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According to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, about 70 percent of Pakistan’s exports are derived from agriculture. This has been true for decades, with textiles dominating, followed by rice, fruits, leather goods, etc. Some estimates claim every extra dollar of cotton produced yields roughly $3.50 of textile products exported by the country. This multiplier is higher for value-added products such as shirts, t-shirts, socks compared to bed linen and towels. The direct and indirect contributions of agriculture to the domestic economy are estimated at 45 percent. For a sector that typically accounts for around 23 percent of the country’s GDP, agriculture packs a lot more economic punch than policymakers appear willing to recognize.
Amidst the prevailing economic crunch, Pakistan needs a massive increase in exports without a corresponding increase in imports. The government has largely recognized the best way to achieve this is through mining, information technology, and agriculture. Among these, agriculture can give Pakistan the fastest growth, at a much lower cost, and with a much greater impact on poverty. However, decades of neglect have stagnated agricultural growth around 2 percent/annum. This means that, despite being an agrarian country, Pakistan often needs to import wheat, cotton and many other crops that it can easily produce domestically.
With general elections set to occur in just under 2 months, the incoming government must have a clear vision of how best to steer the country toward prosperity and key to achieving this is Pakistan’s agriculture sector. Fortunately, the country’s policymakers and business community are finally beginning to recognize this, with both the Punjab and Sindh governments backing corporate farming; a welcome change from years of razing farmland to establish housing projects for investors from home and abroad. The overall national concept of agriculture must similarly shift from considering it a sector that only provides food for the poor to one that can be an engine of growth for the next few decades. To fully avail the benefits of the agriculture sector, however, would require the use of better seeds and fertilizer; efficient water use; fair market rates; and robust insurance.
Once this sector has been boosted to required levels, the country afford to shift to industrialization, which can then build off the stability ensured by agriculture to introduce value additions that are essential for any state’s sustained economic prosperity.