The month is marked by many critical happenings pertaining to political economy of agriculture. The issue of wheat importation as well as lack of wheat procurement from farmers, which had also been discussed in the previous issue, deserves further attention.

Many aspects of the wheat fiasco are worth highlighting. First, that the shortfall in the amount of wheat needed for the country’s consumption need not have been addressed through private sector importing wheat. According to data released, 2.45 million-ton of wheat shortage was expected for the 2023-24 period; however, an excess of 1.162 million tons of wheat was imported in FY24. The government prices of wheat in the market were higher and the private sector was selling at a lower price. Reports point to the Punjab government that had knowingly kept wheat release rate higher than the private sector, due to which flour mills preferred to purchase Ukrainian wheat imported by the private sector. According to the Pakistan Kisan Itehad, based on lower prices of imported wheat, the local wheat prices fell to PKR 2,800-3,000 per 40kg against the government rate of PKR 3,900.

The question is even if internationally wheat prices were lower, the state is responsible for shielding farmers’ livelihood. If wheat crop is not protected from the private sector, it will have a devastating impact on farmers income, as well as grave consequences in terms of ensuring country’s food security.

There are a total of 65 wheat importers in the country (of which 17 are flour mills who also import wheat), with Louis Dreyfus and United Resources Corporation, being the two major importers. The Plant Protection Agency had issued about 1,000 permits to wheat importers. The role of the caretaker government, and their collusion with the private sector in importing wheat has been highlighted.

Apart from the import of wheat worth PKR330 billion (of which 1.3 million metric tons was reported to be infected), there is also further collaboration of the government with the market actors, where PASSCO officials are being accused of selling the bardana (gunny bags) to traders, politicians and middlemen, allowing them to gain profit by procuring wheat at the subsidized rates set for farmers.

In the coming years, there seem to be clear developments for further strengthening of the private sector. According to news reports, the Punjab food department has decided to withdraw from its practice of wheat procurement, and it will become a law bringing an end to the food department’s role in wheat procurement. Further, according to the new policy the private sector will purchase wheat crop from farmers, directly; the government will fix wheat prices based on international prices of the commodity.

Another pertinent issue with respect to wheat production and country’s food security includes the rapid urbanization that is occurring based on ‘flagrant violations of the law’ in acquiring agricultural land. According to a report by Advocate General Punjab Khalid Ishaq, “Pakistan was a leading South Asian exporter of wheat. This trend has reversed in recent years, and it is reported that Pakistan (government and private sector combined) imported wheat amounting to USD 1 billion during July-March for FY2024.” The loss of agricultural land coupled with consistent damage and destruction of agriculture production due to climate crisis, is bound to increase food insecurity in the country.

Humanitarians?

The World Wide Fund (WWF) and Laudes Foundation have launched the ‘Regenerative Production Landscape Collaborative Pakistan’ initiative. The aim is to ‘revolutionize farming practices,’ and business models to address challenges faced by small farmers, especially women. Apart from increasing women’s income, the project will also be a implementing process that can overcome environmental degradation.

Anita Chester, Head of the Fashion Programme at Laudes Foundation has emphasized the “the initiative’s significant scale, spanning over a million hectares globally and benefiting hundreds of thousands of farmers, with specific plans to cover over 100,000 hectares and assist more than 50,000 farmers in Pakistan alone.”

Laudes Foundation is run by Brenninkmeijer, a European business family. According to an article in the Forbes business magazine, the Dutch retailer C&A Brenninkmeijer is considered one of the most secretive companies in the world. It has a sprawling business with 2,005 stores in 23 countries including the Americas and Asia.

One can only be skeptical of mega-corporations in investing in Pakistan, under the guise of overcoming environmental degradation as well as guarding interests of women workers; it is unfortunate that the plight of women in Pakistan is frequently used to launch projects that are meant for profit rather than promoting and protecting women’s rights. The profit-seeking interest of corporations is well known, and without any doubt, they are major actors responsible for the immense destruction of the planet, and carbon emissions that are responsible for the debilitating climate crisis.

