Geopolitical tensions have been directly pushing the seventh session of the United Nations Climate Assembly towards timid, lowest-common-denominator outcomes, as great-power rival states stripped draft resolutions of binding language and turned them into soft ‘cooperation’ statements,” said Wali Haider, leading the Farmers’ Major Group, at UNEA-7. The FMG participated in meetings, submitted statements and advocated for peasant and smallholder farmers’ rights, soil health, seed and food sovereignty. At a critical time, such as 2025, when we are off track to meet major requirements of climate treaties such as the Paris Agreement, climate governance should ideally strengthen to prevent further damage to the planet. For countries like Pakistan, the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and the United Nations Environment Assembly are major events that determine future policies. The UNEA is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment, providing overarching policy guidance. But UNEA-7 becomes a stage where the environmental crisis is acknowledged but never truly confronted, because confronting it would require confronting the industries and governments that currently run the world.

This year, it started with ambitious draft resolutions on the impact of AI, management of minerals and environmental crimes. Only 11 resolutions were passed. Half of the proposed texts remained an issue of debate and did not pass. These included those on critical issues such as environmental crimes and deep-sea protection. Ongoing wars and geopolitical tensions block any strong text on environmental harm in conflicts, with states insisting on vague wording to avoid legal exposure and resist references to conflict-linked destruction. Language became the centre stage of negotiations, with countries trying to dilute the wording of resolutions. When they are not clearly drafted, the resolutions become impractical.

“Ambition has been sacrificed on the altar of economic interests. The resolution on minerals and metals repeatedly collapsed because the world’s most powerful states refused to let global environmental rules interfere with their extractive and industrial interests. Mining corporations and metal traders sit invisibly behind national positions, pushing governments to strip out any binding safeguards or oversight of critical mineral supply chains. Diplomatic language about development, sovereignty, and enlightened self-interest becomes a shield to protect the destructive industries that fuel national wealth and geopolitical leverage.” Wali added.

Until the global political economy is restructured to integrate direct financing for vulnerable nations like Pakistan and provide groups like the Farmers’ Major Group with actual decision-making power, international assemblies will continue to be stages where crises are acknowledged but not resolved.

The real roadblock is not technical complexity. It is a global political economy engineered to defend extraction, even as the environmental crisis deepens. It is no longer a matter of confusion, lack of science or capacity gaps; it is a global political economy built on unchecked extraction and militarised resource competition that shifts the burden onto poorer communities and weaker states. Asked about the negotiations, Norway’s Minister of Climate and Environment Andreas Bjelland Eriksen said it had been a difficult year. “The mandate of the UNEP has been challenged at times. Negotiations have been tough as we had a hard time finding common ground or a common language to negotiate effectively,” he said.

A report by Climate Home News said states like Turkey, which is planning to host the COP31, have also been lobbying with other states to block some resolutions. Major powers like the US disassociated from the resolutions and raised questions on the principles and standards of global governance. Specifically, the US said they back out from the UNEP resolutions that they believed fell outside the organisation’s mandate. “Many resolutions contain problematic language recognising rights that do not exist. We are committed to pragmatic, science-based cooperation that advances environmental protection while respecting national sovereignty,” the US official addressing the closing plenary of the Assembly said.

Dalia Fernanda Marquez of the Women’s Major Group at the UN observed that some countries wanted to remove all references to gender from official texts. She argued that the assembly needs specific gender-based data, as a gendered perspective on the climate crisis is missing from these debates, especially in resolutions such as those on antimicrobial resistance, which must incorporate a gender perspective because women often serve as primary caregivers and agricultural workers. AMR refers to the process where bacteria and viruses evolve and no longer respond to medicines, creating a massive health risk. “At this UNEA, however, there has been more regression than ever,” she said.

This breakdown reveals that the voluntary model of international cooperation is incapable of managing a planet in crisis as it consistently prioritises national sovereignty and extractive economic interests over collective ecological stability. One of the primary structural flaws is the “consensus trap,” where the requirement for near-unanimous agreement allows veto to a single powerful nation or a small bloc of fossil-fuel-dependent states. To effectively address the climate crisis, the world needs a shift from “soft law” to “hard law,” characterised by legally binding enforcement mechanisms and independent monitoring bodies capable of prosecuting environmental crimes. Moreover, there is a pressing need to redefine international law to prioritise the global commons, such as the atmosphere and oceans, over the traditional concept of absolute national sovereignty, which currently allows states to destroy shared resources for short-term profit.

Until the global political economy is restructured to integrate direct financing for vulnerable nations like Pakistan and provide groups like the Farmers’ Major Group with actual decision-making power, international assemblies will continue to be stages where crises are acknowledged but never truly resolved.

The writer is a freelance climate journalist based in Lahore

Source: https://www.thenews.pk/tns/detail/1387934-the-changing-landscape-of-climate-governance

For the past several years, Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT), in collaboration with other peasant and anti-imperialist movements, the Roots for Equity, Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS), Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN AP), and the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), has been celebrating March 29th as the International Day of Landless People. The aim of commemorating this day is to highlight the struggles of small and landless peasants for food sovereignty and genuine agrarian reforms worldwide. It also includes exposing the oppression, coercion, and exploitation by multinational corporations and the imperialist countries representing them, as well as the governments of Third World countries.

Currently, the world, especially Pakistan, is in the grip of a severe economic and environmental crisis. Millions of people, especially the working class, are suffering from extreme poverty, unemployment, and hunger. Even in such a dire conditions, imperialist countries, especially the United States continue to worsen the situation through institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, and WTO. At the same time, they are pushing the situation further downwards. Simultaneously, they are engaged in environmental destruction, looting, and occupying land, water, oceans, forests, minerals, and other natural resources through war and militarization. The Zionist Israel’s genocide of Palestinian people and occupation of Palestinian land at the behest of the U.S. is one such example.

The people of Pakistan, particularly rural communities, are victims of these conditions. In Mansehra and other districts, local populations are being denied access to forests. In Peshawar, land is being taken from local communities under the guise of development projects. In the name of “Green Initiatives,” thousands of acres of land in Punjab and Sindh have been allocated for corporate agriculture. The path has already been paved for multinational corporations to take over the dairy and livestock sector, which includes banning open and fresh milk and promoting companies’ packaged milk. Additionally, genetically modified seeds are being promoted, which guarantee huge profits for seed giant companies. Similarly, huge corporations like PepsiCo have been given thousands of acres of land to produce potatoes, displacing small and landless farmers who are now forced to work as low-wage laborers. The potato seed on this land is owned by the corporation itself.

