Call for reserve stocks to counter food crisis

ISLAMABAD (APP) - The participants of a seminar have underlined the need to build reserve stocks of essential items to save the country from food crisis.
The seminar on "Food Crisis" was arranged here on Monday by Sustainable Agriculture Action Group (SAAG) and ActionAid Pakistan (AAPk).
The participants discussed and reviewed the availability and accessibility of food and food sources to common people.
They stressed on sustainable growth to avert any food crisis.
After deliberations, the participants chalked out a set of recommendations for policy makers to ensure food security in Pakistan. The participants urged that the restrictions on export of food items should not be relaxed until country's strategic reserves are procured.
However, they said, smugglers, market manipulators and creators of artificial shortages of food items must be taken to task.
It was observed that there should be a transparent inquiry into the affairs of the flour mills and their link with the provincial food departments.
The recommendations entailed that the issue of long-awaited agrarian and land reforms should be addressed on priority basis.
Though there have been attempts by the governments in the past to redistribute land among the poor but the measure proved to be inadequate in scale and extent. The speakers were unanimous that reintroduction of land reform scheme can be instrumental in reducing poverty and prevalent inequalities in the society.
One of the suggestion was that social protection schemes should be introduced even in informal economy as is done in India, Thailand and other countries.