Sustainable Food Security in the Mountains of Pakistan: Towards a Policy Framework

Figures & data

FIGURE 1 Agro-ecological regions and administrative units in Pakistan.

TABLE 1 Food Security in the Mountains of Pakistan*

	Local food production
Administrative Unit (AU)	Net food availability (kcal/day/capita)	Food deficit/surplus (%)	Food accessibility index	Food insecure population (%)	Food security index
Plains
Punjab	3,022	+29	3.4	38.5	8.7
Sindh	2,563	+9	3.0	44.3	7.1
Mountains
Balochistan	1,779	−24	1.7	61.2	4.5
FATA	496	−79	0.1	67.7	0.3
KPK	1,677	−29	2.7	56.2	5.3
AJK	540	−77	0.8	46.9	2.2
GB	1,280	−46	0.6	52.4	1.0
Pakistan total	2,562	+9	−	48.6	–

*No data for the Capital Territory as it is urban. Data Source: Hussain and Routray (2012), Hussain (2010), SDPI (2009).

TABLE 2 Proportion of Fruit and Nuts Grown in the Mountains of Pakistan

	Administrative units in total country production (%)
	Mountain AUs				Plains AUs
	Balochistan	FATA	KPK	Gilgit-Baltistan	Punjab and Sindh	Pakistan
Fruit
Apple	73.4	8.9	14.4	2.8	0.5	100
Apricot	58.2	1.4	4.5	35.8	0.1	100
Cherry	47.0	0.0	0.0	53.0	0.0	100
Fig	19.7	24.5	55.8	0.0	0.0	100
Grapes	88.3	1.2	1.6	8.9	0.0	100
Loquat	2.5	8.6	42.7	0.00	46.2	100
Mulberry	0.0	2.2	11.0	75.9	10.9	100
Peach	33.6	6.8	53.9	5.3	0.4	100
Pear	2.3	4.0	81.8	11.4	0.5	100
Persimmon	0.0	4.3	95.7	0.0	0.0	100
Pomegranate	64.8	2.3	3.1	7.9	21.9	100
Plum	45.9	5.1	43.8	4.90	0.3	100
Nuts
Almond	88.3	1.7	2.5	7.3	0.2	100
Walnut	0.0	13.6	53.4	33.0	0.0	100

Note. Data for AJK not available. Data source: Government of Gilgit-Baltistan (2007), KPK Bureau of Statistics (2011), Ministry of National Food Security and Research (2013), Planning and Development Department, Northern Areas (2003).

TABLE 3 Non-crop Options for Mountain Food and Livelihood Security

	Mountain AUs					Plains AUs
	Balochistan	FATA	KPK	AJK	GB	Punjab and Sindh
Livestock
Livestock heads per capita	3.7	1.8	1.0	0.9	1.1	0.8
Livestock units per capita*	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3
Sheep and goats
Population (‘000)	24,589	4,784	12,962	1,577	1,565	42,723
Animals per capita	3.2	1.3	0.6	0.5	0.9	0.4
Rangelands
Proportion of rangelands in total geographical area (%)	78.9	48.3		45.1	53.9	46
Forest
Proportion of forest in total geographical area (%)	4.1	13.1		11.6	9.2	4.4
Share in total revenue generated from forest products (%)	1.9	34.6		13.8	0.1	49.6
Remitting overseas workforce
Share in total revenue generated from forest products (%)	1.1	8.8	8.3	13.1	0.4	3.2

Note. Data source: Agricultural Census (1990), Agricultural Statistics of Pakistan (2013), Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (2013), Government of AJK (1998, 2012), Government of Gilgit-Baltistan (2013), KPK Bureau of Statistics (2011), Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (1996, 2006, 2010), Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar (2012).

*Method for estimating livestock units adapted from FAO (2005).

TABLE 4 Area-specific Approaches Based on Agro-ecological Potential and Access to Markets and Services

	Access to markets, information, and institutional services
Agro-ecological potential and suitability	Good	Poor
High	Areas with high potential and good access to markets and services • Enhance support for high value cash crops, e.g. fruit and vegetable cultivation • Establish fruit processing and storage facilities • Promote horticulture, commercial dairy, and intensive food crop production • Encourage private investment in irrigation, land management, and the agro-processing industry through institutional support • Provide incentives for overseas workers to invest remittances in small and medium businesses in mountain areas	Areas with high potential but poor access to markets and services • Improve marketing facilities for fresh fruit, nuts, dried fruit, vegetables, and livestock products • Improve transportation facilities, ICT access, and others • Promote high-value, low volume crops such as non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and medicinal plants • Promote subsistence food crops • Develop infrastructure to enable utilization of the mountains’ high agro-ecological potential • Promote livestock, and livestock products and by-products
Low	Areas with low potential but good access to markets and services • Promote local products such as crafts (e.g., woodcarving, shawls, carpets, caps) and services for markets • Promote conservation technologies that enhance agricultural potential and utilize local niches, and provide incentives for conservation • Encourage agro-forestry, tree farming for timber, and NTFPs and medicinal plants • Develop local off-farm employment opportunities to reduce out-migration (e.g., the Prime Minister’s youth loan scheme)	Areas with low potential and poor access to markets and services • Provide incentives for conservation and sustainable use of resources and develop mechanisms for payments for ecosystem services • Encourage out-migration and non-farm activities. • Promote subsistence agriculture with zero-tillage, mixed cropping, and livestock production • Promote eco-tourism and recreation • Develop and harness environmental services

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