In 2023, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition, World Report 2024 released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN, an estimated 28.9 percent of the global population that is, 2.33 billion people were moderately or severely food insecure. This include 10.7 percent of the population – 864 million people who faced severe levels of food insecurity.

The crippling situation has not been created in just a day – it is the consistent promotion of imperialist neoliberal policies that have pushed for trade liberalization in food and agriculture, not to mention the killer conditionalities coerced by the IMF standby agreements in many parts of the world.

A significant growth, 16.8 percent has been reported in the production of wheat, cotton, and rice crops, and the sector improved its share in gross domestic production; agricultural sector growth of 6.3 percent was the highest in 19 years. The government of Pakistan continues to earn huge foreign exchange reserves, all through the back-breaking labor of peasants, a vast majority of whom include landless farmers, including women. However, it is indeed shameful that poverty rate in Pakistan has increased from 38.6 percent to 39.5 percent over the last five years, with food prices sky high, making basic food items to be beyond the reach of the poverty-stricken masses.

While the peasantry, and the urban poor face hunger and malnutrition, the government guards the interest of traders and investors such that it continues to import wheat grains from abroad, while pushing prices down for local wheat, pushing small and landless farmers in debt and bondage, left to face hunger and misery.

With more than 24 standby agreements with the IMF, the nation’s debt keeps soaring; it has increased by around Rs. 4.64 trillion in the past months. While the people of Pakistan suffer from monstrous policies protecting the imperialist and local elites, the scenario is no different in other part of the world.

The ongoing imperialist wars of aggression in occupied Palestine for the past 12 months has now spread to Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and is fast marching toward Iran. The destruction of agricultural land in the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank knows no bounds; 70% of agricultural land being wasted through direct bombing and toxic chemicals; farmers are killed persecuted and their means of production such as water wells, trees including centuries old olive trees are deliberately destroyed; fisher folk are forbidden access to the seas. All this is part of the genocide happening in Occupied Palestine, and has been part and parcel of the US-led Zionist fascist regime for more than 7 decades.

The unchecked carbon emissions from our colonizers over many centuries has given rise to climate crisis. Globally, and particularly in Pakistan, it is starkly evident that climate change has vastly negative impact on food security especially for rural communities and a variety of climate change impacts such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes.

The solution lies in not putting the country up for sale and taking dictation from international financial institution like IMF, but for building self-reliance in food and agriculture and national industry. It is critical at this juncture that we adopt food sovereignty as the base for our food and agriculture policy; making the voice and decision making of small and landless farmers, especially women in policy development and implementing, making just and equitable land distribution a priority can help the country to break the shackle of debt and pauperization, and also help in establishing a national industry, prosperity and food security.

Release by: Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)

With the start of a new year, the situation in the country sees no real change in terms of economic stability. It is unfortunate that in 75 years, it has gone to the IMF 23 times for financial bailout programs. The State Bank of Pakistan has received the second tranche of $700 million, which is approximately equivalent to SDR 528 million. The last tranche of $1.2 billion under the $3 billion Standby Agreement is expected in March 2024.

Data on Pakistan’s borrowing record is stark testimony to its achievements in being able to pull itself out of debt on a path to self-reliance and economic stability: it ranks 5^th in outstanding debt at $7.4 billion. Other countries before Pakistan are Argentina, Egypt, Ukraine, and Ecuador. According to Pakistan’s Economic Affairs Division (EAD) data, the country seems to be functioning on borrowed money; it has borrowed $5.968 billion from multiple financing sources during the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year 2023-24 compared to $5.595 billion borrowed during the same period of 2022-23. According to news reports, Pakistan has received $1.2 billion as the first tranche of the $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) in July 2023, and $1 billion from the UAE. If these amounts are added to the total financial inflows, a total of $8.168 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year (FY).

In the fiscal year 2023, Pakistan purchased $894 million, accompanied by charges and interest payments totaling $776 million and $325.8 million, respectively. According to the IMF, an IMF loan is disbursed by the borrower’s purchase of foreign currency assets from the IMF with its own currency. Repayment of the loan is achieved by the borrower’s repurchase of its currency from the IMF with foreign currency. In 2022, Pakistan’s purchase from the IMF had been $1.64 billion, which is testimony to its dependence on the IMF. It is noteworthy that the IMF has downward revised real GDP growth to 2% from 2.5% for the ongoing FY.

Panacea or Poison

In order to get out of the debt quagmire, it seems that the government policy making is based on neoliberalism, with emphasis on increasing exports as the lynch pin. The Federal Minister Commerce, Industries & Production as part of the caretaker government, has been paying especial attention to increasing trade relations with various countries, and has even been visiting the MENA region to boost Pakistani trade. In addition, he is hopeful that exports will cross $100 billion in the next five years if the 10,000-acre new industrial zone in Karachi comes to fruition. That this push for exports is having an effect on the trade deficit is certainly there, as it has narrowed by 34.29 percent in the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year 2023-24. Exports in December have increased by 22.21 percent, from $2.3 billion last year to $2.82 billion for the same corresponding month.

On the whole, there has been increased exports for a number of agricultural goods such as maize, whose exports have tripled, escalating from $85 million to $262 million in a period of one year, and rice whose exports in the same period from last year have gone up from $282.53 million to $367.39 million. Similarly, textile and clothing sector exports have gone up to $1.39 billion, up from $1.35bn in the same month the previous year, and has shown an expansion of 3.3 percent. The export of raw food products have increased massively up to 111.63% in December 2023, and overall, agriculture and food exports jumped by 64% during first half of current fiscal year; the increase was from $2.345 billion to $3.847 billion in same period last year. It needs to be highlighted that our major export markets are the European Union, USA and China. Given the intense political tug of war between the western imperialist countries and China, with Pakistan caught in between, it does not border well for Pakistan. It is important to note that Pakistan is adopting trade settlements in Chinese RMB rather than US dollars. There has been an increase of nearly 600 percent in trade settlements using the Chinese currency. This will decrease the country’s dependency on US dollars but of course what will it mean in terms of Pakistan’s debt obligations to China have to be further studied.

