Participants of a round table dialogue have demanded the Sindh government to announce Sustainable Agriculture Policy on urgent basis and asked the federal government to revisit Seed (amendment) Act 2015 in order to make it pro-peasants and small farmers.
The dialogue in the follow-up of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit for the adoption of 2030 agenda was organized by Society for Environmental Actions, Reconstruction & Humanitarian (SEARCH) and NGOs Development Society (NDS) at a local hotel, here on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, President of SAFWCO, Suleman G Abro said the SDG-2 provides an opportunity to initiate a discourse in Sindh because despite rich in fertile land and productive resources, 72 percent population of Sindh is food insecure. The SDG-2 provides a clear guideline for formulating sustainable agriculture policy in Sindh, he added.
Professor Ismail Kumbhar of Sindh Agriculture University said that the recent reports, CSOs and experts are of view that our federal and provincial planners and governments only see natural resources including seeds, land, water and other productive resources as capital for businessmen and investors, not as basic needs and livelihoods for citizens or their indispensability to the economy and food security.
Punhal Sario, President Sindh Hari Porhyat Council, said the man behind the plough is always ignored and the government has been facilitating the handing-over of our productive resources to the foreign corporate world. He said as per 18th Amendment, agriculture and food security is subject of the province, but there is no comprehensive sustainable agriculture policy of Sindh yet.
Waheed Jamali, Executive Director of SEARCH Pakistan, said the Sindh government certainly has a lead role in efforts to improve the lives of the peasants, fisher folks, small farmers, pastoralists, growers and farm-labours, but the government cannot solve problems alone. There must be the coordinated action that pulls together a global and national partnership of government institutions, grass root organizations, CSOs, academia, experts, and individuals in order to unite their energy and ideas into a common effort.
Deedar Ali Bhutto, Director Agriculture Department (Extension), Dr Islamu Din Majeedano. an agronomist from Agriculture Research, Mumtaz Mangi from UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Mustafa Baloch, Regional Head of SPO, Jai Parkash President Press Club Hyderabad, Samad Soomoro of Labour Department were the guest speaker in discussion.
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