The US AID has been putting funds into clean energy solutions. The Investment Roadshow is aimed to promote private sector investment for sustainable and clean energy solutions. It is noteworthy that at another USAID workshop, the dairy methane emission reduction, the US Ambassador remarked on Pakistan being home to ‘one of the largest livestock populations in the world,’ and hence its role in bringing down carbon emissions. It is indeed quite a brazen statement, given that the US total emissions in 2021 were 13.49%, whereas Pakistan’s total emissions are just 0.9%. Livestock is a key contributor to not only national wealth, but also a source of livelihood to millions of rural households, not to mention its contribution to food and nutrition to all citizens of the country. It is such interventions that raise concerns about the well wishes of those investing in the country.

One should also mention that the European Union has also launched two flagship programs for skills development and clean energy in Gilgit-Baltistan. It is indeed remarkable that highly industrialized capitalist regions, who are not only responsible currently but through centuries of dangerous carbon emissions, are so focused on promoting ‘clean energy solutions’ in our country. The impact of climate crisis has continued to be devastating for Pakistan’s economy as well as its people: the heatwave in Sindh has been devastating with temperatures as high as 44- 51°C. In Khyber Pakhtunkwa, school hours were reduced to deal with the heat wave, while people suffering from it flocked to the hospitals.

The Unholy Mantras – privatization, digitalization, liberalization

Pakistan’s development model seems to have certain constants of which of course trade liberalization and privatization are constant themes.

It is being stated that the government plans to privatise all state-owned enterprises (SOEs), except strategic entities. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, at a high-level meeting has stated that “the government would privatize all state-owned enterprises, excluding the strategic ones, regardless of their profitability or financial losses.”

Privatization and foreign direct investment seem to be top priorities at the moment. Since the launch of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) last year, the Council’s name has cropped up frequently with respect to a number of trade liberalization and investment ventures. The Green Pakistan Initiative projects promoting private and public partnerships (PPP), include tourism, agriculture and livestock. Development of Keenjher Lake, Haleji Lake, Hawks Bay and Gorakh Hill Resorts into tourist spots are on the books.

In addition, the Government of Sindh is also discussing the establishment of shrimp farms/hatcheries as well as outsourcing of provincial government’s cattle farms in Rohri, Umerkot and Naukot.

The objectives of private sector investment include improving cattle breeds for milk and meat. International corporations are eager to take over the dairy and meat sector in the country. It is unfortunate that help is being extended to them for this corporate capture. The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nestle Pakistan Limited for research collaboration in product innovation, reproductive biotechnology to improve dairy farms economics, livestock health & dairy animal breeding. Apart from losing indigenous breeds among livestock, the country also faces loss of much needed foreign exchange, as repatriation of profit and dividend by foreign investors has been reported to grow by 250 percent. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, foreign investors have repatriated some $887 million on account of profit and dividend during July-April of FY24 compared to $253.4 million in the same period.

The SIFC apex committee is also assuring Chinese investors for providing facilitation for investment in the mining sector. Other areas that are to be prioritized for investment include minerals, and information technology (IT). In Balochistan, a Free Zone Agriculture Industrial Park in Gwadar has been inaugurated.

In Punjab, with the help of the World Bank, digitalization of land records in Punjab are being undertaken. It seems that development is now hinged to digitalization, which is persistently emphasized in agriculture. 

Apart from the Chinese other delegations that are being entertained include those from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Japan, Azerbaijan, Qatar, and other countries.

A delegation from Saudi Arabia came on a visit to enh­ance trade ties between investors from both countries and identify trade and investment opportunities across various sectors of national economy. According to the Ministry of Commerce, “leading” Pakistani companies would collaborate with at least 30 Saudi companies across different sectors, including agriculture, mining, human resource, energy, chemicals, and maritime. Discussions were also to be held on other sectors such as IT, religious tourism, telecom, aviation, construction, water and power generation.

The fact that foreign direct investment (FDI) rose 8.1percent to $1.458 billion during July-April FY24 compared to $1.349 billion in the same period last fiscal year, is testament to the government’s preliminary success in attracting foreign investors. The biggest investor was China, with FDI at $439.3 million as compared to $604 million in the same period last year. Another important inflow was from Hong Kong, where FDI increased to $297.9 million compared to $206 million in the same period last year. Inflows from the UK and the USA were $219 million and $216 million, respectively, both of which showed an increase from last year.

