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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Humanitarians?

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Unholy Mantras – privatization, digitalization, liberalization

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Feudalism for the poor, Capitalism for the rich

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

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

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

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

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)

The country is going through a period of dismal debt and economic crisis that is further worsened by the climate crisis. Government policies do not necessarily help in alleviating the dire situation. While the government had been expecting a bumper wheat crop, and directives were given for ‘good price’ for the farmers, and ensure availability of the staple crop in the market, the final result can be considered anything but successful. While the crop itself was damaged due to heavy rains in parts of Pakistan, there were bureaucratic delays in setting procurement centers in various points in Sindh, resulting in farmers selling their produce at PKR 3,500/40kg, which was much less than the government procurement price of PKR 4,000/40kg. According to another report, the procurement price set by Sindh government was at PKR 4,600/40kg.

In Punjab, farmers also voiced their dissatisfaction with the support price set by the Punjab government at PKR 3,900/40kg, which was the same as last year. According to news reports, millers and stock buyers were offering PKR 2,800/40kg as compared to the official support price of PKR 3,900/40kg.

Rich farmers’ representatives like the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), have rejected the price set by the Sindh government. The economic and debt crisis has led to huge price increase for agriculture inputs including chemical fertilizers, petrol and diesel, and even though with a good bumper crop, farmers suffered losses due to traders’ monopoly. Farmers in Punjab, as well as the Pakistan Business Forum also critiqued the high input prices, while also pointing out the possibility of wheat smuggling by hoarders and smugglers. Sindh Abadgar Itehad (SAI) has also accused the agriculture extension department of corruption having ‘stomached’ PKR 4 billion that had been earmarked for flood impacted farmers in 2022, and has demanded a ‘high-profile inquiry’ for misuse of public funds. Allegations against corporations have been levied for charging over-market prices for fertilizer. These allegations do have credence as an inquiry by the Com­p­­etition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has revealed that the fertilizer sector secured a whopping subsidy on gas to the tune of Rs152 billion but never passed the benefits on to the consumers.

In addition, the supply of bardana has been curtailed and hence farmers were unable to sell wheat at government set support price. What is to come in future is clear from Balochistan government’s announment that starting from next year, it will not provide bardana to the farmers but support them to buy the bags from the market. Such measures leaves farmers wide open to market shocks, a market that is monopolized by the rich and the powerful.

Before wheat harvest had started, government had allowed the private sector to import about 3.2 million tons of wheat. Unlike the farmers, millers were happy with the government’s policy allowing wheat import by the private sector, as according to them, it has given them freedom from ‘Sindh government’s blackmailing practices.’ Whether, these allegations are true or not, there is no disputing the fact that the bulk of small farmers have suffered hugely through increased agriculture input prices as well as lack of government support in selling their harvest, and falling wheat grain prices in the market; all of these factors have combined in pushing them further into debt and increased hunger, especially landless farmers and the urban poor.

Apart from the wheat fiasco, there is general crisis in the agriculture sector. The agriculture growth target of 3.5 percent set for 2023-24, is in doldrums due to ongoing rains impacting major crops including wheat. Other Rabi crops such as mustard and canola, and gram have also suffered, though sugarcane is expected to benefit. On one hand, there is high input cost, while on the other hand, the commodity prices for major crops such as wheat, cotton and maize have dropped by 25%. The protests by the farming community seem to have been heard, but really to no avail. The final conclusion by political big wigs was that the caretaker government was at fault, as it had allowed for the import of wheat in the first place.

One can point out the fact that it is the elected government that has increased gas prices causing an increase of urea price by around PKR 1,000/bag. This step is going to impact cotton yield, as famers will not be in a position to cultivate the cotton crop to the capacity required. It is being reported that the outlook for the upcoming cotton crop is not very promising due to difficult weather conditions, irrigation water scarcity, and the sky rocketing prices for agricultural inputs. Cotton contributes more than 60 percent to the total national exports, and ultimately this further hike in production cost will result in lower cotton yields impacting industrial production.

An interesting editorial in DAWN points out the fallacy of allowing support provided to farmers on wheat production, as it diverts farmers attention from value added crops to wheat; instead of providing support to farmers on wheat production, there should be complete deregulation of the wheat economy and linking it to the global grain market.

Such policy emphasis of course comes from those who support monopoly capital, and are heedless to escalating food prices which leaves millions suffering from hunger and grinding poverty. Actors pursuing neoliberalism and free market ideology are also not bothered about the millions of small and landless farmers who have played a pivotal role in wheat production, but are unable to buy the grain for their households. It should be noted that raw food exports that continued to expand in March, with a 16.35 percent increase to $685.03 million, up from $588.76m in the same month last year, has led to high food prices for local population.

Might is Right!

For many decades now, there has been unabating pressure from international financial institutions to adopt neoliberal policies for economic growth, including in the agriculture sector. From digital agricultural loans to farmers through organizations like Karandaaz (a non-profit receiving funds from Melinda & Bill Gates, that promotes digitalization of financial services including digitalization of the tax system), to modern agriculture warehousing through Electronic Warehousing Receipt (EWR) financing, all measures that allows agricultural commodities to be traded nationally and internationally. Digital marketing is in essence for the richest segment of farmers in the agriculture economy, and marginalizes the small and landless farmers.

In the same vein, there is continued push for enabling environment for private sector investment in aquaculture value chains for national and international markets. VC Dr. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad, Vice Chair Faisalabad Agriculture University has also urged the private sector to invest in high-efficiency irrigation.

Trade liberalization in agricultural production continues, allowing corporate farming and joint ventures with other countries. According to Saudi Arabia, Saudi agriculture corporations are interested in joint ventures for improving value chains in the agriculture sector, with a lofty vision of Pakistan becoming a ‘bread basket for the kingdom’ as well as for the entire region.

Pakistan and Iran are also bolstering their trade relationship, with annual trade volume to be increased to $10 billion. The relationship has been stagnating under the impact of geopolitics directed by trade sanctions by the US on Iran. While, Pakistan is on a path to increasing trade with Iran, US and Pakistan have renewed a key framework to promote bilateral trade, the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).

It is indeed interesting that though free market economy seems to be the bible for international trade forcefully thrust by US and other G7 economies, but when it comes to trading with Iran, a different beat is heard. Pakistan and Iran’s bilateral trade plans, especially in context to “setting up of joint border markets, economic free zones, and new border openings”, is raising hackles in certain quarters, The US Department of State has been warning Pakistan about trade with Iran, to the extent of sanctions that are designed for putting an end to political and economic relations with Iran. Hence a ‘free market economy’ is not really a free market economy, but hinged on dictates of those in power. No doubt, the idiom ‘might is right,’ is based on such show of political and military strength, often used by imperialist forces.

It is noteworthy that Pak­istan’s merchandise ex­­ports to United States has come down by 10.14 percent to $3.63 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year from $4.04 billion over the corresponding period last year. At the same time, Pakistan’s exports to China increased by 42 percent; it has increased to $1.895 billion in July-February FY24 from $1.334 billion over the corresponding period last year.

