Pakistan

Two years ago, the Sarhad Chamber of Agriculture, NWFP, Pakistan was contacted by investors from the Gulf states through a letter showing interest in acquiring farmlands on lease under the corporate farming being introduced by the government.

Reports indicate that the Gulf States have acquired more than 150,000 hectares of land in Balochistan near Mirani Dam to begin mechanised farming.

The worldwide financial crisis has reportedly stalled several agricultural deals between Gulf countries and overseas partners, including two between Bahrain and Pakistan.

Foreign Office spokesman says Pakistan has 8.25m hectares of land that can be cultivated to cater to global food demand

Far too many questions remain unanswered for the government of Pakistan to forge ahead with these deals.

An ambitious project pooling New Zealand's farming expertise has received a fillip from Emirates Investment Group. Through EIG, there are two large Pakistan projects on the cards, one involving a 35,000ha farm.

Pakistan will press ahead with plans to lease or sell farmland to foreign investors despite United Nations concern over such deals, arguing the land would otherwise lie fallow, Pakistan's foreign minister said.

The United Arab Emirates has decided to make robust investments in Pakistan’s energy agriculture, education and health sectors, which need huge investment, official sources said yesterday.

The government of Pakistan is open to lease out its agricultural land to foreign bidders, Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Mohammad Gondal told the National Assembly on Wednesday.

Voicing aversion to corporate agriculture farming, speakers at a seminar on Wednesday underlined the need for taking effective steps to counter its adverse effects in Pakistan.

How can we become a food sovereign state when decisions of what to grow, where to grow, and how much to grow are increasingly taken by corporations?

This paper examines the CAF policy, Corporate farming worldwide, and concludes that current CAF policy adopted for leasing land is not in best interest of Pakistan in context of food, water and land security.