From the perspective of food security, the upsurge in exports for rice, (especially basmati), meat and fruits has other ramifications as well. High food prices mean hardship and hunger for the people at home, especially the very farmers who are responsible for rearing the livestock, fruit and vegetables. In the end, though huge loans taken by governments run by elite of the country, the cost is born by the working masses. There has been high inflation in the country, going up to 29.7 percent in the last months. According to reports, various consumer companies saw their unit sales falling and declining purchasing power of the people. They have been blamed on soaring prices of basic kitchen items, as well as electricity rates. The economic situation of the common man is well understood by suicide cases being reported which include murder of family members as well based on inability to meet family needs. Such shocking cases portray the suicidal rise in basic items. This is even more tragic, given that global food prices came down in 2023. According to the FAO, its Food Price Index (FFPI) fell by 10% below its December 2022 level.

Apart from promoting exports, foreign direct investment (FDI) is also being promoted in the country. Only in November, 2023, FDI increased by 12 percent, growing from previous year’s $117 million to $131.4 million in the same time frame. SBP data for the first half of the current fiscal year shows that a net FDI of $862.6 million was received and is a 35% increase. Foreign investment is based on the primary self-interest of the investors and does not necessarily take into consideration the needs of the local communities, or country’s welfare. The aid agencies as well as commercial groups of various countries including China, UAE, USA are interested in investment in agriculture, including fruits, mines and minerals. This trend is quite apparent. The Caretaker Federal Minister for Privatization has concluded the privatization of the Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC) with the purchasing party IMS Engineering. The Asian Development Bank has stated that it would promote enhancement of the role of the private sector in its so-called climate resilient housing ecosystems. No doubt that these investments will promote neoliberalism, hinged on privatization that would increase the role of transnational corporations responsible for human rights abuses and environmental degradation.

Produce and Export, No Matter the Cost

Agriculture production is bulwark of export. And the means for increasing production seems to lie only on external inputs and technologies. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has given permission importing 200,000 metric tons of urea as a buffer stock, which is being brought in from Azerbaijan. There were special instructions given against hoarding and ensuring farmers’ easy access to the input. Apart from urea, agriculture sector machinery and equipment were also imported, showing an increase of 60.76 percent.

Of course, multinational corporations such as Nestle have been promoting modern technologies, and for ‘educating’ farmers. It is quite ironical that the farming sector, which is the biggest export sector, responsible for most of the foreign exchange earnings, is always being considered the most backward.

In the same vein, another Spanish clothing multinational, Industria de Diseño Textil (Inditex) is also interested in working with farmers in Pakistan. According to D&B Hoovers, Inditex is one of the world’s largest fashion retailers, globally having 6,475 shops under seven different banners, including Zara, Bershka, and Zara Home. It is owned by a Spanish billionaire. One wonders, why such a corporation, which has faced intense criticism for its ‘fashion sense’ making fun of ongoing massacres in occupied Palestine? Further, can giant multinational corporations who are responsible for intense exploitation of workers and environment deliver justice and equity?

In any case, Inditex has provided funding to the International Labor Organization (ILO) for carrying out the second phase of a program, Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW) in the cotton sector. The objective of the workshop is to promote rights of cotton workers, and capacity building of cotton-growing communities to advocate for their rights and address gender inequalities in the sector. The ILO and Inditex entered into a partnership in 2017 to promote an integrated approach to FPRW in the cotton supply chain in China, India, Mali and Pakistan.

Another news item provides information on the caretaker Sindh government and M/s Green Corporate Initiative (Private) Limited entering an agreement to provide over 52,000 acres of land in six districts for corporate farming. This initiative falls under the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). The M/s Green Corporate Initiative (Private) Limited which is under the umbrella of the Pakistan Army is supposed to carry out corporate farming using barren land in all provinces of Pakistan. It should be noticed that in November 2023, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had approved provision of PKR 20 billion through the Federal Government to the Defence Division, Ministry of Defence. According to the news, based on the successful pilot corporate agriculture farming project in Punjab, a government-to-government (G2G) Joint Venture Agreement was signed at Chief Minister House between the Sindh government and M/s Green Corporate Initiative (Private) Limited. The amount of land and districts included in providing barren land include 28,000 acres in Khairpur, 10,000 acres in Tharparkar, 9,305 acres in Dadu, 1,000 acres in Thatta, 3,408 acres in Sujawal and 1,000 acres in Badin. The agreement is based on 20 years to carry out the so-called Green Pakistan Initiative.

It should be pointed out that while thousands of acres of land is being handed over for corporate farming in Sindh, the province is facing persisting water shortage that could lead to a drought. In addition, climate change impacts including calamities as well as rising sea level has been eating up land and/or it has been destroyed by salinity. The year 2023 has been marked as the hottest year in world records. In Pakistan, the climate crisis has had a major impact on the cotton crop, which has been suffering a decline for a number of years, and even this year the production did not reach the set target. In the mountains, there has been a dry spell and lack of snowfall which means lesser amount of water in the rivers. This will impact fish species that breed in the downstream ecosystem. The impact of climate crisis, now having been upgraded to climate emergency is a global phenomenon. Across the world, countries are suffering from drought, forest fires, decreased ground water and other impacts. For experts on the subject, the answers lie in attracting foreign direct investment in the fisheries sector. Colonial dominance has allowed dependence on foreign expertise rather than trying to tap into indigenous knowledge systems and finding answers from the communities’ wisdom gained over centuries. It is worth pointing out that while so much emphasis is being put on trade and foreign trade, the world is going through an intense political upheaval, with wars and militarization disrupting trade routes. The genocidal aggression by Apartheid Israel against Gaza, suggests of a looming famine in the Strip, with its entire population of 2.2 million already facing crisis levels of food insecurity.

Is this the time for relying more on trade or is it time to assess our internal strengths, capabilities and promote self-reliance leading to a resilient national economy? A recalibration is also needed as according to the World Bank’s analysis Pakistan’s the economic performance does not seem so rosy, with growth projected at only 1.7 percent. This scenario is also predicted globally, where third year in a row, economic growth is predicted to remain slow, prolonging poverty and debilitating debt levels in many developing countries.