Apart from attracting foreign investment to Pakistan, other schemes that provide ease of access to modern information technologies are also being floated. Kisan Card schemes have been launched in previous years; recently the IT Ministry launched the ‘CropWise Grower’ application for farmers. It should be noted that the application belongs to Syngenta, now a part of the Chinee chemical giant Sinochem, a Chinese state-owned corporation. It should be noticed that CropWise uses artificial intelligence (AI) providing image-based problem diagnosis, as well as information for all its nearest stores (called Naya Savera) selling Syngenta products. A new scheme for Kisan Card, as well as the Benazir Hari Card in Sindh are also to be launched in the coming months.

In addition, the Habib Bank Limited has also entered a partnership with Agrilift, a Pakistani company that was formed in 2021. Agrilift, according to its company information, is an AI-based platform offering crop monitoring technology. Other such enterprises include the “Bakhabar Kisan.”

Feudalism for the poor, Capitalism for the rich

On one hand, capitalist policies are being thrust across the entire production landscape, especially in agriculture, but on the other hand feudal as well as colonial policies and practices remain for controlling the vast rural population, ensuring that they remain oppressed and exploited. According to Human Rights Watch, the colonial-era Land Acquisition Act is used often to evict ‘low-income groups;’ the 1894 law is used for public land acquisition, which is then often used by government authorities for public-private partnerships, and even for private corporations. It is clear, that while new laws and policies facilitating investors and corporations are enacted regularly and rapidly, colonial laws, especially those guarding land rights of the powerful feudal forces have remained untouched, even after more than 70 years of so-called independence from British colonizers, and are used forcefully against the marginalized oppressed classes.

There is a report of an agricultural worker tortured to death by a landlord. In Pakistan, more than often criminal acts of landlords and those in power often remain outside the reach of law enforcement. The fact that land disputes remain a regular feature in our rural areas highlights the fact that feudalism remains a key feature of Pakistan’s political economy.

After all of the above endeavors of the government to carry out privatization and trade liberalization, the final impact can only be measured based on the socio-economic conditions of the people. According to a research study, conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), the poverty rate in Pakistan over the past five years has increased from 38.6 percent to 39.5 percent. National poverty rate has reached 39.5% while in Balochistan it is 70 percent, in KP 48 percent, in Sindh at 45 percent, and in Punjab poverty rate stands at 30 percent. The report revealed that rural areas have recorded higher poverty rates than urban areas across the country, as the poverty rate in rural areas was recorded at 51%, whereas, in urban areas 17 percent.

These abysmal figures are the crux of the matter. Only when the country’s working class, its peasantry is able to reap the benefits of economic policies can it be said that the government has made people-centered decisions and policies, ridding the country of hunger, malnourishment and grinding poverty.

According to the Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Dr Kauser Malik, Sino-Pak agricultural ties and joint efforts will help address the issue of food security and to learn from each other’s experiences. Similarly, the Alternative Livelihoods Options project, a five-year project worth $1.3 million  finished recently; it was meant to teach women improved agricultural practices and increasing their access to new, alternative crops. According to the US Ambassador Donald A Blome, who participated in a closing event of the project, “the achievements (of the project) are far-reaching,” and has “helped establish fruit orchards, vegetable gardens, greenhouses, and irrigation systems benefitting more than 25,000 people.” In addition, USAID’s Economic Recovery and Development Activity (ERDA) is collaborating with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Agriculture Research and local farmers, in pioneering an innovative approach to certified wheat seed production in District Mardan.

Through the many decades that Pakistan has received back-breaking loans and other grants to help us ‘develop,’ the outcome has been disappointing. In the 21^st Century, when we are confronting climate crisis, global warming is a vicious reality destroying millions of acres of land and livelihood: can countries like the US and China, who have a history of chemical intensive, ecologically suicidal agricultural systems teach Pakistani farmers how to practice agriculture production?

