On Wednesday, 30^th July 2025, Dr. Zafar Hayat, a practising physician and progressive farmer, delivered a Lecture on “Food Security in Pakistan” to the participants of the 38^th Senior Management Course (SMC) at the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), Lahore.

Dr. Hayat defined food security as the availability, affordability, and accessibility of nutritious food, linking it to consumer purchasing power, economic performance, and agriculture resilience. He presented Pakistan’s alarming Global Hunger Index position (109^th of 127 nations) and highlighted that 22% of the population of Pakistan is undernourished, nearly 40% of children under five stunted, and widespread deficiencies in iron, zinc, and vitamins A and D.

Dr. Hayat noted structural weaknesses, including reduced cotton production, reliance on imported edible oils, and weak consumer purchasing power. He stressed that climate change is a major threat, citing the 2022 floods, which caused $10 billion in damages and submerged 10% of the country’s land. He stressed that Pakistan must adopt adaptive farming practices, expand storage, and build resilience to safeguard food supplies. He referred to Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy and compared it with Pakistan’s inconsistent procurement policies that demotivate farmers. Underlining the potential of the livestock sector, which supports 8 million rural families, he noted its underutilization despite rising outputs of milk, meat, and poultry.

Dr. Hayat urged reforms in the cotton, rice, and sugarcane sectors, greater investment in research, and protection of farmers from middlemen exploitation. He concluded that achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) requires long-term planning, policy consistency, and strong political will.

The session ended with an interactive Q&A session.