According to Punjab Livestock Secretary, Masaud Anwar, Pakistan has come to terms with China for exporting dairy products to China through a state-of-the-art farm developed in Sheikhupura.

In short, there is a continued shift in Pakistan’s trade pattern, where it is now trading more and more within the region; whether this trend will continue in the long term is yet to be determined.

At the same time, the role of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in attracting investors to Pakistan remains central. Investors from UAE, Saudi Arabia continue to be in dialogue with Ministry for Finance and Revenue. At the same time, there is also invitation to Australia and France for investing in the country.

Climate Imperialism?

There is no doubt that Pakistan is facing diabolical damages based on climate change. Though the government bureaucracy is accepting the fact, and at least making speeches for addressing the issue, the context of putting the blame for this havoc on western industrialized nations carbon emissions seems to be lacking. According to the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, climate change impact was emerging in shape of water scarcity and could be addressed through introducing new cropping patterns that includes low delta crops aimed at reducing water consumption and increasing efficiency in agriculture. Mitigations could also be carried out by introducing agricultural water conservation practices that could also include drip irrigation, sprinkle system, dry farming, conservation tillage and other methods.

Given the extreme dearth of water resources in the country, it is worth pointing out that Coca-Cola, a corporation that faces not only boycott but is also responsible for using up extensive water reserves has invested $22 million in the beverage sector, specifically in technology upgrade, capacity enhancement of its export potential, and employment for over half a million local professionals along its chain.

In the end, the focus is on imported technology, and promotion of the same model of industrial development which is responsible for the catastrophic climate crisis. Our policy makers are blind to the rich source of local and indigenous knowledge embedded in our communities; the fact that the immense wealth generated by the agriculture sector is hinged on the immensely powerful productive force of small and landless farmers is totally ignored.

At the same time, the failure of government bureaucracy is abysmal. For instance, the Sindh Chief Secretary has acknowledged before the Sindh High Court that the timelines for implementation of Supreme Court-appointed water commission could not be met. There were still 769 points from where different departments had been releasing waste into freshwater bodies. Such negligence in context to water sources is criminal lack of accountability seems to be the order of the day.

After decades of pursuing a free-market economy the economic strength of the country, and social condition of the Pakistani population, especially rural communities, the low-income urban masses continues to deteriorate. There is no doubt that the austere economic policies dictated by the international financial organizations are for the benefit of corporations and investors, not for the people. What is the way out is a question which need to be asked and answers sought.

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.

A politician, Mr. Altaf Shakoor of, Pakistan Democratic Party, has asked the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to focus on the issue of saline water irrigation in Thar and other desert areas where salt water lakes are present and can turn our deserts into grain baskets. According to him, many countries in the world successfully use saline water to grow crops with salt-tolerant seed varieties; Pakistan’s wheat research institute had also produced salt-tolerant wheat seed but has not been pursued further.

The caretaker government in Sindh has directed the provincial Forest and Wildlife Departments to start GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping of Kirthar National Park land, cancel illegal allotments and retrieve illegally occupied forest land. According to the Secretary of Forest and Wildlife Department, Najam Shah, the province had 3.4 million acres of forest land. Out of 232,205.7 acres of encroached forest land, 191,175.2 acres have been retrieved, with 41,030.5 acres were still encroached. In addition, 34,713.05 acres of forest land were illegally allotted, of which 21,274.56 acres have been cancelled.

Based on a land record digitization project, the Sindh government has initiated the digitization of land records of the entire province. Sindh Government has set a target of online facilitation and mobile application for the improvement of revenue records and getting information online. According to the Minister of Revenue, Industries & Commerce Mohammad Younus Dagha, about 580 officials from provincial finance and revenue departments have been transferred during the current caretaker government to ensure transparency within the system.

According to reports, Pakistan’s fundamental concern is only management, not resources. There is immense scope for value addition in the fields of human resource, agriculture and mining. These three sectors, if properly utilized and managed at least for 10 years, will have the potential to steer the country out of the economic quagmire.

Land ownership remains a critical aspect of agrarian society; six people were killed and five wounded in a fierce gun battle between armed men of two rival groups of Kalhoro and Junejo clans in Shikarpur district. Since the start of the dispute over a piece of agricultural land, more than 40 persons have lost their lives in clashes between the two groups.

Neoliberalism at Play!

On the behest of the World Bank, the caretaker government is considering amendments to taxation regime for retail, agriculture and real estate sectors. Imposition of wealth tax on moveable assets is also being proposed, which would allow generation of additional revenue up to four per cent of GDP (approximately PKR4 trillion) in the short term.

According to a senior economist Tobias Haque, real estate and agriculture should yield a revenue of 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively, of the GDP which would be equivalent to about PKR 2.1 trillion and PKR 1 trillion, respectively, according to official GDP size. This should be done immediately to “reduce or refine the current 12.5-acre tax exemption threshold to bring more agriculture land into the tax net,” and ensure appropriate categorization of land on the basis of size, location, irrigation status and area-based productivity aspects into tax rates. Pakistan’s total revenue collection averaged 12.8 percent of GDP in the past decade, is substantially lower than the South Asian average of 19.2 percent.

The Focus on Agrochemical Agriculture and Genetically Modified Seeds

Under the caretaker government, the Ministry of Planning and Development has put agriculture development projects at top priority; it has allocated billions of rupees under the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) 2023-24, as they are deemed to have a ‘huge potential’. In this context, the agriculture sector is a top priority for the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), as well.

The Planning Commission has decided to focus their energies on cage culture cluster development project; commercialization of potato tissue culture technology; establishment of consumer-sourcing seed authenticity system and strengthening of laboratories of Federal Seed Certification and Research and Development, among others. Besides, the Prime Minister’s Initiatives for Green Revolution project worth PKR 5000 million is also a landmark project initiated to address key constraints to productivity of agriculture.

It is felt that Pakistan’s food product exports face a hurdle based on international standards; in this context projects are being initiated to address issues faced in sector for fruits and vegetables. The aim is to reduce on-field and post-harvest losses of selected fruits and vegetables, and strengthen their value chains based on using value-adding technologies through public-private partnerships.

The Ministry of Industries and Production presented strategies to fulfil urea requirements for the 2023-24 Rabi season; the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has sanctioned the immediate import of 200,000 tons of urea fertilizer. The committee also mandated a continuous gas supply for the fertilizer industry.

In addition, the Variety Evaluation Committee of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) has recommended 10 new high yielding genotypes of oilseed crops and two of sugarcane for commercial cultivation in the country. At present, there is a large gap of 66 percent between supply and demand of certified seeds in the country. In addition, there is a huge burden on foreign currency, as Pakistan imported edible oil, mostly palm oil, worth US$4.5 billion in 2022.

As has been done in the previous years,  Punjab government has decided to promote oil seed cultivation in the province by offering subsidy to farmers in a bid to cut the country’s edible oil imports bill, and improve their income by encouraging cultivation of non-conventional crops; the provincial agriculture department will offer PKR 5,000 per acre subsidy for a total 100,000 acres to be brought under imported canola hybrid variety cultivation in the Rabi season, sowing for which will begin within days. A farmer may claim the subsidy for a maximum of five acres.

