Civil society against land lease to aliens
Published: October 11, 2009
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KARACHI - The international experts and representatives of civil society have demanded an end to land leasing to foreign investors and countries.
However, they emphasised that an immediate moratorium should be placed on the use and production of genetically modified seeds and crops. Instead, the government should promote bio-diversity based ecological farming methods which would not only secure livelihood to the landless and small farmers but also ensure food security and sovereignty of the Pakistani people.
Dr Michael Hansen Senior Scientist Consumer Union of United States of America, Dr Azra Talat Sayeed Executive Director Roots for Equity and Abdul Sattar a peasant leader from Punjab addressing to a press conference at Karachi Press Club on Saturday said that Pakistan has allowed foreign investors to lease agricultural land through the Corporate Farming Ordinance 2001. As the name suggests, the ordinance was passed under military rule, and stands for one of the worst dictatorial policies of the Musharaf regime, they said, adding that now nearly a decade later the ordinance is bearing fruit.
Investors from foreign countries are looming over Pakistan wanting to lease thousands of acres of land in a county which is facing a continuing food production and consumption crisis, they claimed and reminded that only a month ago, during Ramzan, 16 women were crushed to death in a stampede where people were vying to get access to free flour distribution.
They said that Pakistan is facing acute irrigation water shortage; there is an ongoing dispute between two major agricultural provinces Sindh and Punjab. With only Saudi Arabia being promised more than 500,000 acres of land, and rumors circulating that nearly 6 million acres of agricultural land has been promised for cultivation, the country has left itself open to a huge food production crisis, they said.
In the current financial climate, investment firms such as Schroeder and Global Agri Cap are fully conscious of land and water resource gap and are estimating that investment portfolios in agricultural commodities will be one of the most profitable sectors. This factor is one of the key reasons that investors are leasing agricultural land to rake in tomorrow’s profits from growing food and agricultural commodities, they said, adding that Pakistan is not able to grow enough food for its people, is turning a blind eye to the increasing hunger and food deficits in the country.
The Nation (Pakistan) | October 11, 2009
KARACHI - The international experts and representatives of civil society have demanded an end to land leasing to foreign investors and countries.
However, they emphasised that an immediate moratorium should be placed on the use and production of genetically modified seeds and crops. Instead, the government should promote bio-diversity based ecological farming methods which would not only secure livelihood to the landless and small farmers but also ensure food security and sovereignty of the Pakistani people.
Dr Michael Hansen Senior Scientist Consumer Union of United States of America, Dr Azra Talat Sayeed Executive Director Roots for Equity and Abdul Sattar a peasant leader from Punjab addressing to a press conference at Karachi Press Club on Saturday said that Pakistan has allowed foreign investors to lease agricultural land through the Corporate Farming Ordinance 2001. As the name suggests, the ordinance was passed under military rule, and stands for one of the worst dictatorial policies of the Musharaf regime, they said, adding that now nearly a decade later the ordinance is bearing fruit.
Investors from foreign countries are looming over Pakistan wanting to lease thousands of acres of land in a county which is facing a continuing food production and consumption crisis, they claimed and reminded that only a month ago, during Ramzan, 16 women were crushed to death in a stampede where people were vying to get access to free flour distribution.
They said that Pakistan is facing acute irrigation water shortage; there is an ongoing dispute between two major agricultural provinces Sindh and Punjab. With only Saudi Arabia being promised more than 500,000 acres of land, and rumors circulating that nearly 6 million acres of agricultural land has been promised for cultivation, the country has left itself open to a huge food production crisis, they said.
In the current financial climate, investment firms such as Schroeder and Global Agri Cap are fully conscious of land and water resource gap and are estimating that investment portfolios in agricultural commodities will be one of the most profitable sectors. This factor is one of the key reasons that investors are leasing agricultural land to rake in tomorrow’s profits from growing food and agricultural commodities, they said, adding that Pakistan is not able to grow enough food for its people, is turning a blind eye to the increasing hunger and food deficits in the country.
