Islamabad, Pakistan (CU)_ Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has proposed a five-point plan to end the world’s poverty and hunger, indicating that agriculture is fundamental to human survival. The PM during his virtual speech said, “I further propose that a new strategy for sustainable food production and consumption should be considered and adopted at the Food Systems Summit next year”.
Speaking at the opening session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the PM discussed ways to end world hunger. He said that investing in sustainable agricultural development, guaranteeing sufficient and equitable food prices, the application of new technology and reconsidering food intake patterns and production are the important initiatives to be implemented to ban world hunger.
The five key points of PM Imran Khan’s agenda are as follows: The first point says that in order to promote transport, production and distribution of agricultural products, the world needs to invest in sustainable agricultural infrastructure. He pointed out the green lanes created by China as a good example. The second point says that governments must pay more attention towards ensuring sufficient and equitable prices for agricultural and food products. The marketplace magic should balance with the support of the state. Farmers should be given priority, and international agricultural trade should be simplified.
The third point says that revolutionary technologies must be consciously implemented in order to increase food production, to ensure the optimal use of water and land and to enhance seed quality. The fourth point says that implementation of emerging digital technologies in agriculture is an important step. Ensuring internet connectivity to rural areas would be crucial for their international and global supply chains. The fifth point says that the patterns of food consumption and production must be reconsidered by the leaders.
While speaking about the pandemic impacts, he said, “The world faces multiple challenges in recovering from the pandemic and achieving [the] vital first two sustainable development goals (SDGs) — no poverty and zero hunger”. He added, “We need a revolution in our vision of our future. The Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis should drive home the message to all rich and poor, weak or powerful that their destinies are intertwined. We will perish or survive together”. While highlighting about his green plans, he said that the government has allocated eight large areas to build national reserves or parks. He said, “We are also engaged in one of the largest reforestation programs in the world [through which] we plan to plant 10 billion trees over the next three years”.
