Introduction
This broad program looks at:
Pakistan's future, and for that
matter South Asia’s future, will be largely influenced by factors that
affect and mold the region’s food security. Increased globalization of
food access, the nuances and market behaviors of harvest cycles, and market
supply and demand are placing heavy burdens on the indigenous farmer.
The issue is compounded by the increased use of pesticides and chemical
compounds in our agricultural sector that are negatively impacting the
fertility of our soils and the safety of the region’s water resources.
This research program aims to promote sustainable development by collaborating
with existing organisations on current agricultural practices and their
consequences for the environment, and the efficient utilisation of scarce
natural resources, especially water. SDPI has also been active in arranging
workshops and seminars in collaboration with national institutes. The
purpose of these workshops and seminars is to share information generated
by current research, and to initiate dialogue with educational research
institutes and governmental and non-governmental organisations.
The program focuses on issues affecting the indigenous farming community.
This program is actively involved in a campaign on food security and biodiversity.
Agreement on agriculture, Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs),
bio-patenting and increased influence of multinational companies in agricultural
input supply has threatened the region’s food security.
It is motivated by the concern that the WTO agreements will adversely
affect small farming communities. The focus of this effort is collaborative
work with the South Asian Network for Food, Ecology and Culture (SANFEC) and the Sustainable Agriculture Action Group
(SAAG). There
is also an on-going WTO Watch regarding trade and sustainable development
issues from a Pakistani perspective. Organic farming is another important issue on SDPI’s
research agenda.
Ongoing Projects
Governance and Natural Resource Management
Impact of Enhanced Participation (through Decentralization) on Natural Resource Management
The National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR) is a long-term 12-year partnership with Swiss Association of Research Partner Institutes (SARPI), funded by SDC and Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). At present NCCR is being implemented in 48 countries involving 102 institutions. In Pakistan, the program is focused on analyzing the state policies, institutional changes, and livelihood strategies of people living in and around forest areas of NWFP.
The unique aspect of this project is that researchers working on this project are enrolled as PhD/MSc students either at universities in Pakistan or Switzerland. The students compile their thesis based on the research conducted under this project. SDPI researchers would be supervising three batches of PhDs over the next four-eight years. Phase one of this partnership was successfully completed this year and an edited volume Forests, Livelihoods and Relations of Power in NWFP (Pakistan) is now being edited. The University of Zurich would publish the volume.
SDPI is the Regional Scientific Coordinator of NCCR South Asia.
Resource Rights and Sustainable Livelihoods
Trade Liberalization and Rural Livelihoods
Farmer’s Rights to Access and Benefit-sharing from Plant Genetic Resources
This is a South Asia regional initiative carried out through the South Asia Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) network of which SDPI is a member.
This is a six-year program, (comprising of two phases of three years each) funded by the Ford Foundation, NOVIB and ActionAid Asia. Various studies conducted in this program primarily focus on raising the level of debate on issues related to the protection and promotion of farmers’ rights in the WTO era at the level of civil society, public sector, and policy makers and conducting research on vital issues. These studies analyze the possible opportunities for, and threats within the multilateral trading system to farmers of the Hindukush-Himalaya (HKH) region. The first phase of this project has ended. During the first phase, SDPI produced 12 briefing papers, two research reports and an online database of medicinal plants found in Pakistan- the first of its kind in the South.
Impact of Trade Liberalisation on Lives and Livelihood of Mountain Communities in the Northern Areas of Pakistan (Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Qasim Shah and Shafqat Munir)
Trade and Development: WTO Agreements and their Impacts on South Asia
- Trade Linkages with Development and Poverty Reduction:
This three-year study (April 2005-Dec. 2008) is a collaboration with DFID and RNE through CUTS India. It will be looking at the policy relevance of international trade on poverty reduction and articulating policy coherence (in particular between the international trading system and national development strategies).
- Pakistan-Mauritius Free Trade Agreement
- Regoverning markets: Integration of Small Producers and Farmers
Earlier Initiatives
Completed projects under this program include:
-
Pesticide-use
policies in Pakistan
-
Impact
of pesticide use on crop ecologies
-
Integrated
pest management in Pakistan
-
Water
harvesting in mountain areas of Pakistan
-
An
Economic and institutional analysis of pesticide use and pollution
-
A
regional, social and environmental assessment for the Punjab Irrigation
System Management Project
-
A
background paper for Pakistan’s Environmental Strategy
-
Securing Farmers
Rights to Livelihood in HKH Region
- The WTO Regime and Implications for Pakistan
- Mapping the Food Security Situation in Pakistan:
This project, carried out in collaboration with the World Food Program of the United Nations, came to fruition with the official launching of the final report on the World Food Day (Oct.16th, 2004). This was the first study of its kind in Pakistan aimed at mapping the food security situation in rural Pakistan at the district level. (read more)
Please see SDPI’s List
of publications or contact Dr Abid Suleri (suleri@sdpi.org) for more details regarding SDPI’s program on Sustainable Agriculture.
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