In a time of multiple natural and man-made crises and economic shocks, governments around the world, including Pakistan, must explore new forms of partnerships, joint investment, and collaboration with multiple stakeholders to redress the critical issue of food insecurity.

Enough food is produced globally to provide for everyone on the planet. Yet as many as one in ten of the world’s population do not have enough food to eat and will go to bed hungry and undernourished almost every night. For them, accessing and acquiring enough food has slipped further out of reach. With numbers of people globally who are suffering from hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition rising so dramatically, addressing root causes is a matter of immediacy. 
But as do the challenges, sustainable solutions remain elusive and vary from country to country. In a time of multiple natural and man-made crises and economic shocks, governments around the world, including Pakistan, must explore new forms of partnerships, joint investment, and collaboration with multiple stakeholders to redress the critical issue of food insecurity. An intense focus on action to improve the agriculture sector and food systems is needed now, not later.
The 2022 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI), makes the global situation clear. The annual flagship report, jointly prepared by key United Nations agencies, i.e., Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Children's Fund, (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), provides alarming statistics. World hunger rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, following a sharp upturn in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Severe food insecurity became more prevalent with 11.7 per cent of the global population facing food insecurity at severe levels. The number of people unable to afford a healthy diet around the world also rose to almost 3.1 billion. 

With numbers of people globally who are suffering from hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition rising so dramatically, addressing root causes is a matter of immediacy. 

These alarming numbers are a stark reminder that the modern world is not currently capable of ensuring access to the most basic need of food for every person on the planet. Although it is primarily the poorer, less developed countries that struggle most to ensure their populations can have enough nutritious food, there are indications that even in developed countries, the problem of food insecurity is increasing. The SOFI report reiterates the intensification of the major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition, which includes conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks, combined with growing inequalities.
Hunger and food insecurity is not a new problem, but it has worsened in the last few years due to a continuous and often interlapping series of crises. The COVID-19 pandemic, instability in Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, the Pakistan 2022 floods, other extreme weather events including the longest and most severe drought on record in the Horn of Africa, and most recently in 2023 the Turkiye earthquake, combined with escalating inflation worldwide, to push millions more into poverty, extreme hardship, and food insecurity. Global supply chains, already broken by the COVID-19 pandemic were further disrupted by the war in Ukraine, particularly for agricultural commodities, fertilizer, and energy supplies.  Russia and Ukraine are two of the biggest global producers of staple commodities, including wheat, maize, and sunflower. These commodities are critical for humanitarian agencies to support millions of starving people in other crisis-affected countries across the developing world.  Sanctions placed on Russia by mostly western countries have also created difficulties for countries like Pakistan and others which normally purchase commodities to supplement their own domestic supply. Added to this the impact of Russia’s shipping blockades imposed on the Black Sea ports early in the war contributed to the chaos. Although sanctions remain in place, the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered in July 2022 by Ukraine, Russia, Turkiye, and the United Nations, eased Russia’s naval blockade and allowed three key Ukrainian ports to reopen and shipment of humanitarian grain supplies to resume. But the situation remains tense and uncertain as the war rages on.
Achieving zero hunger is one of the key goals of the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2015-2030.  SDG 2 seeks to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030. At the halfway mark towards the end point of the SDG timeline, zero hunger remains an elusive goal. By 2030, it is also likely that there will be as many as 3 billion more people on earth. If hunger and food insecurity is so problematic now, how will governments ensure there will be enough food to sustain the population and without further destroying the already climate-stressed environment? Some pointers on working towards solutions can be found amongst the targets of the SDG 2 goals including:
▪   By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists, and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.
▪ By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
▪   By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional, and international levels, and promote access to fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed.
▪   Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries and least developed countries.

The SOFI report reiterates the intensification of the major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition which includes conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks, combined with growing inequalities.

