Research Of Implications Of Agricultural Land Use Policy For Food Security In Pakistan

Pakistan is an agrarian country and has diverse resources of agricultural land.The issue of food insecurity in Pakistan has gained importance in view of its growing population,climate change challenges and poor agricultural policies.The current study was conducted in Punjab province which has more than half of total population and total cultivated land with an aim to explore the association among agricultural farm area,agriculture farm infrastructure,agricultural farming community,agricultural output and issues of food security with ultimate goal of improvement in the standard of living of farmers and the rural poor.For this purpose,a field survey was conducted in Punjab and data from 300 households was collected under clustered sampling design on a detailed questionnaire.Structural equation modeling(SEM)was employed to incorporate the significant and special situations for improved understanding.The results show that secure land administration and tenancy improves the farm production.Appropriate farm size,modern production technology and safeguards against natural disasters and crop failure are essential for increasing farmers' income.The poor nutritional level of rural community is associated with their agricultural profitability and results in compromised standard of living.Food security in Pakistan is directly affected by agricultural output and indirectly from appropriate farm area which directly linked standard of living.Government should improve land governance and implement such policies which increase farmers' profitability for their better nutrition and standard of living.This thesis highlights an important aspect of food security in the context of agricultural land use and links food security with the standard of living in rural areas.This area of research has least been explored in the literature and especially in the context of developing country like Pakistan.