Debate / Ideas for solutions to Pakistan's economic problems

[Goenitz]

Courtesy: Startup Pakistan
The production of Pakistani honey has the potential to rise ten-fold, said a report released by the China-Pakistan Agricultural and Industrial Information Cooperation Platform (CAPIC).
In Pakistan, honey industry has favourable reputation and huge potential in making people’s life sweeter. Endowed with rich bee species and flower plants, Pakistan can and should go further in this industry. The honey produced in Pakistan is recognised as one of the most valuable types of honey in the world. The studies have proven that the quality of most natural raw honey of Pakistan meets all requirements of international standards.
But the potential of this lucrative industry has not been fully unleashed restricted by low yield and low prices. In 2019, each beekeeper brought 11.7 kg of honey in Pakistan on average, while the world average is 20.6 kg. Nectariferous plants falling victim to pesticides, absence of modern technologies, and lack of certification system are adding a taste of bitter to apiculture, CEN reported.
FAO statistics show that about 390,000 people in Pakistan are involved in beekeeping. They produce over 4,000 tons of honey annually. However, if modern production technologies and standard production procedures are adopted, the country’s honey production is expected to surge to 70,000 tons a year and create about 87,000 green jobs.

 

[Goenitz]

@Azadkashmir @Brass Knuckles @Imran Khan
Have you seen this thread before?

 

[Imran Khan]

@Azadkashmir @Brass Knuckles @Imran Khan
Have you seen this thread before?

dont know sir . but midea is clear we must follow south korea vietnam indonesia china . no need to work from start we have examples already

 

[Goenitz]

dont know sir . but midea is clear we must follow south korea vietnam indonesia china . no need to work from start we have examples already

Sure, we don't have to reinvent the wheel.
This is just discussion what should we follow. I mean agriculture exports won't give us much like tech/IT. However, we can climb the next ladder like food processing (jams, protein bars, cereals, dried fruits/veges) and growing expensive products like Avocado oil which is sold 12£/litre.

 

[Imran Khan]

Sure, we don't have to reinvent the wheel.
This is just discussion what should we follow. I mean agriculture exports won't give us much like tech/IT. However, we can climb the next ladder like food processing (jams, protein bars, cereals, dried fruits/veges) and growing expensive products like Avocado oil which is sold 12£/litre.

we are in deep mess because of our farmer mindset . in a global village we are farmers and we all know what is the condition of farmer . we need industrly digital era tech and menufacturing hub. even in start it will be cheap labor and cheap items but with time we will be good . just look taiwan exports its tiny like a city of pakistan but exports 245bn$ . ye koi yahoodi sazish nhi ye hamari jahalat ka injam hai . our 5 crore farmers doing farming like middle ages and earning us 20bn$ per year .

 

[Goenitz]

we are in deep mess because of our farmer mindset . in a global village we are farmers and we all know what is the condition of farmer . we need industrly digital era tech and menufacturing hub. even in start it will be cheap labor and cheap items but with time we will be good . just look taiwan exports its tiny like a city of pakistan but exports 245bn$ . ye koi yahoodi sazish nhi ye hamari jahalat ka injam hai . our 5 crore farmers doing farming like middle ages and earning us 20bn$ per year .

The tech based economy wd require huge educational reforms and FDI. However, as our forte is agriculture, so at least we must improve this to modern standard.

British India lack tech infra bcz our mobility occurred from agriculture to services. We missed the industry and SMEs installations and hence Entrepreneurship. This was mainly bcz British Empire industries needed work force both, tech and labourer. So our society entered in service indutry directly from primary acticities like agriculture, pottery, masonary, etc. Hence, lack of cottage and SMEs (innovation) made us deprived of this industrial revolution.

Nations correctified it. Like Singapore and Korea in 70s, China and India in 80s. We are towards it now. Anyway, our workforce is in loop or technology cycle. We just need experts (faculty) and capital so start indutrial based economy.

 

[Azadkashmir]

@Azadkashmir @Brass Knuckles @Imran Khan
Have you seen this thread before?

ppl underestimate agriculture modern man is depressed with bull sh it surveillance technology paraded as entertainment and slave tech jobs. they intelligent ones are moving to wards farming, be your own boss.
I dont know if i have seen this thread before but smilar ones yes like how can we make pakistan economic power house etc.