The discrimination against small and landless farmers is quite blatant. In Kohat district, the agriculture department has introduced drones for pesticide spraying. From a health perspective, no doubt its beneficial for the farmers to spared pesticide spraying. But a remark from a senior member of the agriculture department that such technology is more time efficient, as well as spares the cost of hiring labor is objectionable. Livelihood, and for that decent livelihood is the responsibility of the state and such remarks show a stark lack of concern for the livelihood of agriculture workers.

Small farmers have great difficulty in accessing these chemical fertilizers due to black marketing, and due to land being intoxicated to these chemicals, it is difficult to get a good harvest without their use. It should be noticed that in the current FY budget, PKR 30 billion have been allocated for fertilizer subsidy. However, the subsidy is provided as gas subsidy to fertilizer plants, and then fertilizer has to be sold at a subsidized rate. As is seen every year, in the end chemical fertilizers are in short supply and hoarded to be sold at much higher rates than set by the government and/or or smuggled out of the country. In summary, profits are minted by various interest groups except small farmers.

At the same time, the government officials protect the big landlords by not levying taxes on their income and agricultural land. According to a tax expert, Dr Ikramul Haq, the remedy is to let the federal government collect the taxation on agricultural income, while transferring to the provincial governments collection of sales tax on goods. According to him, the current situation allows concentration of resources and powers in the hands of privileged classes who support corrupt government officials as they safeguard interests of these elite segments of society. There has been a constant resistance from the federal government and provincial authorities to impose income tax on agricultural income of rich landlords based on their political clout. In the FY22-23, agricultural income tax accumulatively from all of the provincial governments was PKR 2.4 billion. Reportedly, its national potential could be up to PKR 800 billion, if the agricultural income tax was imposed in accordance with the Constitution.

National Assets: Our Children

There is a price to the above policies. And it is being paid by children. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s first provincial Child Labor Survey 2022-23 has shown that 11%, about 745,165 children are employed as child labor. The situation would be more or less the same in the other provinces. With accelerating economic deterioration in the economic stability of the country, children are forced to share in financial provision for their families. Another issue that revolves around children’s health is the increasing occurrence of Type 1 diabetes in children in Pakistan. Around 100,000 are estimated to be suffering. The cause of Type 1 diabetes in children is considered to be the presence of high fatty and processed food. It is considered to be more prevalent in urban rather than rural centers and is also due to lack of healthy environment providing children the awareness and space for physical activity. The context of development is based on many parameters defined in the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. It is quite evident that children are being neglected in the country based on glamorizing values pertaining to profit-seeking Capitalist society especially targeting children.

There has to be a more wholistic view of development rather than just seeking foreign exchange and chasing our tails to get rid of the mountainous debt.

However, peasanty the bedrock of our economy, continues to face exploitation and ensuing poverty. The Sindh Abadgar Ittehad (SAI) has raised this issue along with continued impact of high prices for agricultural input and black-marketing. Even numerous laws that have been enacted in Sindh to safeguard the small and landless farmers, including women agricultural workers have not been able to protect them from the wrath of the feudal landlords, or bring any relief to the frontline producers in the province.

Along with remaining highly vulnerable to climate change, the economic indicters continued to be abysmal: fuel prices, inflation, Consumer Price and Sensitive Price Indices all continued to rise in this month. Pakistan Mazdoor Kisan Tehreek, an alliance of small and landless farmers has protested against the high fuel prices; there have been strikes against general sales tax as well as it continues to create intense strain on daily living for landless farmers as well as industrial workers leaving them no recourse but to come out on the streets and set up hunger camps. Tobacco farmers have been standing up against foreign cigarette manufacturing corporations for non-compensation of the tobacco rates settled with them. Similarly, the Haq Do Tehreek has been protesting, to the extent of hinting at ‘armed struggle,’ against trawlers that operate in the Balochistan waters, leading to loss in livelihood for local fishermen.

Apart from the continued exploitation pointed above, there are other issues at stake. About 25,000 fertilizer bags were seized from a goods train in Mirpukhas, Sindh. It’s believed that local fertilizer dealers were involved who wanted the fertilizer bags to be sold to landlords and farmers at higher rates than at the controlled prices. In Khairpur, police has arrested a food official for putting on fire the remaining 30,000 bags of 200,000 wheat sacks that had been pilfered and hidden at various government warehouses.

It is being reported that apart from increasing water tax, the federal government has hinted at revising tax on retail, agriculture and real estate. Though, there is absolutely no doubt that big landlords must be taxed but for the small farmers, and sharecroppers, additional taxes will push them further into debt, hunger and poverty.

The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) has rejected the decision taken by the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) on weight deduction in transactions involving rice crop. The deduction is applied on the grounds of moisture in the rice and the percentage of broken grain. The decision allows exporters or buyers one-kilo deduction for 15 to 15.5 per cent moisture and two kilos for 15.5 to 16 per cent moisture. It is clear that though that the SCA is there to protect the interests of the rich farmers, who is there to protect the small farmers from policies which are made for the politically powerful and affluent class of the rural economy?

It may be worth noting that according to the World Bank, Pakistan’s current economic development model is no longer reducing poverty and provides few benefits to most citizens, as poverty increased from 34.2 percent in the fiscal year 2022 to 39.4 percent in the (current) fiscal year –pushing 12.5 million people below the poverty line.

The newly formed Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) under the leadership of senior army officers has become quite active; army personnel have provided detailed information on the scope and investment potential in agriculture and livestock, mines and minerals, and information technology sectors. A number of initiatives seem to be on the table: the SIFC has directed the Ministry of Water Resources to collaborate with the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives to develop a five-year plan on water resource development with financing plan for agriculture sector. According to the SIFC, the recently inaugurated Green Pakistan Initiative’s focus is on ‘large scale farming (that could be another name for corporate farming) in Bahawalpur, using irrigation pivot system which is on one hand is an efficient irrigation system saving water usage and on the other is also not labor intensive. It is believed that the new technology will result in a Green Cholistan. This initiative will provide ‘One Stop’ facilities for seeds, machinery, indigenous development of pivot system, as well as modernization in farming techniques. The impediment to the seed industry is the presence of large number of seed companies operating in Pakistan. Four Brothers, a seed corporation in Pakistan is advocating providing land to multinational seed corporations (without rent or charges) so that they could develop seeds according to Pakistan’s climate.

