LAHORE: Climate and environmental activists at a demonstration demanded of the provincial government to stop commercialization of agricultural land and forceful displacement of peasants from their lands to ensure sufficient production of agricultural commodities to ensure national food safety.
The demand was raised at a joint demonstration arranged by the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee, Labour Education Foundation and Tameer-e-Nau Women Workers Organization outside the Lahore Press Club (LPC) here on Thursday to mark the World Food Day.
The protesters slammed the profit-driven agricultural model and called on government to protect and ensure the right to food amid escalating impacts of climate change.
“We demand that the government plays a role in stopping real estate developers from turning agricultural land to commercial properties,” said Farooq Tariq, General Secretary Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee.
Tariq added that the conversion of agricultural land to commercial use was a significant driver of climate change. These changes disrupt ecosystems, reduce carbon sequestration, and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, further accelerating global warming.
The resulting climate disruptions, such as erratic rainfall patterns and extreme weather events, pose a severe threat to food production and availability, pushing the country’s food security to the brink. Because of these reasons “PKRC stands in opposition to projects like Ravi Urban Development Authority,” Tariq added.
Speaking on the occasion, Zaighum Abbas, country programme manager of Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development, slammed the government’s plan to introduce large-scale corporate farming in Punjab. “Not to mention intensive land use, chemical input, deforestation and water resource depletion, corporate farming takes the food sovereignty away from local and indigenous producers, thus handing food production and supply chains to big agri businesses,” Abbas added.
Abbas added that we need to “promote and support local and community-based food systems, such as small-scale farming, community gardens, and farmers markets and also encourage local and traditional knowledge in food production and processing.”
The protest was a part of the Asia Day of Action on Food and Climate timed to coincide with the celebration of World Food Day and the World Food Forum taking place on October 16-20 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023