Minister terms food security as apex priority

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Syed Fakhar Imam, on Monday said food security was one of the top priorities of this government and all-out efforts were being made to ensure it.

According to an official statement the minister said this while addressing the UKAID and SDPI meeting on ensuring food security through use of technology. “The world has been facing a paradox of widespread food insecurity and malnutrition amid net food surpluses,” the minister said talking to the participants of the meeting. “Increased food supplies do not automatically enhance access to food especially by the poorer groups of society and situation in Pakistan is not a different one.”

Imam said ending hunger was one of the priority areas of every regime in the country. “For example, to materialise such principle, food security and nutrition are highlighted among the main areas of focus to guide all governmental development initiatives with the vision of a Pakistan where all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life,” the minister said. He said to adopt the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a national agenda, both at Federal and Provincial levels.

Within this framework, the achievement of food security was emphasised as a top priority for Pakistan, with the commitment to pursue the goal of “ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture” (SDG 2) and the related targets, he said.

“Despite strong agricultural base, the country fares poorly with respect to indicators of food security. While figuring among the world top producers of staple foods and diary, Pakistan ranks a dismal 76th out of 107 countries in the Global Food Security Index.”

The food minister said food security measures might alone have a limited effect on the nutritional well-being of individuals, unless the reinforcing detrimental linkages between food insecurity, disease, poor sanitation and inadequate education are addressed. In his concluding remarks he said the government’s focus on adoption of new and emerging technology in agriculture sector was expected to improve the agriculture production and sustainability which ultimately help in achieving food security.