
He said Hello Tractor had developed a business model that connects farmers with farm equipment having unused capacity..
Oliver argued that farmers should have access to reliable and affordable machinery without necessarily having to purchase and own the equipment themselves, as ownership could place an unnecessary burden on their balance sheets.
The conference concluded with PAC CEO Kazim Saeed presenting the event’s resolutions and a call to action.
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