:: Prime Ministerial Committee on Agriculture ::

The Economic Advisory Council (EAC) established by the Prime Minister in May 2008, appointed a Committee for Agriculture named as Prime Ministerial Committee on Agriculture to be chaired by Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, the Minister of State for finance and Economic Affairs. The approach taken is based on the “Triple Helix” approach to competitiveness and economic growth and development that include government, academia and the private sector in a public-private partnership (PPP).
The agriculture and food sector (including livestock, fisheries and horticulture) is the mainstay of the Pakistan economy. Cotton provides the raw material for the textile industry that comprises 60% (US$10 billion annually) of Pakistan export value. Wheat, rice and other staple crops are essential for food security. Edible oils are important for import substitution because Pakistan imports US$1.5 billion of palm oil annually. Sugar is an essential food ingredient. Horticulture provides an opportunity for higher value crops and crop diversification. The dairy industry is said to be the 5th largest in the world and in any event milk is a staple food for most Pakistanis. Overall, Pakistan has one of the most potentially productive agricultural sectors anywhere in the world.
It is critically important that the sector provides the growth and jobs needed but unfortunately this has not occurred. For various reasons agriculture has stagnated, barely keeping up with the growth of the population. Advantages in the staple, horticulture and industrial crop sub-sectors have been missed, livestock has remained a traditional industry and the fishery has been over-exploited and poorly managed. Given Pakistan’s current economic situation, this is a situation that needs to be corrected by coordinated interventions at the highest level.

To date, the agriculture and food sectors have been considered piecemeal by a number of GOP Ministries and agencies. While MinFAL (now divided into the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Livestock and Dairy) has taken care of production, the Ministry of Commerce (MinCOMM), for example, deals with exports of horticulture products (via the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board) and Ministry of Industry and Production (MOIP) has a remit to cover small enterprises. Multiplicities of other agencies and ministries (e.g., MinHEALTH) have mandates covering the sector. In addition a large number of Laws, Regulations and Ordinances, some dating to the 1950s, often restrict the ability of Government officials to make necessary changes in policy. In many respects, agriculture is prevented from prospering by the very regulatory environment that is supposed to foster it.
The key element in agriculture, agribusiness and food is that the value chain is highly integrated. Failure in one part will inevitably lead to overall failure. In this respect the subject must be tackled in a holistic fashion with all the stakeholders coming together to work jointly to examine the issues and develop policy.

This joint approach has proved to be sound in the past (e.g. with the Ministerial Task Force for Horticulture) with new lines of communication opened between members of different agencies. It is therefore proposed to adopt the approach for the wider and more critical subject of the entire food and agriculture complex.

The Prime Ministerial Committee for Agriculture covers the entire spectrum of activity in the area of agriculture, livestock and food (including nutrition). It includes both public and private sector representatives under the Chair of Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs.
The Secretariat is being provided by the Competitiveness Support Fund. CSF's mandate includes high level policy assistance and capacity building aimed at generating a competitive economy, economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation. CSF will provide secretarial support, expert services (e.g., technical consulting services) and research (covering policy assistance and sector studies). CSF also provides a database of agricultural institutions, research centers and so-called “thought leaders in agriculture” who provide a large human expert resource.
Public-private cooperation and stakeholder inclusion
The Committee includes three main groups represented in the structural chart. The Committee includes the main GOP ministries and agencies responsible for agriculture, livestock and food on the one hand (including the provincial food departments) as well as relevant academic institutes and private sector business entities. The latter includes commercial companies, exporters, farmers and supporting institutions.
Sub Committees
The Committee has appointed various Sub Committees that are undertaking the cross-cutting activities and interventions. Until now these include (1) Marketing and Processing, (2) Finance, (3) Infrastructure and (4) Research (5) Organic Certifications and (6) Cooperatives. This approach has proved successful in the past with respect to the horticulture industry. Agriculture and food depend on the interaction of all these areas (including finance) coming together.