The digitalization of the food system, exemplified by the “Kissan Card”, represents a dangerous shift toward free market policies, allowing not only agrochemical corporations but also to financial and IT corporations to take over agriculture production.

The increase in sugarcane production is a serious concern since it has pushed landless peasants into the throes of severe hunger and poverty. It also been used for agro-fuel production as a false solution to climate change.  Due to the cultivation of sugarcane, important food crops like wheat are being greatly affected. The profit driven motives of corporations and imperialist agents are fully supported by the feudal class of the country.

The people, already struggling for survival, and now the ruling elite has announced the construction of six new canals from the Indus River. The province of Sindh, especially Lower Sindh, is already a victim of un-just water distribution; the construction of the newly announced canal will further aggravate the situation, leading to large-scale protests against it.

Another grim development for the people suffering from hunger and landlessness is the federal government’s decision to abolish the minimum support price of wheat for 2024-2025 under the IMF conditionality. This policy will be devastating for small and landless farmers. Many farmers argue that even the previous year’s support prices set by the government were insufficient to cover their cost of production, but now handing over the price determination to the free market will break their backs. Turning a blind eye to these extremely negative impacts on millions of farmers is another ruthless policy.

It is evident that the government is implementing neo-liberal policies instead of protecting the interests of farmers, especially small and landless farmers, agricultural workers, fisherfolk, rural women, youth, and children. This has resulted in mass destruction of the working class.

PKMT remains firmly committed to fight for the rights of small and landless peasants and the working class. We will continue the struggle for food sovereignty, advocating for just and equitable distribution of land while ensuring the right to save and plant local and indigenous seeds, rejecting corporate control in food and agriculture. We stand in solidarity with the working class and will expose feudal, capitalist, and corporate land grab while promoting systems that empower local communities to control and manage land, forests, mountains, seas, and other natural resources.

Release by: Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)

We, peasants, farmers, farmworkers, Indigenous Peoples, fisherfolk, pastoralists, herders, rural women, rural youth and children, along with our organizations, coalitions, networks, and allies in civil society organizations, reaffirm the anti-imperialist position and the centrality of the peasant struggle for land, food, and justice in achieving sustainable agriculture and food for all. 

We recognize that the clear onslaught of imperialism in its many forms in the Global South, has caused immense poverty, hunger, has displaced millions of rural poor from their homes and communities, and has impeded their development as nations.  

We register our collective objection and resistance to US-led wars and militarism; its expanding corporate and private capture of the world’s resources such as lands and waters, and; the co-optation of climate-recovery solutions for data-mining, data-management, and appropriating resources for such. 

We oppose the US-backed Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians, and Yemenis that continues to expand especially in Gaza despite reaching ceasefire agreements. And we decry its pivot to Asia Pacific, priming the region for war against China with ally states by building its military bases, clinching security agreements and military partnerships that embolden “counter-insurgency” programs, and holding big war exercises. 

We reiterate that imperialist expansion and capture of communities and food systems facilitated through technology, greenwashing, and supposed “carbon-offsetting” practices put market interest first before genuine development. The infrastructure needed for these  so-called “sustainable” and “smarter alternatives” displace  peasants and the rural poor from their land, uses up water resources and critical minerals needed by countries to build industries for their own development. These so-called “green-technologies” are not just directly involved in land grabbing and appropriating prime agricultural lands, forests and Indigenous Peoples’ sacred mountains for commercial and private use, they also rob our people of the right to development and the right to self-determination.  

We condemn governments’ sweeping neoliberal programs that convert land from sites of self-sustaining food production to serving corporate agricultural demand for profit that not only disrupt established farming practices but also displace and further marginalize underserved communities. 

We highlight the cases of rural people fleeing their homes and farms due to militarization in the countryside and how this is precisely coordinated with counterinsurgency campaigns by governments to inhibit peoples’ political expressions. Making use of advanced technology including its massive data gathering to surveil those engaged in agricultural-based labor, governments and its favored giant corporations collaborate in militarizing rural areas that help facilitate land grabs for so-called green projects, mining of critical minerals, and the corporate capture of food systems. It is clear that military expansion and agricultural digitalization go hand-in-hand in rationalizing the profit-driven production rather than collective nutrition and national development.

We clarify our position for technological advancements that genuinely uplift peoples’ lives and fairly distribute the fruit of peoples labor rather than prioritize private profit and becoming a subsidiary market for weapons development for war and mass coercion. In this case, war has even come to weaponize hunger itself. The technological developments of the latter kind must be clearly revealed as destructive, exploitative, and severely damaging to both the people and the environment. 

And lastly, we push and call for international solidarity of rural peoples and peasants with progressive pro-farmers organizations in the Global North to build and strengthen a broad resistance to the corporate driven climate crisis which is being packaged today to push for neoliberal reforms at the state level, as well as to the wars and militarism that ravage rural communities in the Global South. 

In this year’s Day of the Landless, we, the undersigned, reaffirm our commitment to arousing, organizing and mobilizing our ranks and the broad peasant masses as a formidable force against imperialism. Only through our collective efforts and action can we achieve just demands for land, food and justice. 

Our calls: 

Peasants rise for land!

Intensify peasant struggle against imperialist plunder, war and militarism!

Assert our rights to our resources!

Reclaim our food systems! 

#DOTL2025

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)

In the recent months the focus on women farmers remains a stream. A class analysis of rural women has put them in three categories: land owners, workers on family farms, and landless labor. The first category is no doubt the smallest category, but is representative of the powerful feudal base of the country, enjoying fruits of the land without any hand in labor. The other two categories of women face feudal and patriarchal exploitation, working on land without having any right to land ownership, but their toil resulting in rich harvest for land owners. Agriculture, generating the majority of country’s earnings, as well a major livelihood contributor, remains part of the informal sector, which is a decisive factor for landless women farmers agriculture workers being the most exploited and oppressed at the hand of feudal, capitalist and patriarchal forces. As capitalist mode of agriculture intensifies and increases its grip on agricultural production, many actors are working to highlight the plight of women in the rural economy, raising issues of women’s rights, including right to decent livelihood, safe working environment, right to nourishing food and the most important, right to land. There are also policy level initiatives underway. An example is of the Sindh Women Agricultural Workers Act, which was passed in 2019 but till present little has been done for its implementation. Though, these initiatives are much needed to ensure women can raise their voice in demanding rights, it is also important to remember that exploitative classes, especially capitalism has always used women’s rights as an agenda that benefits its own coffers. Capitalism introduces new technologies much of which require more trained, skilled labor force. This is also being articulated as more and more agriculture universities around the country are stressing the need for trained manpower, a prerequisite for agricultural development. The most critical agenda of all, is to understand that the ultimate and most important of rights is the right to land and which will only be granted based on landless women and agriculture workers’ engaging in this struggle as frontline activists, and not as passive receivers of education and sporadic campaigns.