The executive committee of SIFC was informed that presently, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (SKA) imports 1%, UAE imports 3% and China 2% of food items from Pakistan. These low volumes can be enhanced manifolds. It would, however, require efficiently managed flood water and excess rain water. Waste lands all over the country have to be converted green. Collaboration with a Spanish company has commenced in the irrigation sector. Further, improvement in livestock shrimp farming in saline water, and cage farming could bring improved dividends and create 3 million employment opportunities for small farmers, leading to enhanced exports.

A major thrust is to attract foreign investment in the country, with emphasis on privatization policy implementation. It’s reported that Saudi Arabia will invest about $25 billion in Pakistan over the next two to five years in various sectors, which would be the highest investment in the country by the Kingdom, if it comes through. Barrick Gold Corp, which had in the past year filed a case against Pakistan through the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism in context to Reko Diq gold and copper mines, has stated that it was open to partnering with Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund; however some (unmentioned) hurdles have been pointed out by Saudi Arabia that need to be tackled first.

Pakistan and USA had earlier launched a five-year project named the Investment Promotion Activity (IPA) to be implemented by USAID. IPA aims to strengthen Pakistan’s business environment, build the capacity of institutions focused on investment promotion, attract FDI, and increase US-Pakistan bilateral trade and investment, and in general reduce barriers to investment and trade by improving Pakistan’s investment promotion capabilities. The USAID is facilitating $40 million in US-Pakistani diaspora investment that include four diaspora partners including funds from SERVINZ, Pakfoods LLC Group, Jaxeri Investment Corporation, as well as Global Semiconductors Group.

Not to be left behind, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a commercial arm of the World Bank Group, announced that it would double its investments in Pakistan to $1.5 billion during the current fiscal year. In FY23, the IFC committed a record $43.7bn to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to supposedly end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity.

There is no dearth of propagation of modern technology for the agriculture sector. Preparations are underway for the International Livestock Agri-Fisheries Expo in Peshawar, which will be KP’s largest dairy, livestock, agriculture and fisheries exhibition. Pakistan has also organized a mango festival in Kuala Lumpur seeking new markets. The $3 trillion international halal market is also being hyped for potential exports.

While there are continuous efforts to increase production and production capacity, we face serious water scarcity in the country. With our water resources rapidly depleting, wastage of this precious resource is posing serious challenges by pushing us towards water-scarce status from the existing water-stressed nation status. Our present per capita water availability has declined below 1000 cubic meter from 5600 cubic meter in 1950s with fewer reservoirs constructed since Pakistan’s inception. A major chunk of water resources continue to flow to the Arabian Sea and a vast quantity is wasted due to an obsolete irrigation system. The Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA) chairman, Kabool Khatian has urged to revise abiyana (water charges) to meet expenses for irrigation infrastructure. The corporate sector, like Nestle, is also active in water irrigation system, introducing projects such as drip irrigation and installing smart soil moisture sensors that would decrease water usage. At the same time, Dr Muhammad Ismail Kumbhar, an expert in rural development and agriculture pointed out that 85 percent of the groundwater is not fit for human consumption due to the extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers. Not only water, but also soil fertility is also affected, while cotton-pickers and vegetable-pickers and farmers in general suffer from various cancer, skin and liver diseases.

According to a study published in the journal BMJ Oncology, globally, the number of people under 50 years of age, diagnosed with cancer has surged worldwide in the last three decades though, reasons are not fully clear. The study points to the fact that cases of cancer among people aged 14 to 49 rose by nearly 80 percent, from 1.82 million to 3.26 million, between 1990 to 2019.

Climate crisis continues to have its impact felt. Even though this year there is an increase in cotton production, sudden increase in temperature has resulted in whitefly attack on the cotton crop in Rahimyar Khan; drones have been used to provide high pressure cluster spray.

According to a research study from Schroders and Cornell University, extreme heat and flooding could erase $65 billion in apparel export earnings from four Asian countries by 2030, as workers struggle under high temperatures and factories closure due to flooding; four countries studied — Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan and Vietnam — would be impacted. The overall fall in productivity would lead to a $65 billion shortfall in projected earnings between 2025 and 2030 – equivalent to a 22 percent decline – and 950,000 fewer jobs being created.

Even with much evidence on the destruction and toxication of soil and water sources as well as climate crisis, there continues to be a push for agro-chemical farming. According to a senior official, Punjab Agriculture Department, at least 1.2 million certified wheat seed bags, each weighing 50kg, will be provided to the farmers at subsidized rate of PKR 1,500/bag. In addition, one million packs of weedicide at subsidized rates of PKR 500/pack will also be provided so as to minimize the risk of importing wheat grains later.

All of the above endeavors have to be examined in the context of not only productivity which is meant for increasing exports to pay off the IMF debt, but the impact on biodiversity, long term soil fertility, and of course nutrition and health of our people. Agro-chemical farming has been proved to be highly toxic to all living being on Earth as well as to ecosystems. At the same time, this mode of production pushes for adoption of modern technology which of course has to be imported, it is also capital extensive and hence we lose not only foreign exchange but also exacerbate joblessness in the country.

It also needs to be mentioned that a major source of foreign exchange earnings are from our migrant labor across the world. According to the Italian Ambassador to Pakistan, Andreas Ferrarese, remittances from Pakistanis living in Italy have increased to €1 billion, and according to the Malaysian High Commissioner, Mohammad Azhar Bin Mazlan more than 50,000 Pakistanis are working in Malaysia. However, there is hardly any information on their well-being, or policies to facilitate migrant workers or/and their families that provide such needed economic help through their remittances. It also points to a faultline in Pakistan’s economy that there is lack of job opportunities for our workforce, of which a majority are youth.

Being part of a region where the security situation as well unhealthy relationships with our neighbors leads to further export barriers. The closure of the Torkham border, Bolochistan has had a tremendous impact on trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan; it is estimated that Pakistan faced a cumulative loss of PKR240 million in imports, while export goods worth $8.16 million could not be sent across in just four days of border closing.