The Food Ministry has announced that no seeds, including genetically modified organisms (GMOs), would be permitted into the country without complying with the prescribed Plant Quarantine Regulations and Seed Regulations. But such a compelling directive is actually misleading. The government is requesting a technical and commercial research report for potential import of GMO seeds for oil extraction and meal production. There is no dialogue nationally on a controversial issue as GMOs, especially with farming communities, while the emphasis is to study global standard operating procedures and sanitary and phytosanitary protocols for GMO soybean seed importation. Apart from the corporate driven Sanitary and Phytosanitary Mechanisms and Technical Barriers to Trade agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO), on the question of seeds, one must always remember that Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement of the WTO. TRIPs and other WTO agreements have strangled agriculture economy of third world countries because, based on these agreements,  mega-corporations of rich industrial countries have been able to capture local production and markets in food and agriculture. Global standards are for mega corporations of the rich industrial countries, and is the absolute opposite of the concept of food sovereignty.

One good news, at least on the surface, is that the Sindh livestock department and the Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) Tando Jam have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for preservation of indigenous cattle breeds such as Sindhi Kundhi buffalo, Sindhi red cow and other breeds.

In the end, our focus on development is based on having faith not in the peasant class, which is directly responsible for much of the wealth generated through agriculture production as can be seen from financial gain of PKR 400 billion with the increase of 4 million tons of wheat production in 2022-23. Additionally, $3 billion has been earned from the export of basmati and coarse rice this year. The Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) has stated that said Pakistan’s exports in rice, and sesame seed increased by 13.5 percent, while the trade deficit decreased by 4.5 percent during the same period.

But the contribution of the small and landless farmers to the economy is ignored, while, there is no end to recommendations on collaboration with government research institutions, the private sector among others.  For instance, the Sindh Agricultural University Vice Chancellor, Dr Fateh Marri has pointed out that over 3.5 million tons of valuable banana waste was burnt every year although it could be used to produce by-products, including fiber, composite fertilizers, confectionery and cosmetics. His suggestion is to form a banana research group comprising public, private and industrial sectors along with research institutes and growers, and hoped that this group could become part of World Banana Forum. The word ‘growers’ invariably means rich farmers, and not the peasantry itself.

At the same time, agriculturists, economists, progressive farmers and researchers have lamented the situation where agriculture sector in Sindh is hostage to commission agents, who, instead of farmers, fix prices of farm products. In Punjab, farmers have been raising complaints on the non-availability of fertilizers, and pointing to overcharging of the commodity by dealers. Urea was being sold at PKR 4,200-4,500 per bag against the government-prescribed price of PKR 3,600 per bag, while DAP prices were around PKR 13,500 per bag, with many police reports being filed against dealers for black marketing.

The Punjab government had fixed wheat sowing target for 2023-24 at 16 million acres to achieve a target of 25.6 million tons, but given shortfall and black marketing of inputs will this be possible? Even if it is possible, given shortage of oil and gas fuel as a critical input for their production, where does it leave us in the long run? The government is reportedly engaged with Russia, China and Azerbaijan for purchase of 0.2 million tons of urea fertilizer for the Rabi season. Is it feasible, given our huge debt, that we continue to rely on chemical fertilizers that are on one hand are expensive and detrimental to climate and soil fertility, and on the other, based on dependency of external sources?

It also needs to be emphasized that infrastructure development is often not finished in time; the caretaker government has indicated that work on the construction of Daducha Dam with an escalated cost of Rs10 billion has been resumed, while three key water sector projects face funding shortfall.

In general, there has been an increase in exports in the country. According to the Pakistan Statistical Bureau (PSB), higher shipments to China, and exports to nine regional countries resulted in a year-on-year growth of 14.3 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year. Pakistan’s merchandise exports increased for the second month in a row after a year-long downward trend, data released by PBS. In absolute terms, the exports were recorded at $2.70 billion in October against $2.38 billion over the corresponding month of last year (20222), amounting to a growth of 13.55 percent. The textile and clothing exports recovered, with a recorded growth of 5.92 percent, with exports rising to $1.44 billion, up from $1.35billion in the same month last year.

