ISLAMABAD
\nThe World Bank has said that Pakistan needs to empower the agriculture and livestock producers with increased use of technology to ensure broader adaptation to climate-smart agriculture.
\nIn an article published by the World Bank, it has been emphasised that improved focus and efficiency in government expenditures are also essential to adjust the food system to higher food and energy prices.
\nAccording to the article, Pakistan needs to encourage greater use of digital technologies in both rural and urban areas to make the food system more responsive, resilient and efficient.
\nCollaboration across government actors, private sector, civil society, and charitable organizations, is necessary for improving identification of vulnerable households, targeting beneficiaries of social safety nets, and monitoring effectiveness of different food security support instruments.
\nPakistan also needs to address food insecurity in both rural and urban areas via multi-sectoral interventions that improve production, processing, transport, storage, and marketing.
\nIt also needs to make markets more accessible to both producers and consumers. It\u2019s important to prioritize work on legislation, guidelines and regulations for enhanced quality control, better payments systems, and consumer protection regulations.
\nThe Covid pandemic highlighted the risk and impact of disease transmissions from animals to humans. Pakistan has a large stock of livestock with a substantial viral and bacterial load.
\nThis makes it particularly important for the government to take concrete steps such as enhancing vaccination campaigns against common livestock diseases, formulating improved regulations for the establishment and operations of livestock colonies, and developing institutional capacities and protocols for surveillance, monitoring, and reporting systems in both rural and urban areas.
\nThe \u201cOne Health\u201d approach launched by the government provides an excellent opportunity to take a more holistic and integrated approach to human, animal, and plant health. The article added that the impact of Covid-19 pandemic was particularly severe on daily wage earners and others with no employment protection. The lockdowns imposed and disruption in economic activities increased food insecurity.
\nAn estimated 50 percent of the population ate less or switched to lower quality food. Some 40 percent of the population faced moderate to severe food insecurity during April to July 2020. The agriculture sector was also affected by lockdowns and disruptions in markets. Higher imports helped ensure consumers had ready access to key staples. For example, wheat imports reached 3.6 million tons in 2020 \u2013 a level not seen for several decades. However, markets for nutritious and perishable products such as meat, milk, fruits and vegetables proved more fragile with both producers and consumers facing difficulties.
\nThe food system in Pakistan was able to meet the bulk of food needs during the pandemic. However, as Covid-19 retreats, conditions have not returned to normal as expected.
\nThe crisis also accelerated several ongoing trends in the food system. Increasing numbers of wholesalers and retailers provided home delivery services; and several major supermarkets expanded their direct sourcing from farmers and local aggregators. The trend towards mechanisation of farm operations also accelerated with an increased demand for machinery services and for skilled labor.
\nContinuing turbulence in international markets has sent food and fertilizer prices spiraling, which has highlighted the need to further transform food systems. The situation improved significantly as the economy revived after general lockdowns ended on May 9 and were replaced with \u201cSmart Lockdowns\u201d that were much more selective and targeted. A major contributing factor in the revival was the launching of several government assistance programmes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The World Bank has said that Pakistan needs to empower the agriculture and livestock producers with increased use of technology to ensure broader adaptation to climate-smart agriculture. In an article published by the World Bank, it has been emphasised that improved focus and efficiency in government expenditures are also essential to adjust the food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2644,2645,20,367],"class_list":{"0":"post-263731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national","8":"tag-farms","9":"tag-livestock","10":"tag-pakistan","11":"tag-world-bank"},"yoast_head":"\n