A meeting at the Ministry of National Food Security and Research has focused on the seed sector. Consultations were on streamlining the seed sector by using advanced genomic technologies as well as of IT systems for transparency. The presence of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is evidence that international actors, lodged in the United States (US) are also intervening in the seed policy setting arena. The country head of IFPRI, Pakistan, presented salient features of a report titled, ‘National Seed Sector: Prospects and Challenges.’ The report points out that the national breeders` intellectual property rights are being pirated. The meeting also discussed the issues related to biotech seeds and resolved to settle this in compliance with national and international rules.

According to James McNee, First Secretary, Canadian Embassy in Pakistan, Canada has been exporting grains, canola, and other agricultural products to Pakistan. But for him a handicap is the need for modifying legislation on GMOs to transform its existing agricultural production. He pointed out that grain institutes in Canada and Punjab province have joined hands to further study the GMOs that are being raised in Canada for their suitability to the soil of this region.

Genetically modified seeds, in the context of poultry feed is also being pushed. Increased retail chicken prices are being attributed to the ban on the import of soybean a key ingredient of poultry feed. Last year, there had been a ban imposed on GM soyabean mainly produced by United States, Brazil and Argentina, a key content of the poultry seed. According to Mr. Tariq Cheema, formerly federal minister for national food security and research, Shehbaz Sharif government, “the poultry industry is acting like a `mafia` to force the authorities to allow the use of a “known carcinogenic ingredient. They`re playing with the lives of people. GM soybean causes cancer.”

Apart from promoting hybrid and GM seeds, neoliberal policies based on market digitalization are also being promoted for agricultural marketing. The Market Committees Management Information System was officially launched in Lahore. Caretaker Agriculture Minister SM Tanvir launched the system; the digitalization of this system would improve tax collection processes & maintain accurate records of market activities while reducing instances of black marketing. The digitalization process is already in process through the use of Kisan Card; farmers that register themselves are able to ‘benefit’ from various government schemes like subsidies, loans, insurance among other.

In addition, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is launching a new project to promote modern trends and mechanization in agriculture in various member countries including Pakistan. In addition, the Sindh Water and Agriculture Transformation (SWAT) project of the World Bank is already ongoing; the project is meant to increase agricultural productivity by introducing modern techniques.

 A focus on the fisheries industry is also quite clear. According to an expert on fisheries sector of KP, GB and AJ&K, Omar Hayat Khan, the abundance of suitable water in quality and quantity in the shape of springs, streams, rivers and lakes provides opportunity for production of trout fish in millions of metric tons per annum, as well yield job creation. However, it needs translation into a formal ‘billion-dollar industry.’

Similarly, an expected US delegation to review the installation of turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in shrimp-catching nets has led to various stakeholders (fisheries departments, and others) to address this issue that has been present for many years. Pakistan’s shrimp exports to the US has been banned since 2017 because fishermen were not using the TED in their nets, endangering turtles. It is speculated that Pakistan has missed out $150 million in annual exports to the US.

While pushing for trade liberalization at home, similar trends are also seen for the export sector; the Pakistan’s Ambassador in China, Moinul Haque inaugurated the Pakistan National Pavilion at the Sichuan Agriculture Expo in Chengdu, where numerous Pakistani companies were promoting country’s agricultural products.

UNICEF has reported, more than 1.5 million children require lifesaving nutrition interventions. In Pakistan, the 2022 floods inflicted vast damage to the infrastructure, including 30,000 schools, 2,000 health facilities, and 4,300 water systems making access to safe drinking water and sanitation low. Further, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) about 2.14 million children are suffering acute malnutrition in various parts of Pakistan. Malnutrition has been attributed to number of issues including inadequate food quality and quantity, heightened food insecurity, insufficient sanitation coverage, elevated rates of diarrhea, acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and fever, as well as suboptimal health-seeking behavior. In response, projects co-funded by the European Union (EU), as well as International Rescue Committee (IRC), Medical Emergency Resilience Foundation (MERF) and others is providing therapeutic food and other services in various areas of the country.

Hunger and malnutrition as well as climate change has been used to promote not only biofortified therapeutic foods in the country but also for crop biofortification. It is being said that climate change-related unexpected temperature variability and extreme weather events lower agricultural yields and in reduction of nutritional value of staple crops in Pakistan; the panacea is switching to biofortified crops to deal with growing malnutrition in the country. Farmers, are being ‘convinced’ to switch to biofortified crops such as zinc wheat, which are more nutritious having adequate amounts of Zinc, Iron and other micronutrients. In this policy option, there is no mention of the added burden to Pakistan’s ‘starved foreign reserves.’

It is interesting that there is news about a survey on milk quality and safety conducted by the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) informs that 54 percent of fresh milk samples were unsuitable for human consumption, and 92 percent did not comply with quality and safety standards. Institutions that support neoliberalism, hold a position where fresh milk should be corporate-controlled; issues of safety and hygiene are being propagated as a shield for transferring the dairy market from small and landless farmers to global dairy corporations. The basic neoliberal law that is being used to push this framework is lodged in the WTO agreements of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) mechanisms and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), and of course indirectly Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement.

It is worth noting that Nestlé Pakistan recorded revenue of PKR 151,153 million for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 24.9 percent as compared to the same period last year. According to Nestle, this growth is based on the wide spectrum of their products as well as ‘demand generating activities’ of the corporation as well as emphasis on localization of raw and packaging material has led to an improvement in operating profit. It’s worth reminding our readers that Nestle products include dairy products, juices and water: a majority based on local agriculture production. How many of these billions of rupees in profits actually benefit the real producers and how much is taken out of the country?

State’s Agriculture Growth Projections, and Contestants

There are predictions that the country will attain its agricultural growth target of 3.5 percent for 2023-24; the agriculture sector contributes 22.9 percent to GDP and 37.4 percent in employment generation, ensures food security and provides raw material to the industrial sector. Official projections for increase in cotton production was 126.6 percent over last year; rice to show an increase of 12.7 percent and 18 percent in area and production, respectively, over last year. For livestock, the share in agriculture sector is likely to increase by 64 percent.

Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) has raised concerns with respect to ‘cartelization’ of Sindh rice millers, who are not paying a ‘just price to paddy growers for their produce’ who based on moisture presence in paddy crops are already being paid less than offered rates. According to the SCA senior vice president Nabi Bux Sathio, last year Pakistan had exported 3.8 million tons of rice and earned $2.28 billion in foreign exchange; exporters fetched $600 per ton of coarse variety rice at the highest possible rate at the end of the export season. Out of these 3.8 million tons, 2.5 million tons were a coarse variety of rice to which Sindh contributed about 85 percent share. Sindh Abadgar Ittehad (SAI) has also pointed to ‘cartelization’ of Sindh rice millers and has appealed to the caretaker prime minister to intervene; the rice millers had offered PKR 4,500 per 40kg to farmers before harvesting but later “. . . due to the cartelization of millers and a nexus between them and rice exporters, the rate of paddy plummeted to PKR 3,200 to PKR 3,000 per 40kg”.

