FAO provides specialised technical assistance for planning and strengthening pro-poor agricultural programmes to the Government of Pakistan. These include high-priority agricultural development projects that are centred on poor and resource-constrained farmers and address rural development issues, such as poverty, gender, environment and natural resource management, population, nutrition, and health matters. In many cases, the technical assistance projects are concerned with capacity building and are designed to scale up and roll out the best practices identified through FAO’s path finding programmes.
In view of FAO’s leading technical expertise in all aspects of agriculture, global reach, and dedication to knowledge management, the Government has sought its assistance in developing coherent macro-level policies and integrated strategies to advance agriculture sector growth and performance.

FAO in 2001-2011

To improve the growth and performance of Pakistan’s agriculture sector, FAO supports the Government in evolving a Roadmap that provides guidance and directions in the form of specific agricultural policies and strategies, and that is integrated with the Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) and Ten–year Perspective Development Plan 2001 -2011.

FAO in 2007-2010

FAO supports the Government of Pakistan in developing the National Medium-Term Policy Framework (NMTPF) for Pakistan’s agriculture sector. NMTPF is a strategic planning & programming tool to facilitate external technical assistance resource mobilization. It comprises of Strategic Priority Areas (SPAs) identified in eight Major Agricultural Thrust Areas (MATAs), guided by Pakistan’s national development policies and objectives and the specific agricultural development goals and strategies.
MATAS:(i) Crops & Horticulture (CH), (ii) Livestock & Fisheries (LF); (iii) Forestry (FO), (iv) Water (WA); (v) Food Security (FS); (vi) Agri-Business (AB); (vii) Trade (TR); and (viii) Emergencies & Disaster Management (ED).
The SPAs are systematized, categorized and packaged in the NMTPF based on an integrated and coherent conceptual framework for an Agricultural Development Strategy (ADS – Figure 1.1) to assist Pakistan’s poverty reduction, increased economic growth and quality human development, in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

FAO in 2008

FAO assists the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) in updating Pakistan’s Livestock Sector Policy Framework in line with the changes brought about by World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. FAO is also comprehensively reviewing the overall fisheries sector providing support for participatory development of the sector’s policy and build the capacity of MINFAL and its provincial counterparts in preparing participatory fisheries sector analyses, and developing policies and strategies that will increase food security, improve health status, and generate livelihood for the country’s near-shore population.