ISLAMABAD

Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) will conduct "Food Security Survey" to collect a tangible data on food security scenario in the country.
This was stated by Federal Minister for MNFS&R, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan while addressing a workshop on "Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics" here on Wednesday.
The workshop was arranged by Ministry of National Food Security and Research in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization and Agriculture Policy Institute.
The minister said survey would cover all the aspects of food security such as availability, accessibility, affordability and nutrition.
The sample of survey would include 20,000 individuals from rural and urban areas to collect a reliable data as it plays a pivotal role in policy making, he remarked.
He further said flow of statistical data from tehsils to districts, districts to provinces and finally to the national level must be streamlined.
The ministry has a comprehensive and well organized setup of compiling agricultural statistics and system covers all provinces including AJK, GB and FATA, he added.
All the sub-sectors of agriculture including crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry, agricultural marketing, land record and irrigation are taken into account while formulating annual statistical report, he added.
Minister Bosan pointed out the deficiencies in the statistical system as well and reiterated that attention should be paid to record automation, uniformity in methodology for collection, estimation and assessments of all sets of data, better coordination at national level and participation of all stakeholders.
Minister National Food Security Sikandar Bosan, Allan Nicholls FAO, Christopher Duhamel FAO and Director General API Dr Aslam Gill addressed the workshop.
They appreciated Assistant Director General FAO for Asia Pacific Region for inviting Pakistan to be a part of global strategy for the improvement of agricultural and rural statistics.