Similarly, raw food products saw an export surge of almost 60 percent in October. Apart from basmati rice, meat exports were worth $152.58 million in the 4MFY24 in comparison to $128.46 million over last year, achieving a growth of 18.77 percent. Increase in meat exports is based on reaching new markets that include Jordan, Egypt, and Uzbekistan.

From February to August, sugar export figures reached 248,854 tons against no exports recorded over the comparable period of last year. Fruit exports, in the first four months of the FY24 increased 13.53 percent to $108.99 million against $96.003 million over last year. All other food exports increased by13.88 percent to $404.52 million in the first four months of the FY24 from $355.22 million in comparison to the corresponding months of last year. In the same period, only fish and fish product exports worth $123.86 million saw a decline of 7.96 percent from a year ago of $134.57 million.

Fish and fish exports have declined. However, Pakistan has successfully secured a two-year extension (December 2025) to continue the commercial export of fish and fish products to the United States. This decision by the US administration exempts Pakistan from adhering to the standards outlined in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 2016, to offer additional time for aligning fishing practices with US environmental standards.

The result of increased food exports resulted in higher prices for consumers at home. It has been reported that ‘unchecked exports’ resulted in a high food inflation of 29 percent in October, 2023, making access to essential food items such as wheat flour, rice, sugar, meat and vegetables difficult.

Contesting news reports point to, at the least, lack of coherency in food and agricultural directives. There have been unprecedented high sugar prices at PRK 200/kg that resulted in the ECC imposing an export ban from August 10, 2023.A relevant point regarding sugar production is though profits accumulated by the sugar industry, there is big gap in fair prices for sugarcane. The caretaker Chief Minister of Sindh, fixed the minimum price of sugar cane at PKR 425 per 40 kg, whereas Punjab has fixed it at PKR 400 for the same quantity. However, in Punjab, farmers have rejected the sugarcane support price demanding that it should be raised to PKR 500 per 40 kg, at least. Various farmers’ platforms have been contesting the price, as well as highlighting the bias in favor of the industry and not farmers.

Similar tussle is apparent with respect to government policy and industry. The Pakistan Flour Mills Association has rejected the wheat issue price of PKR 4,700 per 40kg announced by the food authorities. The Association pointed out that adding PKR 800 per 40kg as incidental charges to the cost of grain procured by the government at PKR 3,900 per 40kg from the farmers was not fair.

The question of food security is also quite muddled. The National Food Security Ministry has announced that the country has well-stocked wheat reserves, as federal and provincial food departments have total stock of 6.934 million tons of wheat. At the same time, according to European traders, the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), has issued an international tender to purchase and import 110,000 metric tons of wheat.

The presence of ‘trawler mafia’ in Gwadar robbing the local fishermen in Makran of their livelihood is being raised, as well. Chairman Hidayatur Rehman Baloch, Haq Do Tehreek (HDT) has pointed out human rights abuses faced by the Tehreek in advocating for their rights; in spite of promises by the previous government, workers and leaders holding protests have been tortured and arrested.

Apart from the fisher folk facing scarce livelihood there is also ongoing marine ecological crisis which also fails to get government attention.

According to a World Bank study in Pakistan, there was a link between malnutrition and poor quality of water which inhibited the absorption of healthy minerals in the body. According to Dr Alvi, the President of Pakistan, climate and water emergency had exposed the underlying dysfunctions in global, national, and local economies, that failed to produce economic, environmental, and social justice for people. He proposed developing platforms with the involvement of the communities to encourage them to follow preparedness, and resilience initiatives on water conservation

Climate change and rising global temperatures have affected marine ecosystems, as well as fresh water upstream of the Indus River delta. A result has been a decline in fish catch, impacting fisherfolk’s income. The Ministry of Food Security, Government of Pakistan through its Fisheries Development Board will develop a digital link through a website to bring together various stakeholders (farmers, auctioneers, whole-sellers, processors and retailers); the website will be providing fish farmers information on market price as well as demand for fish in in national local markets. Public and private sectors will be supported to further fish production, especially in in Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkha, shortly. One does wonder though, can the vast bulk of fisherfolk engage in such a digital platform?