Corporate Farming – who calls the shots?

With the formation of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), there has been a sharp escalation in public land being given over for corporate farming. In addition, land is also being used for gentrification projects like Zulfiqarabad city in Thatta, Bahria Town and DHA city in Karachi. Apart from such housing schemes, farmers’ rights and nationalist groups have been agitating against about 1.3 million acres of land in Sindh being handed over for corporate farming. The Sindhi Hari Tehreek organized a conference on the matter, with participants demanding land to be distributed among landless farmers, as well as called for an end to feudalism. Land grab is not only being seen in Sindh but also across the country including Punjab where a number of actors have been involved including the Revenue Employees Cooperative Housing Ltd (RECHS) as well the Bahria Town Ltd (BTL), and the Defense Housing Authority (DHA).

At the other end of the spectrum, the commercial enterprises have been praising the federal government’s corporate farming policy. According to the President, Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders & Small Industry, Mr Shaikhani, there was a need for another green revolution, and furthering the corporate farming agenda, with emphasis on international agriculture technologies. Though he spoke in favor of the marginalized, pointing out that 24 percent of Pakistan’s population (approximately 55 million people) lived below poverty, he did not outline the most critical policy recommendation of genuine land reforms with redistribution of land away from the elite to the peasants, who are in essence the foundation stone for the country’s food security as well as economic growth.

The corporate farming agenda now also carries behind it the support of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government in Sindh, even though regional and nationalist parties had protested earlier in the year against the 50,000 acres being given to M/s Green Corporate Initiatives, (Private) Limited, an army-backed entity for corporate farming. Recently, as many as 27 Chinese containers carrying agricultural equipment for the `Green Pakistan` initiative have come through the Khunjerab Pass.

 The Sindh government also wants to attract corporate investments in agriculture sector, while emphasizing that local growers would be given equal opportunity in such ventures. The PPP Sindh president, Mr. Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, has stated that the Sindh government has to ensure that irrigation water accessibility to the khatedars, meaning landholders based on revenue records. Given the political ambiguity of land ownership, the feudal and rich landlords controlling land and attached resources including water, what will this mean for the small farmers? It is well known that Pakistan suffers from water scarcity, and this year in the kharif season, there is a risk of 30-35 percent water shortage. For Pakistan’s policy makers, issues of national gravity are resolved not internally through democratic debate and resolution based on equitable distribution for all, but on discussions with known imperialist organizations such as the World Bank, for whom all answers emit from privatization of our resources. In a recent meeting with the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, the World Bank Water Global Director, Saroj Kumar Jha advised that the Karachi Water Board needs to operate like a commercial organization. Needless to point out that the privatization of the energy sector is one of the critical most reasons for Pakistan’s mounting debt.

Ventures like the Kisan Card program are being used to provide small farmers (owning 1-12 acres of land) subsidies and incentives to use ‘best quality’ agro-chemical inputs like pesticides and fertilizers, as well as seeds. Farmers have to register themselves, and open bank accounts at specified banks. These schemes promote digitalization, giving the corporate sector information and access to farmers, as well as ensure that it is their products that are being bought and used by small farmers, increasing their market sphere. It also opens space for Big data to gain insights into farmers’ practices and develop strategic market decisions furthering market hold. It should be pointed out that the World Bank has approve $78 million in financing for the Digital Economy Enhancement Project.

Agro-chemical farming continues to reap super profits from the sale of chemical fertilizers. According to a rich farmers’ lobby, the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), the “urea dealers’ mafia” had already minted over PKR 50 billion form farmers in Sindh. Urea prices in the past 12 months have escalated from PKR 2,900/bag to PKR  4,649/bag.

The corporate agriculture policy direction in agriculture development also shed light on the sudden interest in education and skill training programs for rural women as well. At the same time, with more mechanization and digitalization of the agriculture sector, will it mean that millions more landless will have no access to a livelihood?

In short, the only synchronization in agriculture policy is based on the demands of paying off the trillions of dollars of debt that the country’s elite have piled up on the masses. How does corporate farming benefit the landless and how does it provide food security for the people? These are questions that are critical for the economic, social and political well-being of the country.

Climate Imperialism

According to a new report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), ‘The Unjust Climate,’ floods and high temperatures have globally widened the income gap between rural poor and non-poor households up by $21 billion a year. Further, with every day of extreme heat, poor rural households lose 2.4% of their on-farm incomes, 1.1 percent of the value of the crops they produce, and 1.5 percent of their off-farm income relative to non-poor households. This certainly depicts the reality of Pakistan. The Global Climate Risk Index, ranks Pakistan as the fifth most climate-vulnerable country in the world. Pakistan also faces some of the highest disaster risk levels in the world, ranked as number 23 out of 194 countries.

Climate crisis facing Pakistan has many times resulted in the destruction of millions of dollars-worth crops, livestock, infrastructure and lives and livelihood of farmers, and rural people. At the same time, rising sea levels continue to destroy agricultural land. Though the advanced capitalist countries are historically responsible for the ongoing climate catastrophe, there is no recognition of the fact. The economic crunch along with the climate crisis are being used to further corporate-owned agriculture technology; collaborations on different projects are happening between different actors including Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Sindh Agriculture University (SAU), Tandojam, and Australian Research Council. In addition, the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) in collaboration with Chinese partners has introduced climate-resilient wheat varieties that would provide higher yield per acre, that would be useful in ensuring food security for the country.

Professional farmers, such as those from the SAB, also have been urging the use of genetically modified seeds, and private sector led research initiatives for provision of ‘quality seeds’ for climate change adaptation. In other words, paving the way for agrochemical monopoly corporations to take advantage of disaster, destruction and suffering of others for increasing their profits.