Governments across the world, including Pakistan, which is currently facing a serious economic downturn, are struggling to the find the funding needed to implement any or all these targets in the face of multiple needs. In a recent tweet, outgoing WFP Executive Director, David Beasley, aptly highlighted the challenge, “The reality is that food security is the crisis of modern times–and leaders are not going to have enough $$$ [dollars] to fund every need. They have got to prioritize what is critical to stability on earth, programs that will lay the foundation for peace.”  Mr. Beasley’s words drive home the issue that food insecurity is a non-traditional threat to national and international security for all countries.
Pakistan’s National Security Policy (NSP) also discusses food security as being essential to the security of the nation when it states as a goal, “A Pakistan that is food secure while adopting climate resilient agriculture and contributing to value-added exports after meeting domestic demand.” The NSP also highlights the need for effective implementation of the National Food Security Policy (NFSP) 2018 as critical to institutionalising food security in the country. Pakistan’s NFSP 2018 draws attention to the linkages between food security and national security as part of the strategic framework stating that there should be “periodical deliberations of the National Food Security Council (NFSC) on the issues of agricultural development and food security. The NFSC will provide the requisite patronage to the agriculture sector at the highest level to achieve the synonymous goals of food and the national security of the country.”
Transforming agriculture and food systems is easier said than done. According to the latest World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report, global growth is slowing sharply in the face of elevated inflation, higher interest rates, reduced investment, and disruptions caused by the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and this will further reduce the financial resources available for much-needed investment in agrifood systems. 
Pakistan’s rapidly growing food security challenges are not solely limited to any one extreme weather or conflict event. It is a combination of many things including climate change, numerous disasters, ineffective policies and governance issues in the agriculture sector, poor water management practices, economic shocks, insufficient investment, and a burgeoning population. With government resources limited by current circumstances, it’s time to look more closely at the value of innovative and sustainable public private partnerships (PPPs) in agrifood systems. 

The Black Sea ports early in the war contributed to the chaos. Although sanctions remain in place, the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered in July 2022 by Ukraine, Russia, Turkiye, and the United Nations, eased Russia’s naval blockade and allowed three key Ukrainian ports to reopen and shipment of humanitarian grain supplies to resume. 

The SDGs define the need for more constructive relationships between public policy, the private sector, research, science and education for all sectors including food and agriculture. Sustainable Development Goal 17, “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development”, recognizes multi-stakeholder partnerships as important vehicles for mobilizing and sharing knowledge, expertise, technologies and financial resources to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, particularly the developing countries. 
Definitions and understanding of public private partnerships vary widely. It is not just partnering between governments and government-linked institutions along with private sector corporations, but it can encompass hundreds of different possibilities including government and inter-government agencies, plus United Nations, Intergovernmental Organizations (IGO’s), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s), civil society, social enterprises, scientific organizations, and education institutions all have something valuable to offer. The types of agreements for partnerships and collaboration are also diverse.
Corporations are responsible to their shareholders to be profitable and efficient. So how can the public sector, which is funded by taxes and other revenues, development loans from multilateral financial institutions, and with its own political imperatives, find mutual ground with the for-profit private sector to ultimately make change for the greater good for the people, who must always be at the centre of the plan? PPPs have been around for decades but perhaps more usual in large infrastructure projects like motorways, power plants and hydro-electric schemes, and bridges; however, as yet there are relatively few examples of successful PPPs in agriculture and food systems sector in Pakistan. There is no reason why this cannot happen if there is a willingness by current and potential stakeholders from both public and private sectors. 
Each party must bring something valuable to such partnerships, such as policy formulation and implementation, land, facilities and/or infrastructure, funding, management skills, intellectual property, technology and innovation, science, human resources, and/or unique expertise. There must be a very clear, legally binding agreement defining the value of each party’s contribution, the cost and revenue/profit sharing arrangements, and the responsibilities and obligations of all parties. Agreements must also ensure inclusion of monitoring mechanisms, accounting and auditing procedures, transparency, and define legal steps and any redressal mechanisms should the contract fail. There are diverse examples of how public private partnerships can be forged, and the following three examples show how different they can be in terms of the partners and the scope, but each with equally good prospects for future success.
A promising new project announced in 2022 funded by the World Bank (WB) in a loan to Punjab Government may provide a good example for future multi-stakeholder partnerships. Punjab accounts for 73 percent of Pakistan’s total food production, so it is a key province for potential contributions towards reaching zero hunger nationally. As described by the WB, the Punjab Resilient and Inclusive Agriculture Transformation Project (PRIAT) aims to increase agricultural productivity through efficient and equitable access to water for small farms by supporting farmers at the community and household levels to adopt climate-smart farming practices and technologies that improve crop yields and conserve water resources in Punjab.
In the WB press release announcing the financing, the bank’s Country Director for Pakistan, Najy Benhassine, said, “In recent years Pakistan’s agriculture sector has suffered from losses in crop yields and livestock, damage to irrigation infrastructure, and food shortages due to climate change, particularly severe droughts in the Punjab province. This project aligns with the Punjab Agriculture Policy 2018, which promotes massive expansion of water conservation efforts, enhancing sustainability and resilience in the wake of climate change, and private sector participation to help boost the productivity of the sector.” The project will engage the private sector in sourcing appropriate technologies and providing tailored training for water-user associations and individual households to improve water conservation practices and agriculture productivity. The venture is expected to benefit about 190,000 small, family-owned farms and 1.4 million acres of irrigated land in rural communities in the province. It will also provide training to small-and medium-sized farm owners on water conservation and more sustainable, climate-resilient agricultural practices, including for women (about 40 percent of women in the province rely on agriculture as a source of livelihood. If the full potential of this project is achieved, it will link together both the public and private sector (particularly the farmers) both in delivery and outcome, and contribute significantly to improved food and water security, provide jobs, and benefit the local economy.