Pakistan and China are emphasizing controlling livestock diseases, so as to enhance the growth potential in order to increase per animal production and solve livestock health issues. The federal government has provided PKR 36.6 million, Export Development Fund to build a ‘center of excellence’ at an estimated cost of Rs200 million to protect the Kinnow crop against different diseases.

One has to ask, are these measures for the majority who comprise of small and landless farmers, fisherfolk, or is for the rich industrial sector, and the traders?

Pakistan remains a highly indebted country. The past months have shown Pakistan to be near bankruptcy and default. Almost four months down the road things remain on shaky footings. Based on AidData, US international development research institution, Pakistan is the third biggest recipient of Chinese development finance worldwide; only two per cent of China’s portfolio in Pakistan between 2000 and 2021 consisted of grants while the rest was in the form of loans. 2017 onwards, Chinese finance has been mostly for rescue loans rather than developmental projects.

Saudi Arabia has rolled over the $3 billion deposit facility for another year to support State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves which may fall to below $4 billion in case the amount is withdrawn.

Pakistan’s development policy has included attracting international investment. The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has been playing a key role in Pakistan and Kuwait venturing into seven Memorandum of Understandings for investments amounting to $10 billion, in various fields such as mining, food security and environment. Similarly, under the SIFC, leaders of UAE and Pakistan, witnessed by the Chief of Army Staff, have also signed MoUs worth billions of dollars to boost economic and strategic cooperation between the two countries.

It is expected that there will be no roadblocks to the IMF’s release of about $710 million second tranche of $3 billion Standby Arrangement (SBA), most probably to be released in December. However, the Fund, and the World Bank have raised concerns over SIFC, advising against creation of a group of preferred investors.

At the same time, industry leaders in the country want the government to seek other sources of cheaper external financing; the current business environment is difficult due to the high electricity, gas and petroleum prices.

The thrust of neoliberalism continues to be trade and investment, along with privatization. Privatization of PIA, and outsourcing of airport operations are still on the books. Climate crisis continues to be a major disruptive force in economic development especially agriculture. Global warming is ever present, to play havoc with agriculture production as well as communities. For instance, Himalayan glaciers are supposed to lose up to 75 percent of their ice by the century’s end, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain. Avalanches, and lake bursts are a feature of Northern areas of Pakistan.

An Islamabad-based climate change expert has pointed to the use of fossil fuels in energy, transport, industries and agriculture for the emission of greenhouse gases (mainly carbon dioxide and methane), which are the main reason for escalating global temperatures. As has been iterated numerous times, Pakistan’s global carbon emissions are less than one percent.

According to the caretaker Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Pakistan is facing a trade-off between raising climate finance and development finance, as seeking money for climate finance negatively impacts development finance. The country needs an estimated investment of $340 billion to address climate and development challenges between 2023 and 2030.

Given the continued price escalation in essential goods and services, especially food, energy and transport, and lack of decent livelihood, there have been many protests happening across the country. While Metrobus security staff have been protesting as they had not been paid their salaries for three months, Karachi University, and Karakoram University students have been agitating against tuition fee hike. In Punjab University, students were marching for revival of student unions in educational institutions across the country.

The brutal war by the Zionist State of Israel continues and people across Pakistan, as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir, have been standing in solidarity with Palestinians across the country. In particular, the presence of schoolchildren in street marches is noteworthy given the US-led Zionist aggression in Palestine has been especially targeting children.

The initiative not only provides the most vulnerable some protection from the cold, but also provides women with a livelihood of PKR 7,600 per woman. We have pledged 600 razais for affected families and have been able to generate funds for 300 razais. We are asking for donations to be able to reach our target of at least 600 razais, if not more. Donations can be made at:

Account title: Society for Roots for Equity.
Account no.: 1005 0081 3001 9401
Bank Al Habib Zamzama Branch, Karachi, Pakistan
IBAN No: PK64BAHL1005008130019401
SWIFT Code: BAHLPKKA

Pakistan has been among the top 10 countries most affected by climate crisis for the past several years. This climate crisis is not natural but the result of the fossil-fuel based capitalist production system, a system driven by imperialist imposition of domination. In the past few years, the devastation and suffering of the people due to climate crisis have been increasing intensely: these include floods, droughts and other intense weather patterns occurring almost every year from 2007 to 2022. The devastation of the recent heavy rains in Pakistan is considered to be more destructive than the 2010 floods, in which more than 20 million people were affected and more than 2,000 people had died; it needs to be pointed out that the  floods have as yet to pass through most of the country.

