Food Security paradigm in Pakistan has changed since 3-F crises

Dr. Pirzada,while speaking at 14th Sustainable Development Conference(SDC) in Islamabad on 13th December 2011, in a joint session organised by Oxfam GB and SDPI on 'Factors Affecting Food Security in Resource Constrained Pakistan' emphatically underlined that economic access to food has emerged a key food security concern in Pakistan since 2007.

Food inflation that touched its peak of 34% in 2008, pushed millions in to hunger in Pakistan and around 77 million people in Pakistan are threatened with hunger and 37 % of population suffers from food insecurity.

He said there is no alternative to sustained domestic food supply for a resource constrained country like Pakistan and to this end support price system for key food security and livelihood related agricultural commodities is an imperative, as it will help advance public good, arrest the reversal of MDGs in Pakistan and will help in securing socio-economic and political stability in the country.

Role of Civil Societies towards Development

In an other TV interview telecast by Sohne Dharti Dr.Pirzada spoke about role of civil society towards development.He opined that government alone can't meet the clossal development challenges .It is only through private public partnetship(PPP) that we can address the needs of people in a genuine way, and civil society has a big role to play.
Civil society actions not only inform public sector policies and interventions but also speerhead inforned development actions,especially in emergencies.Earthquake and flood response mounted by the CSOs in Pakistan, is an evidence in this regard,he added.

Role of Agricultural Research towards development

In an interview, telecast by Sohne Dharti TVchannel,Dr. Pirzada underlined the need to reorient National Agricultural Research System (NARS) to generate, one one hand innovation content for underpinning trade & economic development, and emperical evidence to inform national agrultural R&D policy on the other.
Without innovation and value addition, trade in primary commodities alone can not meet the challenges national economy is facing today.Likewise, challange of food security and climate change too can be addressed through innovative research output,he emphasized.

Mango Exports from Pakistan: SPS Management

Dr.Pirzada has recently documented SPS Management- capacity building manual for Mango Exporters in a study commissioned by USAID/FIRMS-IRA.The study is likely to be made public by USAID/FIRMS.He also conducted three capacity building workshops for mango exporters one each in Lahore,Multan and Karachi , this summer 2011.