 

[TheSnakeEatingMarkhur]

The biggest problem

Huma Yusuf
The writer is a freelance journalist.

The first step is always the same: admitting you have a problem. Once the denial is overcome, the problem solving can begin. But how can you admit you have a problem when you still don’t have the right words to talk about it?

Pakistan’s big — arguably, biggest — problem is water scarcity. The country faces acute water scarcity by 2025, and will be the most water-stressed country in South Asia within two decades.

Almost 30 million Pakistanis have no access to clean water. But you may not know this because we have yet to articulate a compelling narrative about the water crisis.

One would think that the best way to spur discourse on water scarcity would be to focus on basic human rights: the right to access clean water, food and maintain hygiene. The UN recently reiterated that water shortages are affecting three billion people globally, and that billions face hunger. But in increasingly polarised, populist polities, such appeals fall on deaf ears.

Another approach could be to emphasise that Pakistan’s water crisis is in fact a failure in water management, an example of our governments’ and bureaucracy’s inability to deliver basic services.

Studies argue that Pakistan’s water scarcity can be addressed through data gathering, improved efficiency, reduced losses and improved sowing. More and better-coordinated government initiatives and subsidies, such as the drip irrigation scheme in Punjab, are needed. The 2018 National Water Policy needs a revamp, and aggressive implementation.



But the water management argument is best made by experts and has not caught the public imagination. For example, researcher Uzair Sattar rightly pointed out that the public commission report into the cartelisation and corruption of the sugar industry released earlier this year covered various angles — subsidies, political influence, tax evasion — but barely touched on the crucial link between sugar and water. Sugar is among the most water-intensive crops; the obsession with being a top-five sugar producer is driving the water crisis.

The national debate on malnourishment — which affects one-third of Pakistani children — also fails to make the link with water scarcity. Malnourishment is highest in Pakistan’s irrigated districts, according to academic Daanish Mustafa, where agriculturalists prioritise growing cash crops for export over domestic food security.

Water is also required for raw materials such as cotton that drive lucrative, export-oriented sectors like textiles. Run out of water, and the dream of becoming an economic powerhouse evaporates too. But we have yet to frame the issue this way. Instead, but not surprisingly, we have securitised the narrative about water scarcity.

Water scarcity has been reframed as the predecessor of food shortages, which would lead to riots and civil unrest (never mind malnutrition and hunger).

Alternatively, water scarcity is portrayed as a trigger for cross-border conflict, as if the former were somehow less devastating than the latter. The water-equals-war drum beats particularly loudly when it comes to the Indus, which flows across Pakistan, India and China, three nuclear-armed nations poised for conflict along various fault lines.

Let’s assume the only way to keep an issue such as water scarcity in the headlines and on politicians’ agendas is by securitising it; the gradual ravage of land and populations is not made for the 24/7 news cycle or the short-termism that five-year electoral cycles engender. Even then, Pakistan’s security apparatus is not taking a holistic enough approach by tackling water scarcity as a national security priority.

Recent developments such as the launch of the National Intelligence Coordination Committee suggests that threats are still narrowly conceived in the form of hostile nations, non-state actors or terrorism, espionage, and domestic dissent or insurgency. Mentions of water as a security challenge are closely tied to concerns of Indian aggression (recently fueled by Indian threats to violate the Indus Waters Treaty). In this paradigm, water flow is a mere precursor to conventional or nuclear warfare.

If Pakistan is to rally around the need to address water scarcity, it needs a new narrative. Water needs to be reframed, most importantly, as a citizen’s basic right, but also as a political priority, central to our prosperity. We need more water experts on talk shows, public-awareness campaigns, and a major focus on water conservation in our school and university curriculums.

The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum is campaigning for the Indus River to be granted personhood, and associated rights. Many see the idea as too radical to manifest. But it indicates the desperation of those most affected by water scarcity. It might be just the new narrative we need to talk about our most pressing problem.

The writer is a freelance journalist.
Twitter: @humayusuf

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2020

You do realised PFF is funded by US.

 

[Goenitz]

@MultaniGuy
Here are also some ideas for economy improvement..