ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in collaboration with Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) organised a roundtable conference on ‘Population and Food Security’, a statement said.

University of Wah Vice-Chancellor Dr. Jameel-un-Nabi chaired the roundtable co-chaired by IPRI Director Research Brigadier Raashid Wali Janjua (Retd).

The event was attended by experts in population and food security where Agriculture and Coordination Global Change Impact Studies Centre Islamabad Head Muhammad Arif Goheer; University of Wah Department of Sociology Shehla Nazmeen; Quaid-e-Azam University Professor of Sociology Dr Muhammad Zaman; and Department of Economics Fatima Jinnah women University Rawalpindi Dr Faiza Athar Khan were present.

University of Wah Dean Social Sciences Professor Nazir Hussain; and IRS President Ambassador Nadeem Riyaz were also among the participants.

Dr Jameel-un-Nabi appreciated the IPRI’s efforts in Grand National Dialogue to highlight population and food security issues that were acting as a serious human security threat while Arif Goheer highlighted an agricultural loss of $3.97 billion in recent floods.

Brig Raashid (Retd) pointed out a loss of 24MAF of water due to lack of storage reservoirs, and an expected 6MAF water shortage for Rabi crop.

He said that population management is crucial, because if annual population growth is not brought down to under 2 per cent, from the current 3 per cent, Pakistan will have a population of 350 million people by the year 2050, which will be disastrous.

The need for integrated planning, climate smart agricultural practices, and population control through education and women empowerment were some of the recommended solutions by the experts for the impending population explosion and containing the food security threat.

The speakers pointed out that food security and population are two fundamental problems, and that Pakistan is at the cusp of a meltdown.

Issues such as population explosion, drainage of resources, changing dietary habits and climate change are affecting global food security, especially in a resource-starved and highly populous country like Pakistan.

The speakers hinted at land degradation saying that 69 per cent of the 8767 housing societies in Pakistan are illegal. They act as a temptation for agriculturalists to sell their land, which has resulted in a drastic fall in agricultural production.

The speakers said that food insecurity stems from economic insecurity, lack of resources and lower income inequality.

UOW Vice-Chancellor Dr Jameel-un-Nabi said that it was crucial to address population and food security, because many sections of the society are of the opinion that with the current state of affairs, Pakistan will soon become un-habitable.

[embedpost slug=”bourse-closes-higher-with-subdued-volumes/”]