The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called for coordinated policies to ensure food security in the Asia-Pacific region, where millions of people were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2023. This call came at the One Country One Product (OCOP) second regional organizing group meeting in China last Sunday (September 15). OCOP is a five-year programme (2021-25) launched by the FAO to promote Special Agricultural Products (SAPs). SAPs are defined as agricultural products with unique qualities and special characteristics that can contribute towards more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems. Despite their tremendous potential, SAPs are often neglected as compared to staple crops. This is even though they are thought to be an important part of ensuring food security, healthy, nutritious diets and have the potential to be a part of high-value agricultural value chains and markets. Thus far, 22 countries in the region, including Pakistan, have identified 20 distinct SAPs. The FAO is building closer cooperation between farmers and research organizations to ensure traceability, monitor environmental impacts, and enhance the nutritional value of SAP-based foods.
Expanding the agricultural portfolio of developing countries is indeed an important part of enhancing food security but it cannot be attained without giving the farmers responsible for this expansion the technical and financial support they need. Farmers in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in poorer countries like Pakistan, have been struggling just to survive. According to a study released by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics in May, an estimated 51 per cent of the rural population is living in poverty. This means that many of the millions struggling to afford a healthy diet in 2023 were the very farmers who feed the entire country.
This disconnect between what farmers provide and what they receive in return must be addressed through fairer compensation for agricultural produce and ensuring that those actually doing the farming are not stuck at the short end of the value chain. This issue ties into the fact that many farmers in Pakistan, and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, often do not have secure rights to the very land that they have poured their blood, sweat and tears into for generations. Issues such as climate change and instability only compound the challenges faced by farmers, whose financial insecurity leaves them acutely vulnerable to any form of instability. It is no coincidence that countries where farmers are not secure tend to struggle when it comes to food insecurity, with an estimated 15 per cent of Pakistan’s population facing food insecurity. In short, food security will continue to remain elusive so long as the ones producing the food remain insecure.