Climate change is adversely affecting Pakistan\u2019s agricultural production, making the food self-sufficient country into a deficient one, Ambassador Munir Akram told a UN event on Monday<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is obviously one of the critical impacts of the poly-crises we have been facing during the past three years,\u201d the Pakistani envoy said during a discussion organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on ways to bring the role of finance for development to mitigating and preventing food crises and promoting food systems transformation.<\/p>\n
Among other speakers were FAO\u2019s Chief Economist Maximo Torero, who joined the event virtually from Rome, and its co-organizers \u2014 El Salvador\u2019s Ambassador Egriselda Aracely Gonzalez-Lopez and Ethiopian Ambassador Tesfaye Yila Sabo.<\/p>\n
Outlining Pakistan\u2019s case, Ambassador Akram said the country was almost food sufficient, with agriculture accounting for 38 percent of the labour force, contributing 22.7 percent to GDP in 2021\u201322.<\/p>\n
\u201cYet, because of climate change, there has been a steady deterioration in our ability to produce,\u201d the Pakistani envoy said, pointing out that his country suffered one of the worst climate crises last year \u2014 a spring heatwave shriveled harvests, followed by unprecedented summer floods drowning them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe floods inundated 4.4 million acres of standing crops,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cFrom food self-sufficient we became deficient without the ability to plant for the next season due to the standing water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having suffered such massive impacts, the Pakistani envoy said Pakistan could not qualify for any of the international criteria for support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found to our shock, we are not eligible for the food shock window nor for the PRGT (Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust)\u201d, he said. \u201cOur negotiations with the IMF have dragged on for months and months for reasons\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
In this regard, Ambassador Akram agreed with UN Secretary-General\u2019s conclusion that the financial system was \u201cmorally bankrupt\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are suffering from exogenous shocks, yet they are not being able to gain access to support,\u201d he said, highlighting the fact that there is something wrong with the system that we must seek to correct.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Climate change is adversely affecting Pakistan\u2019s agricultural production, making the food self-sufficient country into a deficient one, Ambassador Munir Akram told a UN event on Monday \u201cThis is obviously one of the critical impacts of the poly-crises we have been facing during the past three years,\u201d the Pakistani envoy said during a discussion organized by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2437],"class_list":{"0":"post-326611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national","8":"tag-munir-akram"},"yoast_head":"\n