The recent outbreak of coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan has highlighted, once again, the enormous disparity between rural areas and urban concentrations. The government therefore faces problems in addressing the challenges of deadly virus, as the lockdown in mega and major cities has become practically ineffective, primarily due to high population in these cities.
The recent outbreak of coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan has highlighted, once again, the enormous disparity between rural areas and urban concentrations. The government therefore faces problems in addressing the challenges of deadly virus, as the lockdown in mega and major cities has become practically ineffective, primarily due to high population in these cities.
Pakistan has the highest rate of urbanisation in the region. Karachi, with an estimated population of over 22 million, is ranked the fifth most populous city in the world, whereas, according to a recent report, sixty percent of its population lives in katchi abadis (informal settlements) or slums where even the basic facilities are lacking. Similar is the situation in Lahore, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Islamabad and other cities across the country. More cases of coronavirus, which are soaring day after day, are being reported from the congested localities of these cities for obvious reason.
According to a report, ratio of urban to rural population is alarmingly high, even higher than 40 percent. Sadly, the successive political governments did not develop the neglected rural areas per design, since it suited their political agenda. During the past few decades the investment in infrastructure, industry, and services sector has been centralised in urban areas. In the past we have been experimenting with various approaches for rural development, mostly having borrowed ideas from the newly-developed nations, but it did not yield the desired results. Rural support programmes, mostly initiated by the domestic and international NGOs (non-government organisations), have been successful though in selected areas only. The network of Pakistan Motorways was designed to build up the infrastructure to connect rural areas and urban markets, but it did not happen so. Likewise, the programme “Aik Hunar Aik Nagar” or ‘’One Village, One Product” launched in 2006 could not take off, mainly due to absence of political will. This situation has resulted in declining job opportunities in the rural areas.
On the other hand, there has been a growing deterioration of living conditions and environments in rural areas. This has caused massive population migration to the cities, on a permanent or temporary basis, and the trend continues without any checks, given the dramatic increase in population. The unplanned transfer of population has resulted in many problems. Demographic projections will have further serious implications for the future if the issue was not addressed now, on priority and effectively.
The present coronavirus crisis is an opportunity to learn lessons and adopt pragmatic policies aimed at reviving national economy through development of agriculture sector thereby promoting socioeconomic progress in rural areas, which have a vast potential for economic growth connected to food production and related sectors.
The immediate impact of coronavirus crisis is estimated to cause, among other economic setbacks, about 20 percent decrease in food security and 25 percent increase in unemployment in the context of world economic recession particularly in the Middle East and the Gulf countries. Rural areas are key to economic growth in developing countries, says a UN Report on Food & Agriculture, and we should recognise it. It is imperative that various programmes for agriculture and industries in the villages be implemented forthwith for the people, who live and work in rural areas.
This will fundamentally bring about pro-farmer and enabling policy environment, resulting in creating significant opportunities for employment and benefiting the marginalised men and women. According to a 2018 World Bank report, about 80 perent of Pakistan’s poor live in rural areas as these areas are far more disadvantaged in all respects of service delivery, and the urban-rural gap has remained virtually unchanged since 2001-02.
Entrepreneurship is the key to self-sustained development in rural areas, whereas cottage and small industries are considered a major contributor to employment. These businesses, characterised as social enterprises, are catalyst for job creation and income opportunities for educated unemployed rural youth. Prime Minister’s Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (“Kaamiyab Jawan”) has not yet taken off; however, the profiles of various small businesses proposed are void of catering to specific rural needs. Most of the projects relate to light engineering, automobile workshop & garage, manufacturing of auto parts, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, granite tiles, paints, plastic products, and alike.
Unfortunately, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) too did not serve its basic purpose as it developed enterprises and industrial clusters in cities only, neglecting the poor producers’ group, both in the farm and non-farm sectors. There are several business possibilities open for entrepreneurship. Agricultural livestock, forestry, horticulture and fisheries are still unexplored areas where spectrum of possible technical improvements is broad. Wheat milling, rice milling, vegetable & fruit processing and packing, animal dairy farming, milk processing, seed processing, flower-packing, wooden furniture are conventional businesses but remain uncontested. Non-farm activities include construction, commerce, services, transport, and manufacturing. A new business for rural areas is small privately-owned power plants -solar, wind, biomass, and hydropower. At the same time, the existing SMEs could be modernised and expanded in a planned manner.
In these testing times of crisis there are encouraging news of rescheduling of Pakistan’s debt, and financial support of the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the United Kingdom and others to ease corona impact on growth and employment, besides strengthening healthcare facilities. Most importantly, the International Monetary Fund has approved $1.386 billion to address the economic impact of the pandemic. The State Bank of Pakistan’s policy measures to further lower interest rate and provide new refinancing facilities will largely contribute towards reinvigorating the investment.
There is an urgent need to have an integrated approach to access necessary technical and financial solutions to enhance productivity and competitiveness of agriculture sector, to build food systems and agro-based industries, and, in parallel, promoting rural infrastructure in earnest. Thus, it is considered the most opportune time for the government to shift its economic and management policy from urban to rural areas.
The writer is retired chairman of State Engineering Corporation