Production Woes

While grand plans are underway for modernizing agriculture in the country, there are still many hurdles faced by farmers. For instance, availability of urea remains a grave issue, with imported urea being provided to fertilizer corporations but farmers unable to procure the product. At the same time, though there was a much higher cotton production than the previous year, the demand for cotton remained low, with at least 200,000 bales o cotton lying with ginners, due to the dire economic situation, high tariff rates on power and gas as well as steep taxes on the industrial sector.

For the current cotton sowing season, the government has decided on at least one million acres for cotton production. However, there have been complaints voiced that there was non-payment of the minimum support price of PKR 8,500 that had been promised at the start of the previous season.

For wheat procurement in the current season, Sindh government has approved a target of 900,000 tons of wheat to be bought at a support price of PKR 4,000/bag. The Chief Minister has directed procurement of 100,000 bardana (bags) for wheat collection from farmers. However, in spite of a bumper crop, there was news of wheat procurement from Ukraine. With delays in wheat procurement by the government, it was reported that wheat was being bought from farmers at a much lower price, with unjust deductions in payment based on excuses such as moisture content in wheat grains.

The Debt Trap Panacea – agricultural trade?

Pakistan’s external debt rose by $1.2 billion in six months to $86.358 billion as of September 30, 2023, and stood at $85.18 billion, while the public debt rose to PRK 42.62 trillion (approximately $153 billion) in January 2024.  According to the IMF, Pakistan is now seeking another medium-term bailout package that is based on longstanding structural reforms; if the IMF executive board approves the package, the staff-level agreement would be based on $1.1 billion — 828 million special drawing rights (SDR) — by late April.

According to news reports, four areas remain central to the new IMF standby agreement. These include firstly, strengthening public finance which translates to broadening the tax base in particular sectors that are real estate, retail and wholesale trade and agriculture. Secondly, to restoring the energy sector’s viability by accelerating cost-reducing reforms. Cost reducing reforms means budget cuts in production to reduce cost and increase profits, and is often hinged on cutting labor costs. Thirdly, there is emphasis on reducing inflation, which is based on the free-floating foreign exchange market. Fourthly, the emphasis on privatization continues, as well as further reforms of government owned corporations. In summary, all of these measures do not address price control of products but focus on letting Pakistani currency’s value be based on foreign exchange markets, as well further shrinking of the labor market, all measures that could ultimately result in further rise in market prices, joblessness, depreciation of the Pakistani rupee value, resulting in further economic hardship for the people.

The economic growth of the country remains unstable with the Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) growth at a negative -0.52 percent, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at only 1 percent in the second quarter of FY24. The decline in economic growth, along with the stiff conditionalities especially tariffs on electricity and gas continue to have a debilitating impact on the industrial growth as well as the working class, the urban poor and the peasantry. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has come down from 28.3% in January to 23.06% depicting a slight decrease in the prices of food products. However, raw food products exports had risen by 35 percent in the previous month, up from $518.87 million to $702.46 million, raising food inflation to 20.2 percent.

The way out is of course increasing foreign exchange earnings, and there is a clear governmental effort to increase exports, as well as open the country to foreign direct investment. The government has invited United Arab Emirates to invest in real estate, energy, agriculture, information technology, sectors which have also been under perusal under the IMF agreements.

Malaysian government is interested in increasing import of rice from Pakistan, while welcoming free trade agreements between the two countries. Pakistan, with the help of National Logistics Corporation (NLC) has been exporting bananas, meat and seafood to Central Asian countries, as well as kinnows to Russia. Though in February, textile exports rose to $1.4 billion from $1.18bn during the same month last year, overall, in the first eight months of FY24, textile and clothing exports shrank 0.65 percent from $11.21 billion to $11.14 billion, based on the high production costs related to higher energy prices. It is also notable, that FDI from China, Pakistan’s largest investor, saw a steep decline of 80 percent during this period.

Worth pointing out that in spite of such troublesome data, the corporate sector has been reaping rich profits. On the KSE-100 index, 83 corporations have shown a growth of 45 percent, with profits of $5.94 billion up by 6.3 percent in 2023.

Pakistan Privatization Ltd

With poor credit ratings, the government is unable to get much credit. At the same time, the IMF conditionalities continue the push privatization policy as one of the key recourse for overcoming the crushing economic crisis facing the country. The Privatization Commission is supposed to be working out a three-phased privatization program for public entities in the next five-year plan (2024-29). According to the Federal Minister for Privatization and Board of Investment Abdul Aleem Khan, 15 to 20 institutions must be privatized immediately. There are also ongoing discussions with IMF to introduce reforms within the FBR

The privatization of PIA is considered a priority, and British firm Ernst & Young had been appointed as financial advisor for this purpose. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank Group, who had earlier last year been appointed by the government of Pakistan as transaction advisor under the Public Private Partnership Act 2017, has informed the Federal Minister for Defence, Defence Production and Aviation Khawaja Muhammed Asif, above the outsourcing of three major airports including Islamabad International Airport, Jinnah International Airport Karachi, and Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore in the first phase.

Capitalism’s unending disasters

While the thrust for privatization and more and more corporate sector encroachment is being encouraged, there seems to be a blind eye to the environmental disasters, and corrupt practices it brings in its wake. According to the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, its survey of 270 industries across four industrial zones has shown that dozens of industries are non-compliant with environmental laws. Assessment measures on discharge of effluents has shown that many industries are responsible for polluting air spaces as well as ground water. Pakistan has been categorized as the second most polluted country in 2023. According to according to ‘2023 World Air Quality Report’, published by IQAir, a Swiss air-monitoring organization, Lahore is the most polluted mega city globally, with pollution levels at 99.5 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³), 20 times higher than WHO guidelines. Data from Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI) has shown that hazardous air quality is resulting in a life expectancy loss of 4.4 years.

While privatization is considered to provide the best option towards development, there is little to prove this assumption. The people of Pakistan continue to suffer from tuberculosis, diabetes and cancer, with women also facing potentially triple-negative breast cancer. It’s reported that the country witnesses approximately 608,000 new TB cases and 15,000 drug-resistant TB cases, annually, while every fourth Pakistani suffers from diabetes. Private hospitals are in the meantime taking advantage of a government hospital, Services Hospital Lahore, by illegally obtaining postgraduate training and house jobs from the facility.

