PBIF chief seeks agriculture insurance for farmers

Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) President Mian Zahid Hussain has urged the government to focus on agriculture to support farmers and improve their standard of living. He said majority of the women working in agriculture were not paid while they were kept away from critical decision. "Improvement in the lives of farming communities will boost share of agriculture in the GDP while expanding reach of microfinance banks will help them," he added.
Mian Zahid Hussain called for special emphasis on agricultural insurance to mitigate risks farmers were facing every year. He noted that 60 percent working women in Saarc region were linked to agriculture, adding that they could be lifted out of poverty if that sector was promoted. Women were intentionally kept poor and unprotected in many countries, which was a discrimination against them, he said. All the countries stressed importance of female education but their share in economy was very small which was blocking their development, he said, adding the issues, which that sector was facing, should be resolved and provision of loans should be facilitated.