SAI has rejected the idea of corporate farming, called for fixing sugarcane rate at PKR 600 per 40kg. The government was planning corporate farming and had initiated project in the Cholistan area of Punjab where vast lands were given to another country while machinery was to be provided by China.

The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) has fixed the wheat production target at 32.12 million tons for rabi season 2023-24, an increase of 12.20 per cent over last year’s 28.2m tons. The production target would be achieved from 8.9 million hectares.

However, agriculture experts have called for increasing per acre yield productivity, given the ambitious wheat production target of over 33 million tons expected for the 2023-24 season. The emphasis seems to be on vertical growth by enhancing per acre yield.

October is the month for the International Day of Rural Women, as well as the World Food Day. Therefore, this month is marked by many peasant rights activities and actions. According to the Hari Welfare Association (HWA), it is deeply concerned by the failure of federal and provincial governments to safeguard the rights of rural women in Pakistan.  The Sindh Women Agriculture Workers Act (SWAWA) though passed in 2019, which categorically recognizes women agriculture workers, remains unimplemented in Sindh.

In rural Sindh, more than 70% of women are employed in agriculture, but often lack access to education through different structural barriers such as patriarchy and feudal tribal systems. Low literacy rate contribute to the heightened abuse and women rights violations, and suffer from poverty, malnutrition and hunger.

A report by HWA, “the State of Peasants’ Rights in Sindh in 2022” was launched at the HWA office, Nawab Shah. The report reviews the legislative, policy, and administrative frameworks in place and highlights the challenges faced by peasants and rural workers. And highlights the need for enforcement of laws such as the Sindh Tenancy Act 1950, the Sindh Tenancy Amendment Act 2013, the Sindh Bonded Labor (Abolition) System Act 2015, and the Sindh Industrial Relations Act 2013.

The World Food Day was commemorated as the ‘World Hunger Day’ by an alliance of small and landless farmers, Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) in collaboration with the Asian Peasant Coalition, in Ghotki, Sindh. Recent reports by UNICEF and World Banks have stated that 333 million children (one in every six children) worldwide live in extreme poverty including 62 million children in South Asia. The World Food Program estimates that 345 million people worldwide suffer from severe hunger; these figures show the aptness of PKMT, and APC call which points out the true state of affairs. 

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has provided data according to which Pakistan’s trade deficit narrowed by 42.25 percent in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year 2023-24; exports decreased by 3.78 percent to $6.899 billion in this period whereas, imports declined by 25.36 per cent to $12.188 billion during the first quarter of fiscal year 2023-24.

In the first quarter of the financial year of 2023-2024, exports of agriculture and food products from Pakistan increased by 37.4 percent as compared to the same period during 2022-2023. Major increases were in export of Sesame seed, meat, fruits and vegetables, fish and fish products.

Based on data from Pakistan Customs, the Afghan transit cargo flow of containers have shown a 39 percent increase in the past year. According to the commerce secretary, Afghan exports are approximately worth $1 billion, but imports had risen to $6 billion in FY23. With fears of illegal entry of goods in Pakistan through this transit trade, a ten percent processing fee has been levied on items imported under the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement.

Ambassador of Turkiye would like to see a bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Turkiye to reach USD 20-25 billion, and the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) have suggested exploring new avenues to export to Turkiye, which would also include industrial collaborations and transfer of technology. The Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan has suggested that the long Pakistan-Iran border could be turned into an economic border, while both countries could trade in Chinese Yuan. Pakistan could export live animals, meat, wheat and rice while Pakistan could import from Iran fuel, building materials and food products. According to the Iranian Ambassador, CPEC was an important project for both countries, and Iran could provide energy to Pakistan for CPEC projects at economical terms.

The European Parliament has extended the current generalized system of preferences (GSP) for another four years until 2027 for developing countries, including Pak­istan, to enjoy duty-free or minimum duty on exports to the European market. However, according to analysts, the long-term future for exporting goods to the EU will be based on the type of electricity used for manufacturing. These measures are being taken under Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a new set of trade rules for imposing taxes on imports from non-EU members. Starting now, businesses in EU have to provide information on ‘carbon emission-intensive’ aspects of imported products, and this could make Pakistani export products more expensive in the European markets.

Cnergyico, formerly known as Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited (BPPL), has imported the country’s first private-sector shipment of Russian crude oil. Russia is offering discounted rates after its exports were banned in Europe.

Increase in gas tariff for the ongoing fiscal year have been approved by Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, along with import of 200,000 metric tons of urea for the Rabi season. Further, import of one million ton of milling wheat through Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has also been approved.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the federal government’s total debt (domestic and external) stocks reached PKR 64 trillion by August 2023, mainly due to exchange rate volatility

The economy continues to be based on foreign loans. According to the “World Bank Annual Report 2023: A New Era in Development,” in fiscal year 2023, Pakistan was International Development Association’s (IDA) top borrower, securing $2.3 billion in funding. The Economic Affairs Division (EAD) has reported that Pakistan`s foreign assistance inflows rose by about 58 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

The World Bank has projected positive growth return for Pakistan in fiscal year 2023-24, but at a rate of only 1.7 per cent, while the economy remains dependent on capital inflows to finance substantial fiscal and current account deficits. On the other hand, the IMF’s latest growth forecast is well above the recent forecasts from the World Bank and ADB.

While the flow of loans comes in freely, the conditionalities are also there. The care taker Privatization Minister Fawad Hassan has affirmed the government’s decision to divest major loss-making state-owned enterprises, so as to get rid of the drain on resources. He has held meetings with World Bank officials for divestment of PIA and other state-owned entities for optimizing the performance of ex-Wapda Discos, a process in which the World Bank has agreed to provide help. In addition, the caretaker government has decided to privatize Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) on Government to Government (G2G) basis, as Privatization Commission has failed to finalize restructuring plan in eight years. The World Bank has critiqued this form of privatization, based on fears of litigation in divestments to foreign states under government-to-government contracts, and advised public offerings through stock exchanges followed by privatization under transparent oversight of the parliament. Quite interesting that the French Ambassador to Pakistan has expressed interest in gaining insights into Pakistan’s privatization strategy on which he was then briefed by the Privatization Minister, Mr. Fawad Hassan. It’s worth pointing out, that all this is happening under a caretaker government.

According to a preliminary research, global carbon dioxide emissions are expected to rise around one per cent to reach a new all-time high in 2023. Scientists say carbon pollution will need to be cut almost in half this decade to meet the world’s targets of limiting global warming and avoiding catastrophic climate impacts.

The ongoing climate crisis, which of course is based on the carbon emissions of industrialized rich countries, finds expression in the misery of the people in countries like Pakistan. According to the “World Bank Annual Report 2023: A New Era in Development,” South Asia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and natural disasters, and in the past 20 years, climate disasters have impacted 750 million people, which means more than 50 percent of the population. South Asia, which is one of the poorest regions in the world is suffering from intensifying heatwaves, cyclones, droughts and floods. The changing climate could sharply diminish living conditions for up to 800 million people.

According to the ‘State of Global Water Resources 2022 Report’ published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), over 50 percent of the global catchment areas exp­erienced deviations from normal river discharge conditions in 2022. From 2000 to 2018, the total glacier mass balance decreased by more than four percent.