Where does Pakistani exports stand at the moment? On a month-to-month basis, from July ($1.637 billion) to August ($2.126 billion), 2023 Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 29.86 percent. However, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), in comparison to date from last year, the country’s trade deficit narrowed by 40.29 per cent during the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year; it stood at $3.763 billion compared to $6.302 billion during the same period of last fiscal year.

In order to ensure food security of the country, India has put a ban on its rice exports; for Pakistan, with a bumper rice crop, this has provided opportunities for traders to find new export markets; a first time $3 billion mark by the end of the fiscal year (FY24) is expected while $2.5 billion rice exports were carried out in FY23. Recently, Qatar has lifted its ban on Pakistani rice export which will also provide markets for Pakistani rice. It is being reported that export to Middle-eastern countries have shown a growth of 20.82 per cent in July led by revival from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain; interestingly that is not the case for UAE, where exports have decreased.

Textile exports, the mainstay of our economy do not show encouraging figures, which fell by six percent year-on-year in August to $1.48 billion. The reasons for the fall include high energy costs and a liquidity crunch in the country.

Based on data from the State Bank of Pakistan, in the first month of the current fiscal year, exports to nine regional countries fell by 14.55 per cent, which was mainly due to fall in shipments to China. However, Pakistan`s exports to Afghanistan posted a positive growth of 32.79 percent; the exports were $42.173 million in July from $31.757 million in the same month, last year.

The decline was not only in exports but also imports – from China there was a steep decline in July from a year ago. Other countries where our exports declined included Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Iran, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.

In the past months, Pakistan has been through a terrible debt crunch facing acute dearth in foreign exchange reserves. In order to overcome the situation, the government had imposed heavy time-bound regulatory duties; the government has been facing international pressure to rem­ove a complete ban on imp­orts. We need to remind ourselves that the under the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, gov­ernment cannot indefini­t­ely ban imports and only reg­u­latory duties could be imp­osed based on different base lines. The WTO believes that all of its members are now able to trade equally; the highly skewed ability to trade in goods and services, where one country can only export primary commodities, while the others can export services such as in health, education and information technology, as well as capital intensive goods is not taken into consideration. And the endpoint of course then is the back-breaking debt like many countries across Asia and Africa are now facing.

Given the monster floods last year, and overall increase in production cost, the country is facing a shortfall of 2.45 million tons of wheat as per demand. According to reports, the market would need at least 3.5 million tons of wheat in the current year. The Economic Survey 2022-23 statistics show that the country produced over 27 million tons of wheat. The government had allowed the private sector to import wheat till March 15, 2024.

A private sector consortium of Pakistani traders have finalized import of 0.7 million metric tons of wheat to be brought from Russian and Romania. The import is expected to decrease wheat prices by PKR 5-7 per kg. However, consumers have not derived much benefit from the import of 2.7 million tons of wheat costing $1 billion during FY23 compared to 2.2 million tons amounting to $795 million in FY22.

At the same time, Pakistan’s economy is being hurt by the smuggled items that enter the country while goods are being taken to Afghanistan through the Afghanistan Transit Trade. The government is seeking measures to stop the ongoing smuggling.

The Asian Development Bank reports that the global trade finance gap grew to a record $2.5 trillion in 2022 from $1.7 trillion two years earlier, as rising interest rates, flagging economic prospects, inflation, and geopolitical volatility reduced the capacity of banks to deliver trade financing. (The trade finance gap is the difference between requests and approvals for financing to support imports and exports). Overall, the international growth and investment scenario for countries seem to be bleak. The pandemic and the war in Ukraine has raised the idea of ‘de-globalization,’ as there have been disruptions in trade and slow growth. It should be noticed that according to the IMF, total debt, which includes both public and private debt, stood at 238 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) last year, 9 percentage points higher than it was in 2019.

At the same time, there is increasing struggle between major economic and military powers to create trade zones vying with each other to control trade routes and markets. Though there is much discussion on Saudi Arabia’s potential investment in Pakistan, there have been major developments happening between the US, Saudi Arabia and India at the Group of 20 leaders meeting, in New Delhi, India, this month. A memorandum of understanding is on the table to be signed by the European Union, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the US and other G20 partners. An economic corridor that includes multinational rail and ports stretching from India, to the Middle East, and then further to Europe is underway. The infrastructure project is considered to counter the China’s Belt and Road initiative. There is now further push for Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel, a process that has been undergoing in the Arab Islamic countries under the Abraham Accords. No doubt, Pakistan will also be pushed to join the Abraham Accords but will be highly contested by the people, of course.

There seems to be a disconnect in how the trade and investment is viewed by capitalist paradigms for achieving growth and economic development versus the ecological and environment debacle facing society at large. While scientists warn about mass extinction of species or extinction of ‘Tree of Life,’ and the UN maritime court seeks protection of the world oceans, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raises stark warning about the use of fossil fuel, the forces of monopoly capital seem entirely focused on pursuing a path of corporate super-profits unheeding the destruction caused by its industrial mode of production. Warning about global poverty, hunger, famine all seem words seem to fall on deaf ears. It seems that we are on the brink of a global disaster that may erupt at any moment. The struggle for sanity, for an equitable world, all seem to rest on the shoulders of the people, as our elite-run governments across the world seem to have crossed many red lines.

Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) and Roots for Equity held the first Pakistan Peoples’ Caravan (PPC) on October 18, 2023, in Shikarpur, Sindh, as part of the Global Peoples’ Caravan for Food, Land, and Climate Justice. There are other caravans already organized for other parts of Pakistan in the coming weeks. The caravans will build up to the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) of the UN Climate Change Conference happening in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from Nov 30 to Dec 12. Similar caravans or actions in various countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other regions are planned throughout October-November 2023.

