Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday sounded the alarm over Pakistan’s rapidly shrinking agricultural land, warning that the country’s food security is at serious risk due to the unchecked conversion of farmland into housing societies.
Chairing a high-level committee meeting in Islamabad, Iqbal described the growing horizontal spread of cities as a critical challenge. “If this trend is not reversed, future generations could face severe food shortages,” he cautioned.
The meeting brought together senior officials from federal and provincial governments, Capital Development Authority (CDA) representatives, and infrastructure experts. The primary focus was building consensus around regulating the conversion of farmland and halting the spread of unplanned urban development.
Member Infrastructure Waqas Anwar presented an in-depth report outlining key committee findings. These included gaps in legal frameworks, discrepancies across provinces, and a lack of reliable data on land conversion trends.
Iqbal emphasized the urgent need to shift towards vertical urban development in cities like Islamabad, in order to preserve green zones and minimize the environmental toll of urbanization. He directed provincial authorities to collect comprehensive data on the loss of agricultural land to real estate development over the past 20 years.
“The unplanned expansion of cities is creating infrastructure bottlenecks and eroding public services,” he said. Highlighting the exploitation of farmland for private housing projects, he added: “It’s akin to selling off the nation’s food future.”
The minister also called for national legislation to combat mass tree-cutting and promote sustainable urbanization. The committee recommended public awareness campaigns and the creation of affordable housing models as part of the solution.
In his closing remarks, Iqbal announced that the federal government, in collaboration with provincial administrations, will soon roll out a comprehensive policy to protect farmland and support balanced urban development.