Pakistan’s rapidly growing food security challenges are not solely limited to any one extreme weather or conflict event. It is a combination of many things including climate change, numerous disasters, ineffective policies and governance issues in the agriculture sector, poor water management practices, economic shocks, insufficient investment, and a burgeoning population. 

Another agricultural PPP in Punjab, vital to social and economic development was announced in March 2023. This one also has enormous potential as a game changer and an example of others to follow. A joint venture has been signed between the Punjab government, the Army, and private firms to transform 45,267 acres of unused mostly currently uncultivated land to corporate farming in several districts of the province. The joint venture project will be completed in phases with early revenues being reinvested for future crops, research and development, with 40 percent going to Punjab. The land will remain the property of the Punjab Government and will be leased for a set period into the joint venture/partnership. The Army will provide the management, expertise and administration of the project, and the private sector will provide investment, fertilisers, seed, and modern farming techniques and equipment and technology. Indications are that in the initial stages, crops for cultivation will include varieties of pulses, millet, and rice and, in a later phase, large-scale cultivation of canola and wheat. The benefits to the local communities in improved employment, upskilling, and improved food security will be substantial.
Particular attention will be paid to improving water management, soil conservation, and environment preservation. The Army already contributes significantly to managing water sources for food production throughout Pakistan through their annual activities in desilting of irrigation canals. They have also long contributed to many projects across many sectors in support of government development initiatives, particularly in more challenging regions of the country. Their expertise will be critical in making this new project workable, as providing water to make the land cultivable will be extremely challenging. However, this is not insurmountable as there are numerous examples of innovative water management now being used in other countries like China and the UAE with similar problems to address corporate farming in arid and semi-arid land. Pakistan can learn much from the experience of other countries who are successfully addressing similar problems.
In other interesting developments in public private partnerships, United Nations agencies in Pakistan and elsewhere are also pursuing various forms of PPPs and seeking to attract funding from Governments to jointly fund certain development activities along with the private sector.  This differs from the UN involvement in humanitarian aid and looks to longer term sustainable development projects to address, among other challenges, the root causes of food security.  This kind of arrangement sees UN agencies partnering with government to co-invest funds via PC-1 and other government funding mechanisms.  In this PPP scenario, the partners would be the government department or agency, UN (relevant agency) which would contribute both funds and expertise with delivery through local NGO partners, plus the private/corporate sector. This too has great potential if properly implemented. 
But projects should not finish at the farm gate. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has estimated that 40 percent of food in Pakistan is wasted after it is harvested but before it reaches the consumer, mostly due to inadequate storage and transport infrastructure. Overall estimates further indicate that more than 36 million tons of food are wasted annually including production, post-harvest handling, processing, distribution, and consumption. This too is clearly an area which needs investment and again, PPPs have potential for multi-stakeholder investment in all phases of the food supply chain.
As Pakistan grapples with addressing multiple challenges including climate change, the economy, food security, and a burgeoning hungry population, it is time to act now on making the agrifood system more localised and self-sufficient, and not as dependent on imports and short-term solutions. Moving beyond procrastination, and negative rhetoric to take immediate action to foster public private partnerships to invest in sustainable, climate-smart agriculture and the supply chain has never been more urgent if Pakistan is ever to reach the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of zero hunger for all.

The writer is an Australian Disaster Management and Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Advisor who lives in Islamabad. She consults for Government and UN agencies and has previously worked at both ERRA and NDMA.
E-mail: [email protected]