For Pakistan in general, and for the rural communities of our country in particular, the COP28 provides an excellent platform to draw global attention from the public, mass media, and policymakers to the rural people’s demands to address the interconnected issues of hunger, land and resource grabs, and the climate crisis. Rural people’s movements are rising to confront unprecedented global hunger, displacement, and environmental and climate destruction. They are holding into account imperialism – the global empire of the wealthiest countries’ finance oligarchs and their monopoly corporations. We need to continuously strengthen and expand these movements for truly deep-rooted policy reforms to take place and address the multiple crises plaguing the world’s peoples, including the rural sectors, which are most vulnerable.

Speakers at the Caravan highlighted the plight that small and landless farmers, especially women are facing in context to the extremely high level of inflation, exorbitant cost of agriculture production that is being thrust on them based on the desire for monopoly capital to extract humongous super profits form the most marginalized, vulnerable sector of our society. Rural communities face not only the disastrous effects of neoliberal trade liberalization in food and agriculture but also that of climate imperialism; Pakistan’s monster monsoons of 2022 is one of the prime examples.

In response, rural people movements are rising to meet the challenges before us. We are tackling the unprecedented crises of environmental destruction with staunch determination, global hunger and displacement. Instead of addressing the structural issues underlying these crises and the failure to face them head-on, the UN has allowed monopoly corporations from imperialist countries to exploit the food, hunger, and climate crises to pursue a despicable plan to gain more control over and take advantage of the world’s food systems.   

While governments and institutions are forever promising to support the most vulnerable peasants amidst the ongoing climate crisis, many of the proposed climate solutions and promises are entirely false; in the first place the fossil fuel addiction of the imperialist countries is responsible for some of the worst calamities that rural people face across Pakistan, and the renewable energy solutions are also being used by monopoly capital to further exploit our communities and are resulting in further land and water conflicts across rural communities, leading to the displacement of these communities and the disruption of their way of life, while funneling public resources and shaping policies to fit into the corporate agenda.

We must not allow imperialist powers and interests to manipulate the climate, food and development agenda at the expense of the peoples’ rights and interests. If we want genuine sustainable development, are serious about achieving zero hunger, and are committed to taking real climate action to save our planet, we must expose and oppose these profit-motivated schemes.

We must break the chain of imperialist plunder through (1) breaking the domination of imperialism over global governance, (2) breaking TNC control over our food systems, and (3) breaking away from fossil fuel-hungry food systems.

We must shift the future through (1) shifting the bias of policymaking toward the peoples’ rights and aspirations, (2) shifting the control over lands and natural resources, and (3) shifting financing toward genuinely radical food systems transformation. 

We must work tirelessly to strengthen and expand our movements, pushing for fundamental, lasting policy reforms to address the numerous crises afflicting rural peoples and all working people worldwide.

Released by: Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)

The Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) and Roots for Equity in collaboration with Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), Pesticide Action Network (PAN AP) are marking the “World Hunger Day’ on October 16, 2023 – a day which is considered to be World Food Day. A peasant gathering (JALSA) has been organized in Ghotki, Sindh.

According to a recent report by UNICEF and the World Bank, about 333 million children (one in every six children) worldwide live in extreme poverty, while 62 million children in South Asia are living in extreme poverty. The World Food Programme estimates that 345 million people worldwide suffer from severe hunger, while according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the number of people suffering from hunger in the world in 2022 was between 691 million and 783 million. According to a recent UN statement, another 745 million people could suffer from severe hunger this year. Apparently, we are in the 21st century, and it seems that high technological advances are also taking place, but the world is facing increasing hunger, with rural women being the most disadvantaged, who are not only suffering from hunger and malnutrition but also deprived of proper employment and ownership of their personal land, especially agricultural land.

Given that Pakistan has been ranked 99th out of 129 nations in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, where the level of hunger has been described as serious; food agencies such as World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), believe that more than eight million people are expected to experience “high levels of acute food insecurity.”

The situation has not been created in just a day – it is the consistent promotion of neoliberal policies that have pushed for trade liberalization in food and agriculture that have resulted in such a dire situation.

The intense land concentration, with just 5% feudal families having control over 67% of land is of course also a critical reason behind not only rising hunger but the intense indebtedness of the country. The small number of elite who govern our country has pushed it into an abyss of debt and pauperization; at the moment Pakistan has a debt of $85 billion which has resulted in a severe economic crisis forcing austerity measures on the people. The government has been begging for aid from different sources, and since beggars cannot be choosers agricultural land is being offered for lease to foreign entities. The government has created entities such as the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) that have an extraordinary presence of the armed forces. The SIFC is paying particular attention to privatization and investment, especially in food and agriculture, and will result in massive food exports. In addition, there is now land also being leased for corporate farming, with corporations being given priority over farmers, especially small and landless farmers. This is only going to have further grave consequences for rural communities, the bedrock of our society.

As a result of the IMF conditionalities, the prices of fuel have risen astronomically making it difficult for small farmers to continue food production. The rising debt of the farming community will end in exacerbating landlessness in the country.

The solution lies in not putting the country up for sale but in building self-reliance in food agriculture and national industry. Corporations and foreign direct investment will only leach the country of its resources, while reaping rich profits off our land and labor. It is critical at this juncture that we adopt food sovereignty as the base for our food and agriculture policy, with center space given to small and landless farmers, especially women in policy development and implementing. There is no doubt that by making just and equitable land distribution a priority can help the country to break the shackles of debt and pauperization, and also help in establishing a national industry.

Let us fight for Food Sovereignty, for Climate Justice, for National Sovereignty!

Released by: Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT);

Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Monday, PKMT secretary Wali Haider highlighted unending misery of peasants and landless farm workers and said today farmers were being compelled to abandon their land, factories were shutting down, and a staggering number of workers were losing their livelihoods.

“Under the oppressive working conditions, women farmers and workers are enduring economic hardship, hunger, poverty and social exploitation. The skyrocketing prices of food and commodities, especially the soaring electricity bills, have pushed Pakistan’s working population to the brink, forcing rural communities to migrate to urban centres and abroad, often resorting to illegal means, even at the risk of imprisonment or loss of life,” he said.

The crisis had spawned grave social issues and deteriorated law and order in the country, he added.

He informed the audience that farmers had held protests today (Sept 4) in different parts of the country including Shikarpur, Khairpur, Ghotki, Haripur, Lower Dir, Mansehra, Sahiwal and Rajanpur, against the ongoing crippling inflation.

