Agriculture Policy for FATA.

This agriculture policy for FATA applies to all types of agriculture lands, forest lands, range lands and wet lands that produce economic goods and environmental services for the livelihood of people in FATA in sectors of agriculture, livestock, forests, wildlife and fisheries.
The vision of this policy is to enhance local food security, nutrition and livelihood opportunities of the local population of FATA through improved productivity and utilization of agriculture, livestock, forestry, wildlife and fisheries products in conformity with the stability of natural environment and sustainable development. Its objectives are: to ensure local food security and improved nutrition levels; to enhance income generating opportunities from agriculture, livestock and NRM; to promote viable approaches for climate smart and ecosystem-based adaptations of agriculture, livestock and NRM towards sustainable land and water management; to create synergies of development and regulatory interventions amongst various sectors for integrated and people centered outcomes from agriculture, livestock and NRM. In order to make women's role more efficient and effective, there is need to promote their specific but culturally suitable interventions such as backyard poultry farming, domestic livestock management, and kitchen gardening, private forest nurseries to enhance women’s income without much increasing their workload. Moreover, there is also need to enhance women farmers’ knowledge and skills through women extension workers.
The guiding principles of this policy will be by their virtue in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015 – 2030 (the follow up of the UN-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2000 - 2015 with regard to the sectors of development and environment and in particular to the following two goals: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture; Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
FATA is a disaster-prone zone, where both man-made and natural calamities work in a combined way. The ongoing conflict has negative repercussions on the livelihoods, food security and nutrition especially of the poor segment of the society. This is further compounded by natural hazards like drought and flood. Climate change demands that future programmes should keep in mind drought-resistant crop species and technologies; closely linked with climate change and environment protection; and close coordination with academia for research and strong interlinkages in DRM and climate change. FATA like the other parts of the country needs to adapt to the new, more variable weather patterns that are emerging. This will lead to a more climate-smart agriculture requiring a series of actions ranging from adjustments in infrastructure; improved water harvesting; better flood management; reduced waste and pollution; and adaptive cropping and farming systems, including new varieties that can adapt to different weather conditions. In addition, options for crop insurance should also be explored to reduce farmers’ vulnerabilities and risks to disasters.