According to NDMA, the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan, the number of people affected by the recent heavy rains and floods is increasing day by day across the country. Millions across the country including Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been displaced, with their homes, livestock and crops washed away, and thousands having lost their businesses. There is acute shortage of food leaving thousands to face hunger. The province of Sindh has been particularly affected with nearly all standing crops destroyed including rice, corn, cotton, sugarcane and vegetables. According to the report of PDMA, Sindh many the districts of Sindh province including Dadu, Khairpur, Shaheed Benazir Abad (Nawab Shah), Larkana, Nowshehro Feroze, Shikarpur, Sanghar, Kashmore, Ghotki and Mirpur Khas and others have been severely affected by the recent incessant rains and life has been paralyzed. There have been 402 casualties, 1,055 people suffering from injuries and a loss of more than15,000 livestock. Just in the Sindh province, 3,269,608 acres of agricultural land has damaged and crops were destroyed.

The above figures are issued by the Departments of Government of Sindh and are based on the reports so far, while there is a risk and fear that these figures may increase with time and may not reveal the actual figures right now. The actual assessment and estimate of the damage caused by these rains can be carried out only after the disaster has passed.

Disease is breaking out in humans as well as animals. Thousands of people are stranded in the open, on highways or on roadsides waiting for relief. According to the members Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT), coming from various districts government aid in affected areas is negligible, with the government’s incompetence and unresponsiveness clearly to be seen.

No doubt that the severe devastation through climate change is not only in Pakistan but suffered by many countries, especially countries in the global south. The responsibility of this crisis rests entirely on the capitalist countries of the first world and their corporations as their carbon emissions have not only been historically very high and remain unchecked till now; it should be noted that Pakistan’s share in carbon emissions is less than one percent, The industrial countries refuse to take responsibility for the severe destruction and suffering through climate crisis in our countries and refuse to include payment of loss and damage to climate negotiations. The meagre aid provided does not allow rebuilding of people’s lives and livelihood. The working class of Pakistan, especially the small and landless farmers, are paying a very heavy cost for the carbon emissions of fossil-fuel dependent capitalist production of rich industrial nations.

Pakistan is suffering not only from an environmental crisis but also a severe economic crisis, pursuing false promises of industrial development, increased trade and prosperity; what has prospered is the debt burden of the country with heavy interest payments being made to the IMF and other commercial lenders. It is well understood that there can be no chance of overcoming the debt trap, the escalating prices of basic necessities including basic food items under the present imperialist system leaving peasants and the working class to face hunger, poverty, death and destruction.

The country was already reeling under the stress of an acute economic crisis and has had to now deal with severe destruction caused by climate change. In order to be able to face the current economic and climatic calamity, there is an urgent need for the people to unite and struggle against these profit-making capitalist and feudal institutions and class.

Immediate demands of Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek are:

1. Speedy provision of food, adequate shelter and medical aid facilities should be arranged immediately for the affected people;
2. Accurate assessment of damages caused by rains and floods and proper awareness should be given to the public.
3. Houses and shops etc. should be constructed free of cost. Also, immediate relief should be increased from PKR 25,000 to PKR 100,000, while carrying out proper assessment of losses suffered and compensated accordingly.
4. All loans taken by small farmers should be waived and/or paid by the government. Also, interest-free loans and other facilities should be provided for the future.
5. Proper arrangements should be made for addressing climate emergencies in the coming years by identifying the real drivers of climate crisis, creating public awareness and finding viable solutions.
6. Capitalist countries should fulfill their historical responsibility and provide immediate financial assistance to developing countries like Pakistan to restore the damage and destruction caused by the environmental crisis.

Release by: Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)