Climate crisis, which has been unleashed on the basis of climate imperialism continues to leash its havoc, not only in Pakistan but globally, with Vietnam suffering from huge loss of arable land due to rising sea levels. While the climate crisis leaves the most vulnerable suffering from loss of livelihood, the World Trade Organization continues to push for more free trade agreements that are entirely detrimental to small producers; a recent example is the passing of the WTO’s fishing agreement which has decided that fisherfolk are responsible for ‘illegal fishing.’

The many atrocities of capitalism also include the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Immune to the intense hunger faced by the people of Gaza, the Zionist Israel continues its food and humanitarian embargo in Gaza. According to UNICEF, said every third Gazan child is severely malnourished.

It is indeed tragic that the world’s policy makers, including those in Pakistan are unable to see the downward social and economic disasters befalling the country. The voices raised by the people against stark injustice ushered through neoliberalism, or induced by climate imperialism fall on deaf ears of our state.

The current fiscal year (FY) has shown a consistent increase in export of raw food products. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the food export value has more than doubled to $787.36 million in January, up 105.29 per cent from $383.54m in the same month last year. Food exports grew 57.66 percent in the first seven months of 2023-24 to $4.26 billion from $2.70 billion in the corresponding months of last year.  According to the Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), it is expected that export of Pakistani food items projected to cross $7 billion mark by the end of FY 2023-24, reflecting a sharp contrast of about $4 billion annual exports in this sector previously. And the impact is inevitable as domestic consumer prices for food have been increasing, with food inflation at a stunning 27.4 percent in January. High price of basic food items such as wheat flour, rice, sugar, meat, and vegetables has made their access difficult for the common person. Food inflation since October 2023 has been on average, 29 percent.

It is also worth pointing out that, even though Government of Pakistan claimed a bumper wheat crop, it imported 613,147 tons of wheat in January, up 6.67 percent from 447,560 ton over the corresponding month of last year. Similarly, there has been an increase of sugar imports 26.12 percent January FY24 from corresponding month, last year.

Private sector has been importing wheat with federal government’s approval, to meet domestic demand as the country was facing a massive shortage of over 2.5 million tons. It is being pointed out the influx of imported wheat, even as harvesting approaches, will end up posing challenges for growers in selling their produce at minimum support prices.

At the moment, for this year, the Punjab government is claiming a good wheat production of 25.6 million metric ton (MMT). However, lessons learned from past years, it is hard to believe government claims, as they do not translate into economical access for the working class. It is important to note that Pakistan’s wheat consumption is projected to reach 33 million tons in the next two to three years, which requires urgent planning to meet domestic food security.

After export of food commodities, there is now also interest in exporting livestock and fish items. There has been a ban on export of livestock, but recently the Ministry of Commerce has sought permission for its export to support artificial insemination (AI) in Sri Lanka. According to the ministry, Sri Lanka after research has decreed that the ‘Sahiwal cow is one of the best dairy cattle in India and Pakistan, which has the attributes of heat tolerance, high milk production, and resistance to parasites. Sahiwal bulls are expected to contribute significantly to enhancing the genetic qualities of cows.’Similarly, amendments have been made in the Pakistan Fish Inspection Rules, 1998 that will facilitate the export of fish and fisheries-related products to various foreign markets, including existing and new.

The export policy orientation of the country is clear from the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approval of proposals for enhancing value added exports, which included permission to import of wheat and export of wheat flour under Export Facilitation Scheme 2021. A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and Gulf countries had been ratified last year, and increasing trade with Saudi Arabia was one way of enhancing exports. According to the Chairman of the Saudi Business Forum, Hassan Al Hazawi, bilateral trade between the two countries has increased by 35 percent.

It is interesting to note that though a ban on export of both metallic and non-metallic minerals including pink salt in raw form has been improved, it does not cover minerals which will be mined and exported under government to government (G2G) pacts being facilitated under the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) framework. Although it was not stated which minerals were being exported under the SIFC, most probably they include the gold and copper mining Reko Diq project in Balochistan.

Minting Agriculture

Agricultural production remains the most lucrative sector in Pakistan, and is a center of focus for furthering its productive and profitability. From the 1960s to the present, genetic resources have been a key area of research and with the formation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), its Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement, a source of earning mega profits, as genetically-engineered seeds are protected as intellectual property of giant monopoly agrochemical corporations. US corporations and academics have been facilitating the use of genetic technology in agriculture. Ostensibly, it is all about increasing crop yield and ‘feeding the hungry.’ Recently, a US Professor Dr Bikram S Gill visiting Pakistan at University of Agriculture Faisalabad, has encouraged young ‘breeders’ to use emerging technologies. He is the founding Director, Wheat Genetics Resource Centre, at the Kansas State University, and researches ancient grains for coming up with modern grain varieties. One has to remember, that first of all these ancient grains have been preserved based on traditional scientific knowledge of many generations of farmers, especially from the global South. Now these ancient varieties’ genetic material is being used by giant agro-chemical corporations to create new varieties that are protected by intellectual property agreements, such as TRIPs. These varieties are heavily dependent on expensive external inputs such as chemical fertilizers, and other forms of technology all to bought from the corporate sector only to further increase national debt.

A new theme emerging in agricultural production is guarding women’s rights. According to Sindh Agriculture University’s vice chancellor, information technologies (ITs) integration in agriculture would not only enhance productivity but also create new opportunities, especially for women in agri-business and related fields. The vice chancellor believes that ITs use in agricultural products’ would increase agricultural exports to global markets and increase the country’s GDP. All of this would lead to development of rural women’s participation in education, IT, agricultural development and domestic industries in Sindh.

A recent study by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has highlighted the lack of recognition of women farmers in Pakistan. They are generally not considered farmers, unlike males in similar circumstances; farmers are considered to be those who own and till the land. However, women work long hours – 12-18 hours a day, but do not have the means to be independent farmers.

In recent months, there have been news items stressing women agricultural workers’ training. According to a news item, the Sindh Community Foundation (SCF) has signed a Letter of Understanding with Directorate of Literacy and Non-Formal Education, Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh to train 3000 women cotton workers in Matiari and Sanghar districts. This venture will result in increasing literacy of women and help them in fighting for fair wages and decent working conditions.

These developments are positive. But one has to wonder what is driving this concern for women’s literacy? On one hand, a literate work force is certainly in a better position to demand for their rights. At the same time, corporations need a literate, trained workforce for a higher quality of work as well as for reading instructions and other functions.

