PESHAWAR: The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi declared that the province will be self-reliant regarding food production till the year 2030. For that purpose, he has instructed all concerned departments to start working in this regard and has assured to provide an increased budget for the food department in the upcoming budget.
Afridi declared this while addressing an event arranged in honor of World Food Safety Day in the premises of the Chief Minister’s House. He said the province currently falls short on wheat and other staple requirements, making structural reform in agricultural production and storage not optional, but urgent.
“The upcoming budget will carry higher allocations for the food department,” Afridi told participants, adding that the government plans to construct modern, technology-equipped wheat storage facilities across the province to curb post-harvest losses that drain provincial food reserves year after year.
He credited the KP Food Safety and Halal Food Authority with meaningfully improving public access to safe and healthy food since its establishment, and called on citizens to adopt responsible consumption habits, describing food safety awareness as a critical requirement of the present moment.
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Federal Neglect Compounds KP’s Food Challenge
Turning sharply critical of Islamabad and Lahore, Afridi accused Punjab of cutting off wheat supplies to KP despite repeated provincial requests. “Despite numerous letters, no positive response came,” he said, warning that governments formed without genuine electoral backing focus on political survival rather than public welfare.
On federal development financing, Afridi said the Centre committed to funding 80 percent of the Chashma Right Bank Canal (CRBC) project, then revised that commitment down to 65 percent and ultimately allocated nothing in the federal budget. The KP government set aside Rs3 billion for CRBC from its own coffers, a project Afridi described as foundational to bringing large tracts of irrigable land under cultivation and securing the province’s long-term food supply.
He disclosed that the province also arranged Rs4 billion in bridge financing for the Northern Bypass Project after federal funds failed to materialise. Peshawar Bus Terminal is finished but non-functional since NOC from the National Highway Authority is still awaited by the organization. A dam in Swat awaits its inauguration but clearance for the arrival of foreign engineers linked with the dam is still being denied by the central government.
Gas revenues, Constitutional rights
CM highlighted the historical complaint regarding gas for KP, saying that KP alone generates 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas but uses just 150 mmcfd. In spite of having excess gas, the federal government does not provide gas to KP residents, which is constitutionally unjustifiable, according to Afridi.
“Under the Constitution, provinces producing natural gas hold the first right to its utilisation,” Afridi said, warning that discriminatory federal policies deepen public grievances in a province that has already sacrificed enormously.
Special Assistant to the CM for Food Dr Muhammad Israr, the Secretary Food, and the Director General of the KP Food Safety and Halal Food Authority also addressed the ceremony.
