Public and private sectors’ partnership in the agricultural field has been explored many times but it hasn’t produced worthwhile results because there hasn’t been any private sector professional organization worth the name in this area. It is consequently not surprising that the concept has never gone much beyond the discussion stage.

Associations for different crops exist but they generally comprise farmers, or are dominated by big landowners. The farmers aren’t sufficiently organized to protect, let alone advance, their interests. They also lack know-how and ability to effectively negotiate with public sector managers, contain the wealthier individuals and groups from within their ranks or obtain equitable terms from suppliers of inputs such as pesticide, fertilizers and seed companies that are more concerned about satisfying major customers than helping small farmers.

The case of the later goes by default in every respect. They are short-charged for prices and quality of inputs and their irrigation requirements get ignored because priority is given to major landowners. Both the government officials and the private sector companies tend to treat small landowners as unimportant and take them for a ride.

Cotton, sugarcane, wheat and rice growers have their associations but they have not been able to exert any influence on policy makers or business groups that sell their commodities to farmers. But the situation seems to be changing because of the growing awareness of rights and needs among farmers, and to an extent, also due to reforms initiated under the National Drainage Project that makes the setting up of farmer’s organizations a prerequisite for obtaining financial support from the international monetary agencies and donor countries. But developments in that area are slow-paced while the farmers’ needs are of an urgent nature.

The Farmers Association of Pakistan (FAP) has been active for some time and water councils have sprung up recently though the later have shown a tendency to be trigger-happy rather than concentrate on the job at hand without muddying the waters. The FAP keeps taking up the issues of the sector and is developing as a representative body of the farming community. Interaction between the government officials and the FAP has been a welcome development.

Another organization that has been making inroads into the farming sector is the Kisan Board. It has been active for some time. Linked with the Jamaat-e-Islami, it received a boost with the success of the MMA in October elections. The only government headed by the MMA, that of NWFP, seems to be willing to listen to the Kisan Board and coordinate with it for improving productivity in the province.

The Board recently organized a seminar in Peshawar on ‘food self-sufficiency in the NWFP’, and discussed short and long-term measures for achieving that end. The seminar, attended by relevant provincial ministers, some agriculture experts and farmer’s representatives, suggesting the setting up of a task force consisting of policy makers, agriculture scientists/experts and growers to act as a permanent body for proposing measures to enhance productivity of the sector to public representatives who would place the recommendations before the provincial assembly and, in case they are accepted, the government would adopt them as part of its policies.

One of the recommendations of the seminar pertained to developing the FATA areas for cultivation of crops. According to President Pakistan Kisan Board Sadiq Khan Khakwani, there was an erroneous impression about the FATA being unsuitable for agriculture. Facts are to the contrary, he said, adding that it had a wealth of water resources and very little funding was needed for building it as a productive land.

One proposal of the seminar related to establishing a link-up between the agriculture graduates and the private organizations of the sector like sugar and flour mills for the promotion of agriculture on a scientific basis, providing employment to the young professionals and utilizing their education and expertize for improving food resources in the province. The task force is to look into the financial implications of the proposal. It is also to ensure that farmers receive quality fertilizer, pesticides and seed at official rates as also equitable price for their produce.

Another aim of the task force would be taking steps to link growers with commercial users with a view to building trust between the two and reducing the influence of middlemen if not eliminating them altogether. A think tank of experts is to be set up for providing the government with professional advice.

Khakwani says that while the Kisan Board is affiliated with the Jamat-e-Islami, it is not a political platform and aims at creating a non-political alliance between farmers, build them as a pressure group to protect the farming community’s interests and serve as link between the grower and the industrialist. The idea is creating a professional body with a voice and ability to influence the policy-makers from the viewpoint of growers whose contribution to the national economy is significant. Agriculture, Khakwani stressed, provides the raw material for most of the country’s exports and it is not without reason that it is called the backbone of the national economy.

According to Punjab President of the Kisan Board, Ibrahim Moghul, farmers are mostly uneducated and disunited. The Board is trying that they should get together for collectively resolving their problems. They are an exploited segment, he said, adding that it is time the attitude and policies affecting them were changed.

The interaction between the Kisan Board and the NWFP government is worth watching. Its progress could prove significant for the farming sector. There is a need for organizations that can ensure equitable treatment for the farming sector. Their political links are a positive sign because political will and strength are essential for obtaining the right status and fair treatment for the agriculture sector and the people who run it.