Key Takeaways
- The Pakistan Agricultural Coalition (PAC) has proposed a new wheat support model involving warehouse receipt financing.
- The model would allow farmers to retain wheat while borrowing against it for up to six months after harvest.
- The PAC CEO, Kazim Saeed, highlighted the potential to address issues seen under Punjab’s wheat aggregator model.
The Pakistan Agricultural Coalition (PAC) has proposed a new wheat support model that would involve warehouse receipt financing directly to farmers, allowing them to retain their wheat while borrowing against it for up to six months after harvest.
Speaking at a media briefing ahead of the Agri Connections Conference and Expo, PAC CEO Kazim Saeed said the proposal would build on the private aggregator model but shift part of the financing support directly to farmers.
Saeed noted that the approach could address problems seen under Punjab’s wheat aggregator model last year, where the indicative price initially appeared attractive but weather-related losses changed farmers’ market expectations.
He also pointed to cases where farmers were told they could not retain wheat without permits, which could have been avoided.
The PAC CEO stated that the government-administered wheat sector is now moving toward deregulation and needs greater private sector participation.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will discuss the transition to a deregulated wheat sector at the Agri Connections Conference and Expo, which will be held at Lahore Expo Center from October 1 to 2 under the theme “Food Security and Agri Investment in the Era of Climate Change.”
The conference will also focus on food affordability, climate risks, food safety, and agricultural investment, including livestock investment, shrimp cultivation, olive oil, chilled meat exports, and emerging agricultural businesses.
According to the conference program, the first day will include sessions on food security and changing trade dynamics with the World Bank, the impact of input markets on food security, deregulating agricultural supply chains with the IFC, and helping farmers deal with climate change.
The climate session will cover crop insurance and carbon finance, while a separate session will focus on food safety for exports in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization.
The second day of the conference will focus on investment in livestock, access to finance for farmers, shrimp exports, and investment opportunities in agriculture. The program includes an SECP and PAC investor roundtable featuring the SECP chairman, Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman, PMEX chairman, and Pakistan Business Council CEO.
The government could give farmers the financing facility and retain the first right to purchase the wheat after six months, regardless of the market price.
Kazim Saeed, PAC CEO
