ZUBAIR QURESHI
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar briefed Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Qu Dongyu about the steps being taken by the government to provide relief to the poor. This was Dongyu’s first official visit after assuming the charge to any country in Asia. Sania welcomed the FAO chief and his delegation to Ehsaas Secretariat to explore collaborations. She said the visit was taking place at an opportune time as the government is taking measures to uplift the agriculture sector. “Ours is agriculture-based economy, tackling agriculture is fundamental to poverty reduction since the sector employs 43.5pc of labour force and contributes to around 21pc of our GDP,” said she. Acknowledging the multisectoral construct of Ehsaas, Dongyu said FAO looked forward to partnering with the Ehsaas particularly in endeavours around food security and agriculture development to support vulnerable farmers and is excited to explore new collaborations on the road ahead’. In line with Ehsaas vision, FAO will extend technical assistance in food and agriculture to benefit the vulnerable and small farmers. FAO and Ehsaas can together help communities reach their full potential by tackling the social and agricultural determinants of poverty, through sustainable agriculture, food and nutrition programmes, said the visiting DG of FAO. While thanking the FAO team for showing interest in Ehsas, Dr Nishtar said with the convening of ‘Ehsaas Development Partners’ Forum’, ‘Ehsaas Rural Value Chain Building Committee’ and ‘Pakistan National Nutrition Coordination Council’, Ehsaas is fully determined to change the landscape of poverty in the country through a multisectoral approach by capitalizing on FAO’s technical expertise and strategic advice in a well-coordinated manner across agriculture, food and nutrition.’ The meeting discussed avenues of cooperation to drive forward the progressive agriculture and nutrition agenda and working closely to deliver to the small farmers and disadvantaged people in rural areas of Pakistan. Poverty in Pakistan is closely linked to agriculture as our country is being faced with several agricultural issues predominantly small landholdings, subsistence farming and exploitation by extractive middlemen and monopolies which are major contributors to poverty. Hence, Ehsaas has been designed to promote equalities, which amongst other things stands on Jobs and Livelihoods of which agriculture is a core element. The FAO is part of Ehsaas Value Chain Building Committee, which comprises of diverse stakeholders exploring how to most effectively shape a value chain building policy to address challenges faced by farmers in rural areas of Pakistan. The FAO is also a member of Ehsaas Development Partnership Group, which provides integrated, coherent and aligned technical support to the Government of Pakistan for the implementation of Ehsaas strategy. In 2018, FAO launched its fiveyear Country Programming Framework (CPF) in Pakistan, underscoring three high-priority development collaborations, including zero hunger, climate smart resilient agriculture and sustainable ecosystems, and inclusive and efficient agriculture and food systems.