Dr Azra Talat Sayeed of Roots for Equity said the government was responsible for the “intense economic debacle” gripping the nation.

“The PKMT represents the interests of small and landless peasants and workers who vehemently reject the policies of global capitalist and imperialist system. We stand united against the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organisation (WTO), and their agreements, which have plunged workers, the small and landless farmers into depths of hunger, poverty, unemployment and ever sharpening inflation.”

The speakers regretted that while the IMF-driven conditionalities had led to intense misery in the lives of a vast majority of Pakistanis, the country’s elite class continued to burden the national exchequer with free electricity, oil, gas, and illicit expenditures in the name of state benefits.

The gravity of the situation, they said, demanded an immediate shift towards pro-people policies.

“We categorically reject the government’s rising utility rates in response to the current economic crisis, Rather than imposing additional burden on the people, we demand the government implement an agricultural tax on landlords owning more than 50 acres of land, especially the minority feudal elite, as well as enforce taxes on real estate,” said Mr Haider.

He also demanded just and equitable land distribution as a way of increasing self-sufficiency and government support to local manufacturers.

Allah Dino of PKMT said the grave situation was forcing the poor peasants to seek loans from microfinance schemes at high interest rates that they could not pay back. Consequently, they faced abuse and threats from lenders, he said.

“The government should extend subsidies to agriculture and agricultural inputs, especially electricity, petrol, and essential products in order to bring relief to the working class. Besides, steps are needed to create decent employment opportunities,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2023

https://www.dawn.com/news/1774089/govt-urged-to-impose-agriculture-tax-on-big-landlords

Press Release | September 4, 2023

The Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) and Roots for Equity forcefully and emphatically voices its protest against the intense economic debacle gripping our nation. On September 4, 2023, PKMT has declared a nationwide Protest Day against the ongoing crippling inflation. Protests are being staged in Shikarpur, Khairpur, Ghotki, Haripur, Lower Dir, Mansehra, Sahiwal, Rajanpur, while press conferences are being held in Peshawar, Multan, and Karachi.

PKMT represents the interests of small and landless peasants and workers who vehemently reject the policies of the global capitalist and imperialist system. We stand united against the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organization (WTO), and their agreements, including the SPS and Codex Alimentarius policies, which have plunged workers, the small and landless farmers into depths of hunger, poverty, unemployment, and ever sharpening inflation.

Today, farmers are being compelled to abandon their land, factories are shutting down, and a staggering number of workers are losing their livelihoods. Under the oppressive patriarchal system, women farmers and workers are enduring the double burden of economic hardship, hunger, poverty, and social exploitation. The skyrocketing prices of food and commodities, especially the soaring electricity bills, have pushed Pakistan’s working population to the brink, forcing rural communities to migrate to urban centers and abroad, often resorting to illegal means, even at the risk of imprisonment or loss of life. This crisis has spawned grave social issues and deteriorating law and order situations in the country.

While the IMF-driven conditionalities have led to intense misery in the lives of a vast majority of Pakistani masses, suffer the indignities of poverty, and unemployment the country’s elite class burden the national exchequer with free electricity, oil, gas, and illicit expenditures in the name of state benefits.

We categorically reject the government’s rising utility rates in response to the current economic crisis and strongly condemn the insubstantial and unsatisfactory proposals to address these costs. Rather than imposing additional burdens on the people, we demand the government implement an agricultural tax on landlords owning more than 50 acres of land, especially the minority feudal elite, as well as enforcement of taxation on real estate.

The gravity of the situation demands an immediate shift towards pro-people policies that reject the policies of international financial institutions (IFIs) as the primary culprits responsible for this crisis, alongside the vested interests of the local ruling elite.

PKMT firmly repudiates neoliberal policies, which are inherently anti-farmer and anti-labor reforms, and believes that such measures run counter to the welfare and sovereignty of marginalized segments of our society and our nation. Our country’s land, livestock, and natural resources are being surrendered to imperialistic powers in connivance with local elites, rendering us helpless against imperialism.

PKMT demands that the government promptly renounce all capitalist, feudal, and imperialist policies and IMF conditions. These conditions have been shaped by loans sought by the elite for their luxuries. It is imperative for the state to prioritize the interests of its citizens over those of imperialist countries and multinational corporations. Immediate steps must be taken to create decent employment opportunities for workers and peasants, alongside a just and equitable land redistribution program. Subsidies must be extended to agriculture and agricultural inputs, especially electricity, petrol, and other essential products, in order to bring relief to the working class of our nation.

Released by: Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) & Roots for Equity

The People: Pay Heed!

• The government is imposing restrictions on fresh natural open milk; new laws have been made.

• The government has decreed it is necessary to pasteurize fresh natural open milk. Without pasteurization, fresh milk cannot be sold.

• Millions of small and landless farmers, workers, especially women farmers and milkmen put immense labor in the production and sale of fresh natural open milk.

• Our small and landless farmers provides not only fresh natural open milk but also milk products such as butter, lassi, khoya, curd, and cream. Apart from this, they also provides meat and leather throughout the country.

• International, hegemonic profit-seeking corporations want to impose legal restrictions on the sale of fresh natural open milk so that they take control of the dairy sector. With this aim, they are promoting packaged milk.

• Fresh natural open milk is a blessing. By giving its control to profit-seeking corporations, the Pakistani population will lose a healthy nutritious food including a major source of livelihood. In other words, an already rich class is being further strengthened and the peasantry and the working class is being further oppressed.

• Let us raise our voices against the ‘Pure Food Regulations’ and ensure the protection of safe and nutritious food for the people and the livelihood of the farmers, the backbone of our society.

What are the Punjab and Sindh ‘Pure Food Regulations 2018’?

The Punjab Food Authority, Government of Punjab and Sindh Food Authority, Government of Sindh have issued the Pure Food Regulations 2018 to impose various restrictions on the production, processing and sale of food. Under this, Punjab and Sindh Pure Food Authorities have issued orders that fresh natural open milk can now be sold only after pasteurizing. For businesses that are producing milk and other milk products will have to undergo a complex process of registration with the government authorities to be able to operate in the dairy sector.

