21-03-2012, 12:08 PM
High priority to agriculture sector for ensuring food security: President
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President Asif Ali Zardari has said that government has accorded
high priority to agriculture to ensure food security and creating new job and income opportunities for rural population.
In his message on the occasion of World Food Day (Oct.16), he said, the government took various steps including increase in wheat procurement price last year and new incentives to grow more food.
He said the theme of this year’s World Food Day “Food prices - From Crisis to stability” is most relevant to countries with agro - based economies like Pakistan facing multiple challenges of stagnancy in agricultural productivity, high population growth, water shortage, land degradation, climate change and in our case the devastation of agriculture by recurring floods.
“We need to adopt innovative approaches to achieve food security. The two consecutive floods have played havoc with our agriculture produce, cash crops and live stock,” the President said.
The President said with the assistance of the international community, the government managed to provide critical support to the millions of flood affected people by providing needed rations to save them from imminent threat of hunger. Much has been done for their rehabilitation, but still a lot more needs to be done in the fight against hunger to ensure food security for our people in Sindh, the President added.
President Asif Ali Zardari said spiralling food prices world wide is a serious challenge to food security, adding, prices of commodities affect all countries of the world and there is a need for the international community to devise ways for ensuring that food prices remain within the reach of the common people.
The President on the eve of the World Day- 2011, reiterated his commitment to ensure food prices stability and food security for the people and to initiate interventions to overcome the existing challenges in the way of achieving this goal.
World Food Day today
ISLAMABAD (APP) – World Food Day will be celebrated across the globe including Pakistan raising awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger on October 16 (today).
The theme for 2011 is "Food prices - from crisis to stability". The day is celebrated every year October 16 in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 1945.
A programme will be arranged on World Food Day by FAO in collaboration with the government of Pakistan at National Agriculture Research Centre.
Federal Secretary for Ministry of Science and Technology, Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar will be the chief guest on the occasion.
World Food Day (WFD) was established by FAO's Member Countries at the Organization's 20th General Conference in November 1979. It has since been observed every year in more than 150 countries, raising awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger.
Since 1981, World Food Day has adopted a different theme each year, in order to highlight areas needed for action and provide a common focus.
Most of the themes revolve around agriculture because only investment in agriculture, together with support for education and health, will turn this situation around.
The bulk of that investment will have to come from the private sector, with public investment playing a crucial role, especially in view of its facilitating and stimulating effect on private investment.
In spite of the importance of agriculture as the driving force in the economies of many developing countries, this vital sector is frequently starved of investment. In particular, foreign aid to agriculture has shown marked declines over the past 20 years.
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