KARACHI:Engro Fertilizers, Pakistan’s premier seed-to-harvest solutions provider, hosted an insightful dialogue at Expo-2020 Dubai to highlight food security situation in Gulf and potential partnership opportunities with Pakistan to overcome the regional food security challenges.
Agriculture and industry experts during a panel discussion, organized by Engro Fertilizers on the sidelines of the expo, pointed out that food security in the Gulf region was a emerging challenge due to high dependence on food imports, increasing water scarcity, climate change and supply chain interruptions, said Engro release here on Tuesday.
In 2020, the region’s share of the acutely food insecure global population was 20 percent which was disproportionately high as compared to its six percent share of the population.
By forging partnerships in the agricultural sector with large established sustainable agri-based countries, like Pakistan, the region could benefit from enhanced agricultural output to overcome its food security challenge.
There were significant potential to increase Pakistan’s agricultural output with focus on modern technology, seed quality, balanced use of fertilizers, and uplift of infrastructure across the agriculture value chain, the experts said.
It was noted that if average farmer yields were brought at par with those of progressive farmers within the country, Pakistan would observe a dramatic increase in wheat and rice production which was serving not only needs for domestic consumption, but also created significant surpluses for exports to Gulf region.
Pakistan’s government was also applauded for its efforts to improve water provision and farm economics, resulting in an increase of approximately 1.6 million hectares in area under cultivation with further growth anticipated with large irrigation projects underway.
The panel discussion concluded that the food and agriculture sector could be an engine of economic growth for both the Gulf region and Pakistan. Through the adoption of technological innovation and sustainable practices, the agricultural sector of Pakistan could be transformed to reduce dependence on food imports, create surpluses to drive significant exports and meet the Gulf regions’ dietary nutrition requirements
The panel of experts comprised global agricultural and industry experts including Dr. Abdul Rashid (IFA Laureate), Charles Schneider (International Finance Corporation), Ayman Alwadhy (The Corporate Group, UAE), Wasim Halabi (Foodco National Foodstuff Co PJSC), Fredric Favre (MAS Seeds, France) and Khusrau Nadir Gilani (Engro Fertilizers).
The event was also graced by Hussain Dawood, Chairman of Engro Corporation and Dawood Corporation), Shahzada Dawood ,Vice Chair, Engro Corporation, Ghias Khan, President and CEO of Engro Corporation and Nadir Salar Qureshi, CEO of Engro Fertilizers , along with other members of the Engro leadership team.