November 9, 2015, Peshawar: The Center for Research and Security Studies’ (CRSS) flagship radio program Sabawoon’s latest episode was about the importance of agriculture and the Insaaf Food Security program (IFS). The IFS is an initiative taken by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government to help farmers through a variety of interventions. The discussion in the program was about free seeds distributed to the farmers, the role of kissan (farmer) councilors in agriculture, transparency in seed distribution, wheat production in KP, marketing of vegetables, and the role of monitoring/advisory services by the agriculture department. The IFS has faced political interference in the past, which was also a part of the discussion.
The program aired on Monday under the theme of “Jarga Marraka” (public dialogue). Two guests took part in the program, Mr. Qiyas Bahadur, Director General, Agriculture Extension, KP and Mr. Aziz Buneri, a senior journalist.
A report from Charsadda highlighted the programs central theme. The report shared views of the district Nazim of Charsadda, farmers and locals about the distribution of seeds under the IFS of the KP government. Fahad Khan, District Nazim, Charsadda said, “It is a good initiative taken by the KP government, but we still need to provide the farmers more seeds and other facilities.”
Six callers took part in the live program. They appreciated the KP governments initiative and requested to make the seed distribution transparent. They also said that this should be extended to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
A caller on the show, Hussain Afridi, said, “This program will help the farmers in improving agriculture production but this is limited to KP only. FATA is mostly dependent on KP for agricultural products so it would ease the buden on KP if this is extended to FATA.” Another caller, Hanif Khan, said, “The government should make the food distribution system transparent and it should be without political interference.”
Mr. Qiyas Bahadur, Director General Agriculture Extension, KP
“In each district of KP, there is an agriculture department that looks after the progress of the program. We are struggling to make the free seed distribution program transparent from any political interference. We have signed contracts with the farmers by which they obliged to sell 50 per cent of their wheat production to the KP government, which will then be re-distributed to the farmers the following year.”
Mr. Aziz Buneri, senior journalist
“The government should focus on the agricultural sector more than it does. Besides the free seed distribution program, the government should focus on devising proper marketing and storage strategies which will help farmers in decreasing product waste and maintain sales at reasonable rates.”