Climate change has wrecked the hydrological cycle which is a result; extreme weather events, such as droughts and extreme rainfall events are taking a heavy toll on lives and livelihoods. At the same time, high temperatures lead to melting snow, ice and glaciers that result in intense floods as we have seen in Pakistan numerous times.

According to a report by FAO, a staggering $3.8 trillion loss in crop and livestock production has been reported over the past 30 years due to disasters. This equals an average annual loss of $123 billion, or five per cent of global agricultural GDP.  Average losses over 30 years have increased across all the main agricultural product groups, with an average of 69 million tons of cereals, 40 million tons of fruits and vegetables and 16m tons of meat, dairy products and eggs lost annually due to extreme events; a $3.8 trillion loss in crop and livestock production has been reported over these three decades.

Numerous projects have been floated by neoliberal institutions, however there seems to be reliance on the private sector. The IMF has asked the private sector to ‘drastically’ increase its climate-related investments in the poor countries. Will these projects than like it has happened over many decades, result in flow of funds from poor countries to rich, through intellectual property rights on shared technologies and knowledge sharing?

According to an Oxfam International report, world’s poorest countries face budget cuts topping $220 billion over the coming five years due to a debt crisis that has pushed dozens to the brink of default.

The conditions imposed by IMF have been having a diabolical impact on the working class and peasantry in the country. Inflation in the first quarter (July to September) surged to 29.04 percent in FY24 from 25.11 percent over the corresponding period of last year. State Bank of Pakistan has projected 20-22 percent average inflation for FY24 from 29.2 percent in FY23. Wheat flour prices saw a staggering rise of 81.29 percent while rice prices experienced a rise of 64.71 percent. The ongoing economic crises have multiple impacts on the people. A truly tragic incidence was the killing of a person by three others, when he failed to return a loan of PKR 50,000.

As part of resisting the ongoing false solutions provided by industrialized countries for climate change, a Global People’s Caravan was organized from many countries including Pakistan. In Shikarpur, Sindh, PKMT held a People’s Caravan highlighting the plight of the peasantry, especially women in face of the ongoing climate as well economic crisis.

It was reported that “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, the 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. . . . They are holding to account imperialism – the global empire of the wealthiest countries’ finance oligarchs and their monopoly corporations.”

Other sectors of society, such as students of Sindh University held a rally against student fee increase, ban on student unions, and other issues. It was noted that in just a period of seven months, the university implemented fee hikes by 45 percent. Urban and rural communities in Karachi and Peshawar have been carrying out sit-ins against the long hours of power outage and other injustices related to energy supply.

In Tangwani town, Kandhkot-Kashmore, a large number of paddy growers, along with their children, took out a rally against rice millers and traders for refusing to offer more than 50 per cent of the agreed upon price of their crop without any valid reason. Similarly, rice farmers of Garhi Khairo, Jacobabad staged a protest sit-in against paddy price being offered to them by traders. According to them, the government of Sindh had fixed paddy price at PKR 4,500 per 40kg but the traders were only paying PKR 2200-2300 per 40kg.

Farmers associations in Balochistan also protested against WAPDA, due to long hours of unannounced power shortage which had resulted in destroying livelihood of farms, as destruction of agriculture produce has left them unable to repay loans taken from commercial banks. Other farmer movements have also protested demanding international financial institutions should write-off loans of countries like Pakistan, that also suffer from climate crisis. Similarly, the salaried class has also been protesting against the World Bank proposal of inflicting further taxes on this class.

A shutter down strike was carried out in Gwadar over shortage of drinking water. Please note, Balochistan home and tribal affairs department has banned the blocking of main avenues and highways in Red Zone across the province under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. In Khairpur, the Khairpur police registered an FIR against 16 reporters along with around 100 people, who were holding a protest in Hingorja against a lesser rate than the officially fixed price of cotton.

In Sukkur, irrigation department employees have been agitating with slogans ‘Eliminate corruption and save irrigation,’ so as to ‘cleanse the department of the menace that had hollowed out one of the oldest institutions of the province.’ In the geo-political arena, there have been many developments in this month which will change the course of human history in the context of understanding genuine democracy and human rights. October 7, 2023 will be remembered for years to come. After many decades of atrocities by Zionist Israel, the Palestinian Resistance hit back; this feat looms large over all nations, whether they have stood up against the US-backed Zionist entity of Israel, or those who have supported this fascist formation.

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)

We mark the Rural Women’s Day with grave concern! Though we are now in the 21st Century, and there is high technological development, the world is facing rising hunger, with rural women being at the highest rung of being the most marginalized, suffering from hunger,  hunger wages, and hunger for a piece of land of our own.

Women farmers, though almost all are landless are the backbone of the agriculture economy. Seeds cannot be sown, land cannot be looked after, livestock cannot be cared and bred, harvests cannot be cut without women. In Pakistan, all food crops, especially wheat are harvested by women’s back-breaking labor, almost all cotton is picked by women, and livestock is cared for by women but even after this hard labor, the rural women peasants are the most marginalized in society.

The imperialist world order dictates neoliberalism as a panacea for our misery and enforced poverty, but in fact, it is the base of our pauperization. From colonization to the present day, we the real tillers of land have been forcefully pushed off our lands. Feudal lords retain control of our land, and with the rise of imperialism, more and more corporate hegemony can be seen being imposed on food and agricultural systems.

It is the fossil fuel, profit-greedy production system that has now brought about the climate crisis. But imperialist powers are unwilling to change the unsustainable production and consumption, and we are left to suffer the intense destruction and damage of our land, homes, and livestock. Not only climate crisis, we also suffer the burden of an astronomical national debt which we never took! The austerity measures imposed by the IMF and World Bank are further crippling the food and agricultural production system.

Our government instead of leasing our land for the export of food should stand up to the capitalist nations demanding debt cancellation, ensuring just and equitable land distribution to the peasants, especially women, and ensuring safe and nutrition food for all that is free not only from chemical and genetic pollution but also free from corporate control. In short, we ask for a policy orientation that would fulfill our demands for food sovereignty, climate justice, economic and social justice, and accountability to the people.

Women Demand Food Sovereignty!

Women Demand Just and Equitable Land Distribution!

Women Demand Climate Justice!

Released by: Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)

The impacts of the IMF conditionalities set in its Standby Agreement that was signed last month have become glaringly visible in this month, and strikes, street protests and rallies have been held across the country. In Kamoke, and many others areas in Punjab, people burnt their electricity bills raising slogans against the extreme hike in utility bills refusing to pay what they cannot afford. The situation was so volatile that in Islamabad, the Islamabad Electricity Supply Company, Iesco asked for police protection from consumers protesting inflated electricity bills.

Businesses represented by Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and Businessmen Group have also strongly protested against the ‘unbearable’ escalation in electricity tariffs. These bills were deemed unaffordable by neither the common person, nor traders or small industrialists. However, the caretaker government which took over the running of the government on August 17, 2023, is unable to provide any relief to the people or industry given the conditionalities agreed upon with the IMF. According to the caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar Pakistan’s fiscal space did not allow any subsidy or relief. The message given was that electricity consumers need to ‘manage their expectations’ that had been raised by the caretaker Prime Minister Kakar. It was clear that the country’s governors had little space (and maybe even interest) to protect the interest of the people and the dictate of the neo-colonial rulers had to be towed.