Dream Visions and Road Blocks  

While modern technology is constantly being advocated for increasing agricultural productivity, there are many hurdles that do not seem surmountable. A critical issue remains availability of urea, which seems to be caught in a vicious cycle: urea production is dependent on gas as fuel, and ever-increasing price of gas in the market results in its price hikes (even though subsidy is provided to industry). In addition, urea is also imported but even then, there is an acute shortage and black marketing of urea. This year, the industry is already claiming that urea bags will be available for PKR 1,700. Other chemical fertilizers such as potash and phosphorous are also being provided subsidies for cotton crop production. It should be noted that even though gas prices are astronomical, the federal cabinet has further approved a 67% increase in the natural gas tariff with effect from February 1.

While chemical fertilizers are being subsidized, that are major contributors to carbon emissions, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is pursuing implementation of Sustainable and Regenerative Management of Rice Production in Pakistan. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved $6.9 million for this intervention. The aim is to restore 15,000 hectares of land and improve farming practices on 50,000 hectares, including protected areas, reducing approximately 460,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, benefiting nearly 75,000 individuals, almost 50% of whom are women. It is indeed quite puzzling that how will opposite goals of increasing productivity through chemical-intensive agriculture and reducing carbon emissions will work together.

Another major obstacle with grave consequences is Pakistan facing water scarcity for agriculture production on one hand, and on the other the rapid melting of glaciers as a result of global warming. Given the seriousness of the matter, Pakistan has raised this issue at a UN Security Council meeting, ‘stressing the crucial importance of upholding the Indus Water Treaty.’ Pakistan and India share water resources based on a World Bank brokered agreement in 1960, the Indus Water Treaty. According to a news report, India is seeking greater share of Indus Basin water by modifying the treaty, and it also opposes discussing the issue at international fora. Apparently, that’s why India avoided treaty references at UNSC debate. In the past years, India has built dams on the Chenab River, and Pakistan wants to resolve the conflict through arbitration, as per the treaty recommendation. However, India has been objecting to the Article IX of the treaty, which provides a dispute resolution mechanism. In the meanwhile, according to the Caretaker Provincial Agriculture Minister, Punjab, a program had been initiated to transfer tube wells to solar system in the salt affected areas of Punjab.

Loss and Profit

Pakistan’s industrial sector is reeling under the constant escalation of gas and power tariffs. IMF’s conditionalities know no bounds; the rupee devaluation and then taking away advantages from national industry is whittling its ability to compete on a global scale. Particularly concerned is the textile sector. All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) in the past year, and now once again raised concern against high electricity and gas tariffs and their implications on textile industry. It is being stated that if remedial measures are not taken, over 50 percent of industry will be at high risk of shutting down.

At the same time foreign corporations are not necessarily in the same boat. According to Nestle Pakistan Limited (NPL), its sales have increased by 23.4 percent to PKR 200 billion in 2023 from PKR 162.5 billion in 2022. The profit-after-tax (PAT) has also managed to climb, to PKR 16.5 billion from PKR 15 billion. Similarly, FrieslandCampina Engro Pakistan Limited, a subsidiary of FrieslandCampina Pakistan, has reported a growth in profitability by 35 percent to PKR 482 billion in 2023. The consolidated PAT increased 43 percent, to PKR 66 billion from PKR 46 billion last year. However, due to the remeasurement of thermal energy assets, the consolidated PAT stood at PKR 36 billion.

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has approved M/s Fauji Foundation acquisition of Fauji Cereals Business. This increases the sphere of the Fauji Foundation, which had concentrated on production and sale of dairy and allied products previously.

Under the mantel of IMF conditionalities, the caretaker federal cabinet has approved the privatization of the First Women Bank Limited. In addition, a restructuring of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was approved based on which a new holding company will be created, a prerequisite for the sale of PIA to the private sector.

In addition, the federal cabinet also approved the deregulation of prices of medicines that were not part of the List of Essential Medicines.

In the wake of debt crises, the panacea offered by international economic and financial organizations is to liberalize trade. In the past year, Sri Lanka like Pakistan has been through a turbulent economic crisis; according to the World Bank, its economy contracted 3.8% last year. In order to improve its economic situation, Sri Lanka has heightened its focus on trade deals. Thailand and Sri Lanka have signed a Free Trade Agreement, where Sri Lanka hopes it will be able to overcome its financial crisis. Like Pakistan, Sri Lanka has also entered a barter trade agreement with Iran, exporting $20 million worth of tea to Iran to partially repay its $251 million oil debts.

While the prescription is trade and more trade, it is important to note that the international trade arena is becoming more and more difficult. At the WTO 13^th Ministerial Conference, its director general Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted that the global economy was fragmenting into separate blocs, with wars, tensions and elections having an impact on the trade environment.

It is important to point out that in response to the genocidal attack by Israel on Gaza, Yemen’s Ansarullah have blocked ships going to Israeli ports. According to the IMF, the total transit volume – including not only containers – through the Suez Canal had dropped by 37 percent this year through January 16 compared to same period a year earlier.

The Climate Catastrophe Alms and IMF Conditionalities

It been 18 months since the country went through one of its worst floods in history. The 2022 floods impacted 33 million people, caused over 1,700 casualties, displaced over 8 million people, and pushed a further 9 million into extreme poverty. Recent data through a revised Flood Response Plan reports that food shortages in the recent months has pushed more children toward malnutrition, with over 2.1 million children suffering from Acute Malnutrition Analysis, and need urgent treatment. Many institutions and countries have been providing help which include the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), European Union, Germany and Japan.

Even though the help provided is much needed by affected communities, one has to question the mode of production, especially pursued by the rich industrial countries which are the main culprits with respect to historical as well as present high carbon emissions. These unchecked emissions are the main reason for the raging climate emergency, creating havoc on the poorest of the poor.  It’s quite ironic that the Asian Development Bank has committed more than $10.4 billion for climate finance in 2023 to help developing member countries in Asia and the Pacific region to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of a warming planet; this money would have been better spent demanding the rich industrial countries to bring about drastic changes in their production and consumption patterns.

On one hand, ‘alms’ are handed out to alleviate the suffering of the victims of climate crisis, and on the other hand, same set of decision-makers impose economically crippling conditionalities which do not allow countries to reach a stable economic environment. Case in point is the fact that Pakistan plans to once again go the IMF seeking a fresh loan package amounting to $6 billion. At the same time, the government has requested the World Bank for an extension of the closing date and restructuring of the “Pakistan Raises Revenue (PRR)” project worth $400 million.