Please note, it is based on the unflinching hard labor of small and landless farmers that Pakistan is the fourth largest milk producing country in the world.

• The livestock sector accounts for about 60% of Pakistan’s agricultural sector and contributes 11% to the country’s production.

• About 80 per cent of milk production is in the hands of small producing groups (small and landless farmers).

• Small and landless farmers, men and women, earn their livelihood from this sector through arduous painful work.

• Ordinary rural households earn 35 to 40 percent of their income from livestock.

• Globally, monopoly corporations in the agriculture sector are aggressively trying to take full control, from production to processing to marketing and sale of foods and food products.

• In the dairy sector (and others), new laws are being put in place, ostensibly keeping in mind food hygiene and public health. However, only 20 percent of households in Pakistan have access to clean water to date. If hygiene was such a priority, rules and regulations for safe drinking water should have been on top of the list, and being implemented rigorously.

• It should be noted that laws on the sale of natural open milk are being made and implemented only to promote the dominance of foreign imperialist corporations.

• This process will deprive the people of invaluable natural assets, food and livelihood, which will further increase hunger and poverty.

No to Corporate Capture of our Milk and Milk Products!

Capitalist mode of production, its imperialist impositions for centuries is responsible for the Climate Climate Emergency and the “Monster Monsoon” in Pakistan is a terribly tragic manifestation. With extreme weather patterns happenings at a much higher frequency across the world millions face acute misery and suffering. According to Global Climate Risk Index (CRI) Pakistan has been among the top 10 countries most affected by climate crisis since 1999, even though its emissions remain less than 1.0% of global emissions but the suffering of its people know no bounds: in 2017 there were record extremes in temperature of 54.0°C in Turbat, Pakistan. Since the Super floods of 2010, Pakistan continues to face very high temperatures, lashing rain, floods as well as drought in various parts of the country, and 2021 was considered the seventh warmest year on record (1961) across Pakistan. The monsoon season stretching from July to August has in certain areas received generally three times more rainfall than average. To make matters worse, there has been continuous melting of Pakistan’s 7000 glaciers, with several glacial out-burst floods. The country holds the most glacial ice found outside the polar regions.

The socio-economic cost of the current debacle is still to be fully understood; up till now more than 1,500 casualties as well as large number of injuries have been reported, with more than 33 million affected, mud houses having been swept away, standing crops and orchards over 2 millions acres of land have been entirely and heavy loss of livestock as well as infrastructure. There is extreme lack of food, safe drinking water, sanitary facilities, clothing as well cooking facilities, shelter for livestock; reports of many forms of diseases and for women and children there is added misery as there are issues of safety, maternal and child care.

The working class of Pakistan, especially the small and landless farmers, are paying a very heavy cost for the carbon emissions from the fossil-fuel dependent capitalist production of rich industrial nations, while the vulnerability of rural communities has increased many fold as they also have had to face the grotesque whiplash of neoliberal policies for decades.

The stark truth is that this calamity is not a ‘natural disaster,’ it is the result of consistent imperialist policies spearheaded by the US and G7 states, as well as other rich industrial nations that have not allowed any change in their fossil-fuel production; the goal of course has been amassing super-profits for their corporations. It needs no reminding that the US is the highest polluter, and even though it would like to point fingers at China and India, one must not forget that while the US population is only 4.25%, China and India combined population is 36 % of the global population, and hence US remains not only now but historically the worst polluter. The Paris Agreement in itself, and the following years have first, clearly shown the absolute disregard by rich industrial nations of the dire consequences of global warming, and the need for drastic cuts in carbon emissions, and second, the refusal to take historical responsibility of their critical role in global warming, consistently failing to honored their pledges on climate finance to the affected countries.

Imperialist countries, especially the US in the aftermath of such diabolical conditions are quick to take advantage: in the name of humanitarian aid there are methods devised to subjugate the people and the state to further forms of neo-colonization. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has sent an assessment team to Islamabad to determine what potential support Department of Defense (DoD) can provide to USAID as part of the United States’ assistance to the flooding crisis in Pakistan: nothing could be more ominous for the people of Pakistan. The long history of the US economic, political and military interference in Pakistan and Afghanistan has had a very heavy economic, political and social toll on both the countries and its people. Since 2003, the US has been carrying out direct drone attacks in the country; in 2008, millions of dollars of US military aid was provided to the Pakistan military for carrying out supposedly operations against the Taliban which led to vast displacement of the Pakistani people a large majority of whom still are living in extreme deprivation; during this period US economic aid including food aid was used to for extensive policy reforms to pave the way for corporate capture of the country’s resources and markets.

After massive destruction, the US left the country accusing the Pakistan military of aiding and abetting the Taliban; this pattern was followed in Afghanistan last year. Of course one must remember, the much more devastating role of the US in Afghanistan where currently millions of Afghans, especially Afghan women and children facing acute hunger with famine staring in their faces.

As part of the larger geopolitical game, on one hand the US has done its best to isolate Pakistan for developing a closer alliance with China, and on the other hand, strengthening its ties with India and bolstering its military strength. One can see the immensely harmful foreign policy approach taken by the US which will result in vicious pitting of nations against each other, and further deteriorating stability in the region.

US imperialist policies are responsible for the acute economic disaster facing not only Pakistan, but many neo-colonial countries, they use the IMF and the World Bank to keep a suffocating grip on poor economies pushing us deeper into the suicidal debt trap while maintaining their colonial relations with the local elite, who of course cannot be absolved of the responsibility of maintaining these neo-colonial ties.

People’s demands for Climate Justice are:

• People-led decision-making and implementation process;
• Implement sustainable production and consumption policies;
• End imperialist corporate control over resources, production and markets;
• Genuine agrarian land reforms;
• Rich advanced countries to cut carbon emissions to bring back global temperature to levels fits for a stable ecological systems;
• Rich industrial states to pay for climate-related loss and damages in neo-colonial countries.
• End Climate Imperialism! Climate Justice Now!

International League for Peoples Struggle – South Asia (ILPS-SA)

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