There has also a sharp rise in water utility bills, and the Punjab government has notified more than 400 percent increase in water utility bills for five major cities of the province. Similarly, the prices of petrol and diesel have hit a record high; fuel prices have jumped by nearly PKR 40/litre in just 15 days. Business leaders have stated that rise in fuel prices will result in closure of 50 per cent of industrial units, and trigger mass unemployment. Trade and industry are already struggling to survive the power tariff hikes of almost PKR10/unit, and cannot bear the increase of PKR17.50 and PKR 20/litre in prices of petrol and diesel, respectively.

In Karachi, traders have launched the “livelihood protection movement” against the soaring petrol and electricity prices. At a traders’ convention representatives of over a dozen of trade bodies agreed to step up the movement to save their businesses.

Similar impact is being felt in agriculture and food production where high fuel prices have increased all associated costs in production including transport. Expensive chemical agriculture inputs are heavily impacted due to currency depreciation as well as fuel prices. According to the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), prices of agricultural inputs continued to rise; fertiliser price had increased by 15pc to 20pc over the last few months. The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) demanded at least PKR450 per maund for sugarcane crop given the sharp increase in agriculture input costs. They have rejected PKR 425/40 kilograms of sugarcane that is being proposed by sugar mills. It was also pointed out that though the government has not raised gas price for the fertilizer industry, farmers are still being forced to pay a high price for fertilizer.

Some good news was a good cotton crop as the pest attacks remained insignificant, and it is expected that a high cotton production will save billions of US dollars in cotton imports. An agriculture think tank, Agriculture Republic has pointed out that the textile industrial have lagged behind in ensuring that farmers get a good price, such as PKR 8,500 per 40 kilograms of cotton.

Another welcome news was availability of sufficient water in water canals after recent rains across the country, which included water being released downstream in the Kotri Barrage as well. The country`s two major reservoirs Tarbela and Mangla are now almost full to capacity, turning into surplus the acute water shortage that marked beginning of the current Kharif season in April; it is expected that there is now sufficient water for this year as well as next year cropping season.

However, the feudal elite continue to amass irrigation water access for their own benefit. According to DAWN, farmers in the tail-end areas of Thatta district have unearthed numerous illegal cuts, outlets, barricades and pumping machines meant to block flow of Nari Chach (upper) irrigation channel to their areas. Farmers requesting anonymity as no doubt they feared the wrath of feudal power, claimed that the local irrigation officials and other employees were hand in glove with the influential landowners.

Inflation, measured by CPI, surged by 28.3 per cent in the first month of the current fiscal year mainly due to rising food and energy prices. Similarly, food inflation for July was 40.2pc and 41.3pc for urban and rural areas, respectively, whereas non-food inflation was 17.3pc in urban and 22pc in rural areas. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, stood at 18.4pc in urban and 24.6pc in rural areas.

The rising hunger and poverty can be seen through reports on suicides that are being reported. In Mandi Bahauddin, a woman poisoned her three sons due to poverty, resulting in the death of two of them at the hospital, while the eldest one survived. A 28-year-old man hanged himself from a tree with a rope over poverty at in district Layyah. The man was the father of three girls and he was reportedly facing financial troubles. Police responded to a desperate call for help from a man at emergency 15 who told about hunger his family was going through for the last two days, warning of committing suicide. These tragic happenings are testimony to what the people are suffering.

While unable to provide relief to the people, the state is quite willing to take away livelihood and resources from the people. The Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Zaman has once again directed deputy commissioners to launch an operation against the illegal occupation of state land and encroachments. The Punjab government, through its various operations has claimed to have identified hundreds of thousands of acres of illegally occupied land. So, while, hundreds of thousands of agriculture land is the property of very power feudal elite as well as the defense forces, the landless farmers are being pushed off land. That ‘might is right’ is very evident in the policy arena in Pakistan. That indeed just and equitable land reforms are not considered a policy option is quite clear.

Voices have been raised by a number of organizations against the state’s disregard for small and landless peasants including sharecroppers and agricultural workers in various agriculture, livestock and fisheries sector. Though various laws such as the Sindh Tenancy Act of 1955, Sindh Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 2015, Sindh Agriculture Worker Women Act of 2019 and Sindh Industrial Relation Act of 2013 are present, they are not being implemented. A large majority of peasants, particularly sharecroppers and rural workers, especially women cotton pickers faced abject poverty, crippling debt bondage and persistent malnutrition, while landlords were pushing extra costs on the peasants that further result in hunger and poverty.

Loans and debts abound!

The above dismal situation is partly based on the debt-ridden situation of Pakistan. As of 31st March 2023, Pakistan’s total external public debt stood at $85.18 billion, with a reduction of $1.38 billion in total external public debt, as of December 2022.

The IMF stimulus package has resulted in inflows of foreign finance amounting to $5.1 billion in July. According to the finance ministry’s Economic Affairs Division, total foreign economic assistance received in July was $2.89 billion compared to $185.6 million of the same month last year, an increase of 1,454 per cent. This was in addition to $1.2 billion released by the International Monetary Fund on July 13 as the first tranche of the $3 billion Standby Arrangement (SBA) and $1bn by the United Arab Emirates. The bulk – $2bn — of foreign loans were from Saudi Arabia and a $508 million guaranteed loan to Pakistan Air Force by China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation. The division said that out of the $2.89 billion inflows, the bulk of $2.08 billion were received for budgetary support or programme loans and about $640 million as project aid.

Further, according to the Economic Affairs Division the government of Pakistan signed new loan agreements worth $7.228 billion with development partners during the first three-quarters (July-March) of the fiscal year 2022-23, compared to $11.321 billion during the same period of 2021-22.

Out of the total external public debt of $85.18 billion, the government owed $64 billion to multilateral and bilateral development partners including IMF. Meaning, more than two-thirds (i.e. 75 percent) of the total external public debt is on concessional terms with a longer maturity, 16 percent (i.e. $13.5 billion) from international capital markets and foreign commercial banks, and seven percent (i.e. $7 billion) of the total external public debt constitutes deposits from friendly countries (China and Saudi Arabia).

The government paid an amount of $12.922 billion during the period July-March 2023 on account of debt servicing of external public loans. This consists of principal repayment of $10.835 billion and interest payments of $2.087 billion.

The above figures show the vast burden of debt that the country is under, and the impact of this callosal debt is borne by the people, that can be well seen under the conditionalities imposed by the IMF.

Wither Accountability?

According to the Asian Development Bank, soaring food and fuel prices and the coronavirus pandemic have pushed nearly 70 million more people in Asia into extreme poverty last year. This sentiment is also expressed by the Governor Jameel Ahmad, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). According to him, the global economic conditions have largely contributed to higher inflation in Pakistan, and matters have exacerbated due to the floods in Pakistan. However, only floods have not resulted in the accumulation of such a massive debt and the blame has to be shared with one after the other incompetent governments run by elite classes of our country who have borrowed without showing any productive gain. One also needs to ask the lending institutions how they carry out their monitoring and evaluation? Accountability of the funds given and received seem to be totally lacking; while the elite, including bureaucracy continues to live with plenty, the poor are coerced to pay a debt they had no hand in incurring. Such are the results of so-called capitalist democracy, a system that is much sprouted for safeguarding human rights, women rights, the rights of the working class, peasants and minorities, among others.