The vicious cycle of borrowing is out of control, as the caretaker government has borrowed almost PKR 4 trillion from various banks. According to analysts, the country is facing a poor economic growth, and is unable to pay of the circular debt of the power sector which has reached PKR 5.7 trillion.

So, on one hand, the government borrows recklessly, while the working class is the one which through its blood and sweat remains the main provider of country’s earnings: the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reports that workers’ remittances have increased by 26.2% year on year in January. In dollar amounts, $2.397 billion were received in January against $1.9 billion in the same month of 2023.

Whether it is remittances or export earnings, these have been created by the country’s working class including migrant workers, as well as the peasanty. It is deplorable that while they are the wealth makers, their own living conditions continues to suffer from inequity and marginalization.

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.

With the formation of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), there has been heavy emphasis on promoting agro-chemical agriculture, with Green Revolution technologies considered markers for progress. The role of the Pakistan Army in SIFC remains dominant. In context to the project ‘Green Initiatives,’ the Pakistan Army Chief of Staff (COAS) has identified plans for ‘agriculture malls,’ that would supply various facilities to farmers. He has been quoted, to have said that “provision of easy agricultural credit, cold storage chain, climate change resistant seeds and genetically engineered livestock will be ensured”.  These development in the agriculture sector are alarming, as the economic and political positions of ‘famers’ in the country is divided into those who are on one hand big feudal lords, and rich farmers, while the bulk of those who till the land, are small farmers and agriculture workers.

This is in essence the crux of the matter. Agriculture sector, though it remains the major employer in the country has declining productivity. Climate change is often held responsible for the poor performance. However, political factors are not given the weightage that they deserve. On one hand there is vast inequity in land distribution, and on the other modern technologies and private sector are considered a panacea to all ailments. The long-term harm caused by Green Revolution policies are totally ignored. Agriculture university academics are lamenting soil infertility, with more than 6.3 million hectares of land having been destroyed by salinity. While soil nutrients are decreasing, we have the defense forces claiming they want to bring back the glory of development through Green Revolution technologies, which are globally accepted to have been the key catalyst to environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, and a severe impact on human health. Even under acute national debt of $128 billion, instead of planning policies that would decrease the debt and increase local reliance in agriculture production, a new Green Revolution package worth PKR 2 billion has been introduced.

Apart from the crippling harm to biodiversity, especially loss of local and indigenous seeds, and pesticide poisoning, there is also now overwhelming dependency on profit-seeking agro-chemical corporations. Apart from these issues are also, bureaucratic procedures, poor policy planning and implementation, black marketing of agricultural inputs, soaring unbridled cost of production are all factors that do not take into account ground realities of small farmers. An example is that while ‘experts’ emphasize insurance and small loans for small farmers, according to a report from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has provided data that of the total population of farmers of 8.2 million, only 9.5 percent of the farmers were insured against the disaster risk insurance and small loans. At the same time, at peak sowing seasons, there has been continued shortage of chemical fertilizers, a situation that has been prevailing for many years. This year, government officials had assured urea imports of 200,000 tonnes; however, all provinces have reported once again, acute shortage of the chemical fertilizer. Farmers have been protesting against the black-marketing of urea fertiliser by dealers. The ultimate result is that a majority of the peasantry is pushed deeper into debt and poverty. Apart from the scenario at home, the use of agro-chemicals for agricultural production is being questioned, globally. At the COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai, there were calls for complete phasing out of chemical fertilizers based on their heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

For the policy makers in the country, the way out from the high national debt ultimately relies on increasing exports. In the past month, two export advisory committees were established, one for exports of the textile sector, and the other for the non-textile sector. They are expected to formulate policy guidelines that are to be shared with SIFC. Based on these developments, the Export Advisory Council (EAC) held its inaugural meeting under the chairmanship of Caretaker Minister for Commerce, Dr. Gohar Ejaz, charting the course for Pakistan’s $100 Billion Export Vision, where a $50 billion elevation of exports in the next five years was considered. While there are discussions of increasing textile exports underway, Punjab, the biggest cotton producing province was not able to reach even 50% of its cotton production. It’s worth pointing out that the textile industry has been reeling from the impact of highest ever energy cost, a direct result of the conditionalities of the IMF. It is also important to point out that adverse weather conditions have not been kind to cotton production, globally.

Trade – the merry go round

Exports are tied to trade relations with other countries, and Iran and China are key trade partners. There has been further developments in Pakistan-China trade relations. China has agreed to revise the Free Trade Agreement. Private sector parties of Pakistan and China have signed several memoranda of understandings (MoUs) with a $10 billion investment in four major export-oriented sectors. Joint ventures (JVs) planned include establishing industries in key sectors including textiles, agriculture, food, and car spare parts manufacturing.

Additionally, a protocol has been signed to export halal meat to China. In the coming weeks, Pakistan will commence shipments of boiled meat to China. Mr Gohar revealed that a protocol has been signed with a Chinese investor to cultivate peanuts across 10,000 acres of the Cholistan desert. The peanuts will be exclusively grown for export purpose. In addition, China is willing to put forth new investments in automobile, mineral, and agricultural sectors, with joint venture in the textile sector, with Chinese technology to be used in special economic zones. The Chinese government has also agreed to consider the option of providing trade finance in Yuan. Trade with Iran has also shown further developments with respect to barter trade.

Among exports are also fodder exports to Kuwait, based on cultivation of high protein fodder ‘alfalfa.’ The caretaker CM Punjab, is emphasizing the scientific drying and preservation of this nutrient-rich feed. There are also plans to provide alfalfa seeds to farmers for cultivating the fodder. Other key players, such as FPCCI members have highlighted the importance of increasing rice exports, while hoping to meet an annual rice export target of $3 billion by the end of the fiscal year (FY) 2024.

Further, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, food exports have increased year-on-year by 37.12 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year, recorded at $2.64 billion during July-November 2023-24 as compared to $1.92 billion in the same period last year. The rice exports surged by 49.37 percent to $1.11 billion from $749.4 million, last year. Likewise, the exports of fruits rose year-on-year 15.27 percent to $128.13 million, leguminous vegetables 79.01 percent to $0.084 million and spices 19.21 percent to $45.179 million.

