ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) on Saturday said sixty percent working women in Saarc region are linked to agriculture that can be lifted out of poverty if this sector is promoted. Women are intentionally kept poor and unprotected in many countries which is discrimination, it said.
All the countries stress importance of female education but their share in economy is very small which is blocking their development, said PBIF President and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain.
In a statement issued here today, he said that majority of the women working in agriculture are not paid while they are kept away from critical decision. He said that government should focus on agriculture to support farmers and improve their standard of living. The issues facing this sector should be resolved and provision of loans should be facilitated.
Improvement in the lives of farming communities will boost share of agriculture in the GDP while expanding reach of microfinance banks will help them.
Mian Zahid Hussain called for special emphasis on agricultural insurance to mitigate risks farmers face every year.
