LAHORE: The Indus Consortium, in collaboration with OxfamNovib, organised a conference for farmers, where a policy draft on irrigation was presented.
The speakers said that Punjab’s degrading irrigation system is behind most of the problems faced by farmers. Irrigation Minister Mian Yawar Zaman was the chief guest at the conference. Fiza Qureshi, the moderator, introduced the draft.
Indus Consortium Executive Council Member Jamshaid Fareed said that all stakeholders from the Punjab and Sindh, including water experts, farmers, academicians, government officials, media and civil society members should be consulted to resolve water issues. Two short documentaries were also screened at the event. They highlighted the plight of tail-end farmers in southern Punjab and Sindh.
Iqbal Haider, the Indus Consortium executive director, spoke on the Improving Water Governance (IWG) project. “Pakistan’s agriculture and economy have tremendous growth potential. Self-sufficiency in the agriculture sector can only be achieved by framing farmer-friendly policies. The goal of national development can only be achieved by taking concrete steps to improve the agriculture sector,” he said.
