In a significant stride toward reshaping Pakistan’s food systems, a high-level national consultative session titled “Priorities and Pathways: Developing a National Food Security and Nutrition Research Agenda for Pakistan” concluded today at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). The two-day event brought together key voices from academia, government, and development sectors to chart a future focused on equity, resilience, and evidence-based policy.
Co-convened by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the National Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFSAT), and the Pak-Korea Nutrition Centre (PKNC), the session marked a turning point in collaborative dialogue and research planning for national food security.
Welcoming participants, Professor Dr Imran Pasha, Director General of NIFSAT, stressed the importance of academic research in tackling the pressing challenges facing Pakistan’s food systems. “We need targeted, interdisciplinary efforts to create food systems that serve every citizen,” he said.
Ms Farrah Naz, Country Director of GAIN, highlighted the broader vision behind the effort. “This dialogue is not about isolated initiatives. It’s about shaping a collective response to dietary inequity, malnutrition, and food safety. The time to move from pilots to policy is now.”
Echoing the urgency, Faiz Rasool, Head of Policy & Advocacy at GAIN, stated, “We’re not starting from scratch—we’re starting from strength. But we must now align our strengths into a coherent, actionable research agenda. This is not just a technical document, it’s a social contract with every citizen of Pakistan who deserves safe, nutritious, and affordable food.”
Participants broke into thematic groups to identify research and policy priorities across six critical domains: non-communicable diseases, diets and food environments, food safety, post-harvest losses, climate resilience, and governance. Proposed actions ranged from implementing taxes on unhealthy food products and deploying AI-based nutrition surveillance tools to strengthening food safety legislation and promoting climate-smart agriculture.
Reflecting on the historical context of global food systems, Prof Dr Zulfiqar Ali, Vice Chancellor of UAF and a renowned wheat breeder, remarked, “We overcame famine, but at the cost of food quality. The hidden costs of our food systems now exceed $13 trillion globally. Food systems transformation is no longer optional—it’s urgent. And this agenda belongs not just to agriculture, but to all of government and society.”
Dr Allah Rakha, Policy Lead at PKNC, endorsed the shared vision and stressed the importance of system coherence and cross-sector partnerships to operationalize the research agenda.
The session concluded with stakeholders affirming their commitment to translating this agenda into community-level and national-level impact. Discussions focused on creating mechanisms for institutional coordination, implementation, and monitoring.
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This consultative process signals a vital intervention in Pakistan’s journey toward food systems transformation. As the country navigates growing nutritional and environmental challenges, the newly outlined research agenda could serve as a cornerstone for policy decisions that prioritize health, sustainability, and social equity.