The utter disregard for accountability is seen in the actions of an outgoing government. Just a day before its term reaching completion Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved a huge number of programs and policies. A six-month extension of the Kissan Package worth PKR 158 billion was carried out. Also, a ‘single-entity’ export processing status to Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) in Waziristan for mineral exports and revival of modified SME Asaan Finance (SAAF) Scheme were granted as well as a ‘gradual sovereign guarantee’ for about $3.475 billion worth of Chinese loans for a 1,200MW nuclear power plant were given. The ECC also approved the continuation of gas supply to two Punjab based fertiliser plants of Fatima Group till Oct 15 and issuance of a ‘State Support Agreement’ to provide financing comfort to prospective foreign operator of Islamabad International Airport set to be outsourced shortly. Eight development projects worth PKR 174 billion were also approved that included a World Bank financed Punjab Urban Land Systems Enhancement Project of the Punjab Board of Revenue (BoR) worth PKR 26.44 billion. The Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions approved the outsourcing of the Bulk and General Terminal at Karachi Port, East Wharf, to Abu Dhabi Ports (ADP) for 15 years.

The rapid agreement on development projects, including selling off national assets and privatization schemes have once again happened without any consultation with the people, the working class. The All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union (CBA) is questioning the federal government for not disclosing plans for privatisation; the facade of public-private partnership is being used for outsourcing feeders. The union officials have stated that they will stand up and fight the government’s policy of privatisation of power utilities.

The so-called democratic right to protest is not looked upon favorably by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) management and has lodged an FIR against its employees who were demanding askance at the proposed privatisation of the national flag carrier. It is indeed interesting that the common citizen is met with extreme resistance from the Police if she wants to lodge an FIR; however, it seems the PIA management has had to face no such difficulties. Such is the sorry tale of power and privilege in the country where the working class is criminalized for demanding rights, where the rich and the powerful run Scot free even in face of dire misdeeds.

The Persistent Mantra …trade liberalization in agriculture

In spite of the massive failing of neoliberalism in bringing prosperity to the country, our rulers continue to propagate the firm belief that they hold in the neoliberal capitalism and corporate control. According to Ms. Tanzila Umi Habiba, the Special Assistant to the Chief Minister, modernizing agriculture could help in overcoming food and economic crisis. Modernizing means linking agriculture with the information technology sector. Academia also believes that our youth bulge could avail career opportunities by participating in joint ventures in the IT and agriculture sectors; they could use their innovating ideas in areas such agri-business, smart agriculture, GIS, remote sensing, and agricultural monitoring.

The Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB) has approved research projects worth PKR 900 million that include development of superior canola quality lines in rapeseed and mustard; in the presence of the interim Agriculture Minister SM Tanveer, a board meeting approved 40 research plans — 31 relating to agriculture and nine pertaining to livestock. Rich landlords euphemistically called ‘progressive farmers’ have called for research on the horticulture sector so that Pakistan could also engage in exports in this sector.

National and international experts are advocating for establishment of joint forums that include national agricultural institutions, policymakers, and breeders for the improvement of the country’s livelihood and the food security. In context to seed, legislation and genetic inspection is being proposed to prevent defective seeds in the country and to certify imported seeds. Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have agreed to work together for strengthening research and development, on agriculture in Sindh and Balochistan to promote sustainable agriculture and improve living standards of the farming communities.

Similar emphasis is by various international development organizations. A high-profile event organized by FAO for a USAID-funded project “Livelihood and Food Security Improvement Activity” (LFSA), was attended by the Secretary Agriculture, KP, Director Generals and high-level government officials from agriculture research, extension, livestock and dairy development along with representatives from USAID, UN WOMEN and farmers’ representatives from Khyber and Mohmand districts. The project – a FAO collaboration with KP government, civil society organizations, the private sector will support 150,000 rural households including women farmers, over a period of four years. The aim is to improve livelihoods and food security of 150,000 households through agriculture-led growth in KP and flood-affected areas of Pakistan, adopting technological advancements for enhanced productivity and better livelihoods. The narrative is that the project will strengthen and modernize agriculture and livestock sectors, creating assets, and diversifying livelihood options.

Such ventures abound Pakistan’s development history, but to no avail. One is left to wonder how these projects are designed and evaluated that there is failure after failure in creating better standards of living among rural communities. All new projects have the same ambitions with no reflection on what they have failed to deliver in more than 70 years of pursuing development projects based on capitalist enterprise.

Institutions like the FAO, US AID among others who espouse neoliberalism, and industrialized chemical agriculture forget that such agriculture production systems are dependent on water which is now a highly scarce resource. According to the World Resource Institute, increased water demand is based on number of factors including industries, irrigated agriculture, livestock and energy production.

Pakistan has been classified under the ‘high’ water stress category. This categorisation is part of a broader revelation that by 2050, an estimated $70 trillion in GDP, equivalent to 31 per cent of the global GDP, will be vulnerable to high water stress. The world is facing an unprecedented water crisis, and the Water Risk Atlas finds that 25 countries, i.e. one-fourth of the world’s population face high water stress, annually. Given these circumstances, to invest in ventures that will require more and more modern industrial technology puts the entire planet at risk.

The new emphasis on livestock and dairy sector is blood-chilling as the context of Pure Food Laws in Pakistan is to wrest control over livestock and dairy from the hands of small and landless farmers, especially women farmers in compliance with the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Mechanisms of the World Trade Organization.

Trade – murky waters!

Trade liberalization has not been able to yield gainful results as yet as can be seen by the poor performance of Pakistan’s exports in the last fiscal year.

Reports on exports on the last fiscal year were made available this month in August, and the overall picture is quite dismal. In FY23, the merchandise exports dipped by 12.71 percent to $27.54 billion from $31.78 billion in FY22, missing the $32 billion target by a wide margin of $4.46 billion. The government has projected an export target of $30 billion for the current fiscal year. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, declining exports are aggravating fear about closure of industrial units, especially for clothing and textiles. However, apart from exports, imports also fell by 31 percent to $55.29 billion in FY23 from $80.13 billion in FY22. According to APTMA, textile exports in the period of January to July, 2023 stood at $9.09 billion, down by 21 percent as compared to export earnings $11.48 billion in the same period in 2022.

Similarly, rice export fell by 14 percent during the FY23 due to lower crop output from flooding. However, a positive outlook on rice exports in FY24 as a bumper crop is expected as well as a ban on rice exports by India.

Though Pakistan’s vegetable exports reached its highest peak yet at 1.336 million tonnes in FY23 from 939,714 tonnes in FY22, which was a 42 percent increase in export volume. However, it still failed to fetch higher foreign exchange earnings which went down by 3 per cent to $300 million in FY23 from $310m in FY22 mainly due to a drop in average per tonne price (APT) from $329 to $224.6.