While there is an increase in food exports, the situation of food security in the country is not so rosy. UNICEF is looking for $135.6 million from the donor community for 2024 to meet the critical humanitarian needs of more than 5.5 million Pakistanis, including 3.4 million children. These fund requests for 2024 are for the protracted and ongoing nutrition emergency following the 2022 floods, and for Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan. According to UNICEF, funds requested will be used to help 1.3 million people gain access to safe water and sanitation, provide essential health and nutrition services for 5 million people, among other uses. The state of hunger and malnutrition cannot be separated from high food inflation in the country. In November 2023, it stood at 29.8 percent in urban and 29.2 percent in rural areas, whereas non-food inflation was 30.9 percent in urban and 25.9 percent in rural areas. The rise in food prices, particularly wheat have been met with popular protest. In Gilgit-Baltistan, a shutter-down strike was observed as the increase in the rate of subsidised wheat, has significantly increased over the past six months — first from PKR 7.5 to PKR 20 per kg in June, and then recently to PKR 52 per kilogram

The Lynch Pin – Foreign Direct Investment

Another area of concern for policy makers is the decrease in remittances, which has been a key sector for earning foreign exchange. The World Bank has projected a drop in remittance flows to Pakistan to $24 billion in 2023 and further drop below $22 billion with 10 percent decline in 2024.

While Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate crisis, more than 50 percent of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been in the power sector of Pakistan, mostly for coal power projects.  Most of the coal power projects are being funded by China. According to the government of Pakistan, the Thar coal reserves are worth $25 trillion, much needed to pay back foreign loans.

Policy making seems to have an internal conflict. Increasing exports is the highest priority, and given the billions in dollars in debt, it is understandable. However, the very policies that are enacted for increasing exports, end up increasing the debt burden instead of reducing it, as it is heavily reliant on further loans, and opening the country to foreign investments; investments which keep the investors profits at heart, and is not concerned with other social, political and/or economic consequences that may arise for Pakistan. Projects like the Green Initiative, are being critiqued as ‘poison for the country,’ where millions of acres of land are being offered for corporate farming.

The debilitating climate disasters in the country are based on the global character of climate crisis. This is further exacerbated when agrochemical technologies are introduced, and at the same time increasing food and agriculture exports to foreign markets. The impact of climate disasters are suffered by the population, mostly those segments who are the most marginalized.  It needs to be pointed out that the impact of these disasters are long term. After the 2022 floods, to date, 1.3 million people remain temporarily displaced in Sindh, Balochistan, and KP, with 900,000 concentrated in five hardest-hit districts of Sindh, posing risks due to preexisting vulnerabilities. According to the World Malaria Report 2023, as a result of the 2022 floods, Pakistan is facing a five-fold surge in Malaria, with reported cases escalating from 500,000 in 2021 to 2.6 million in 2022; this was based on stagnant water providing an optimal breeding environment for mosquitoes. In addition, over 150,000 cases of watery diarrhea are being reported every week across Pakistan as children are facing micronutrient deficiencies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), other reasons for the spread of the disease were displacement, healthcare system breakdown due to the crisis, increased levels of food insecurity and malnutrition. Further, according to the World Bank, Pakistan’s GDP is expected to decrease by a minimum of 18 to 20 percent by 2050 due to severe climate-related occurrences, environmental deterioration, and air contamination; all of these factors are directly related to capitalist, modern technologies dependent on fossil fuel production. The situation globally is also alarming, as there is further increase in global warming. According to scientists, based on available data, ‘ice cores, tree rings and the like suggests this year could be the warmest in more than 100,000 years.’

And then, as part of the panacea, further loans are provided for mitigating the impacts. For instance, the Asian Development Bank has already approved a $80 million concessional loan as part of its $1.5 billion pledge of support for Pakistan’s recovery from the 2022 floods.

One also needs to examine the ethical character of lending institutions. It is in this vein, an organization, the Fair Finance Pakistan carried out a policy ranking of leading commercial banks, based on which it was reported that these banks had low policy commitments in the following areas: climate change, human rights, gender equality and labour rights. On a scale of zero to 10, with zero being the least desirable policies, the five banks scored an average of 0.5 for addressing climate change. These banks have not publicly disclosed any climate policies alig­ned with the Paris Agreement. All five banks scored an average of 0.72/10 in human rights policy ratings. None of the banks disclosed human rights policies related to their investment or financing, which is “not aligned” with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In a similar vein, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Extinction Rebellion, a climate activist group blocked a major highway demanding an immediate end to the financing of fossil fuel projects by the country’s largest bank, ING. According to Extinction Rebellion, ING was the main financer of fossil fuel projects in the Netherlands.

The hypocritical face of corporations can be clearly seen by the fact that in Pakistan, a program, “Recharge Pakistan’, a seven-year, $77.8 million activity to use nature to help adapt to climate change, has as one of its funders The Coca Cola foundation, which is providing $5 million. It is no hidden secret that Coca Cola company is one of the worst corporations in the world that is not only creating plastic pollution, but offers a high sugar-based soft drink that has no nutritional value, rather just the opposite. In addition, it is part of corporations that are known for funding the apartheid Israel, carrying out genocide in the occupied Palestine. The brutal aggression carried out by Zionist forces in Gaza have led to wide scale protests by hundreds of healthcare professionals, paramedics and students. In face of such brutality, it is quite atrocious that corporations like Coca Cola are being allowed to provide funds for climate crisis or any other issue, when they themselves are active players in the ongoing ecocide, globally.

Grotesque Imperialism

The Israeli assault in Gaza has many consequences for economic development as well as social and political freedom across the world. There are millions of people protesting against the genocide and intense destruction of Gaza. With Yemen blocking the Red Sea, it has already impacted global trade with world’s largest shipping corporations having re-routed their ships and imposed extra charges. Similarly, the attack on democracy and human rights in occupied Palestine, has been beyond what has been seen in recent years. Since October 7, in Gaza more than 20,000 people, mostly women and children have been killed, while the health system has been destroyed through Zionist aerial bombardment. According to the UN World Food Programme, half of the 2.3 million Gazan population is starving. The Palestinian foreign minister has stated that Israel is using food as a weapon of war, as the occupation forces have cut off food, medicine and fuel forcing starvation on the people. The year 2023 can only be remembered as the starting of the demise of the legitimacy of the western countries that have been holding the world accountable for human rights, women’s rights, freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration, among other pillars for democracy. The economic crisis, the environmental and climate crisis are all set for becoming worse. It is the time for uniting for raising our voices for genuine democracy and just and lasting peace.

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)