It is indeed remarkable that as consumers at home faced high sugar prices, sugar exports rose to a 100 percent in the first month of the current fiscal year. According to news, the previous PDM government had allowed sugar exports in February at the behest of influential political families. It is also questionable that under heavy pressure on foreign exchange reserves, 574 tonnes of sugar has been imported in July, showing an increase of over 20pc on a year-on-year basis. Under these conditions, it may be worth examining how our neighboring country India has dealt with in trying to improve domestic availability. According to news reports, India intends banning sugar mills from exporting sugar from October 2023. It has also with immediate effect, imposed a 40% export duty on onion to help improve local supply to the Indian consumer.

However, on this side of the border, it is evident that there are efforts to increase agriculture exports. Pakistan held its 1st International Food and Agriculture Exhibition-FoodAg-2023, where more than $410 million of export deals were finalised in agro-rel­ated products along with the signing of 10 memorandum of understandings (MoUs).

Of Trade Partnerships . . .

A Chinese food firm, Litong Foods is aiming a joint venture worth $30 million with Pakistani Guard Agricultural Research and Services (Pvt.) Limited to export 5000 tons of dried chillies to China. Litong Foods and guard have already undertaken a project of sowing hybrid chilies in Multan, Punjab. Guard, in the past has also introduced Chinese long grain hybrid rice in Pakistan.

Pakis­tan and Iran have developed a five-year trade cooperation plan aimed at enhancing trade volume to $5 billion and to finalize a free trade agreement among the two countries, as well as the completion of the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline. They also came to an agreement to set fishermen from the two countries free and waive off any fine imposed by authorities of both countries for the release of their vessels.

The remarks of the Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan Dr Reza Amiri Moghaddam on CPEC, Gwadar and Chahbahar Ports portray a greater relationship between the two countries as well as the trilateral relationship with China. According to him the two ports Gwardar and Chahbahar are interlinked in terms of commerce and development, and “there is no element of conflict.”

The inaugural shipment from China to Afghanistan via the Khunjerab border in Gilgit-Baltistan, under the Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) Convention has been undertaken; expectations are that transit route would significantly reduce travel time, almost by 70 per cent and cut logistics costs by 30pc. There are hopes that the shortened passage through TIR coupled with Quadrilateral Traffic in Transit Agreement — between China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan — including the Belt and Road Initiative will help Pakistan to become a major hub of transit trade.

Climate Imperialism!

After the devastating monster monsoons of last year, the country is once again facing impacts of the monsoon season this year. All major rivers of Punjab have swollen due to heavy rains in different parts of the province as well as other parts of the country.

The Sutlej and Chenab burst its banks, water inundating villages as well as agricultural land spreading over hundreds of acres. Areas in Bahawalpur, Okara, Vehari and Khanewal among others have been heavily impacted. Mudhouses collapsed leaving people once again without shelter. Flash floods in Balochistan left eleven people dead, as well as destruction of houses.

By the end of the month nearly 400,000 persons and 20,000 livestock had been shifted to safer locations. The ongoing floods triggered by monsoon resulted in the deaths of 213 people, injuring 313, destroying 5,754 houses and killing 1,256 livestock during the current rainy season that started on June 25, 2023. This catastrophe is in face of impacts still being felt from last year floods. According to UNICEF, there were still eight million people, around half of whom are children, who continue to live without access to safe water in flood-affected areas, whereas over 1.5 million children require life-saving nutrition interventions in the flood-affected districts.

On one hand the people are suffering from fossil fuel emissions of rich industrial countries, and on the other hand industrial practices have resulted in various forms of pollution. Government of Gilgit-Baltis­tan has made a much-needed decision to impose a complete ban on single-use plastic throughout the region; such a step needs to be taken across the country, as plastic pollution intensely harms all life forms including marine life, destroys agricultural production harming human health and the environment. Similar actions by the people internationally can also be seen. For instance, in Ecuador, the people have voted to stop an oil drilling project in an Amazon reserve.

According to an Air Quality Life Index report published by University of Chicago, air pollution in urban centers of Pakistan, such as in Lahore, Kasur, and Sheikapura could reduce at least four years of life expectancy. The report identifies that the entire 240 million population of Pakistan resides in regions where the yearly average of particulate pollution surpasses the guidelines set by the World Health Organization.

The disregard for the environment can be seen at the national and international level; Japan has now started releasing treated radioactive water in the Pacific Ocean from its damaged Fukushima power plant. In response China has announced a blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan. However, this will not save marine ecosystem from harm.

It is interesting to see that for countries like the United States, who are basically largely accountable for fossil fuel emissions, their efforts are spent in trying not to bring about changes in their highly destructive production and consumption system but to find ways to clean up the emissions after they have been emitted. The US government has announced that it will spend up to $1.2 billion for two pioneering facilities to vacuum carbon out of the air. Similarly, a new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund has been created by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to facilitate financing for developing countries to enhance their ability to protect, restore and ensure sustainable use of natural resources. It is again ironical that the countries that are responsible for destroying biodiversity in their own backyard as well as in our countries also create these grand funding schemes to save what they are willfully destroying. It is important to note that world temperature is constantly increasing. According to European Union climate observatory data, in the first week of August, the temperature of the oceans’ surface rose to 20.96 degree Celsius, rising from 20.95C in March 2016. This was a new temperature record, and could have further implications for the Earth climate, marine life and coastal communities.

The Right to Fight: Fight for our Rights!

The constant misery faced by the people on various fronts has resulted in an overall environment of confrontation in the country, with people standing up resisting the many forms of violations that they are facing at the hand of the governing elite. Flawed governance policies of Punjab Health Facilities Management Company (PHFMC) under the administrative control of Primary and Secondary Health Care Department (P&SHC) has led to closure of nearly 1,000 primary health units, with thousands of medical and paramedical staff going on strike demanding their rights. As is the norm, instead of their demands being addressed, they were given ‘warning letters’. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) employees have also been holding demonstration at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore outsourcing of major airports of the country.

In Nagarparkar, Sindh, there have been protests against the Sindh government plans to auction off 5,000 acres in the Parkar region for granite extraction, while in Balochistan, hundreds of female students at a government college have been protesting against continued absence of teachers at the facility, that has left it basically non-functional.

Another dastardly incident was a mob attack on 19 churches in Jaranwala, Faisalabad based on information that two people had defile the Quran. Religious extremist reactions routinely end in death and destruction of minorities with state forces showing total failure to control such acts of vandalism. People across the country have stood up to call for the protection of religious minorities, including a Minority Rights March which held a candle vigil and protest in Karachi.

Given the wide scale of chaotic disruptions in socio-economic lives of the people, the way out of course is to demand for a change in our economic system. A system change is drastically needed that upholds basic principles of human rights, full fills basic needs such as food, water, health and shelter, and of course must include right to decent livelihood. Just and equitable distribution of resources will surely lead to a more humane society, cooling not only our overheated planet, but also bring relief and dignity in the lives of the human civilization, as well as living-beings.

The People: Pay Heed!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No to Corporate Capture of our Milk and Milk Products!