Window to Gilgit-Baltistan

Mountain farming in Northern Areas  (published in DAWN Economic and Business Review September 30-October 6, 2002) By Syed Shams ud Din The nature has been bounteous to the North and its munificence is everywhere in this region: be it the gigantic water towers, sky-scrapping peaks, abundant mineral wealth, or azure lakes. To top it all is the potential of its soil that according to the latest researches offers immense prospects of ‘mountain agriculture’ that could bring about an amazing socio-economic transformation. However, pessimistic views are available saying that the Northern Areas offer little for agricultural economy because of aridity as well as the scarcity of land. True, that per capita land holding in the area is quite negligible as compared to elsewhere in the plains but these scarce landholdings also offer prospects reckoned to be far more than those in the latter. This gets buttressed in the successful experimentation of potato in these areas which ha...

Social & Economic transformation of NAs-II (The Muslim - January 4, 1998) By Syed Shams ud Din As carried out by the newspaper, Dr. Shaheena Hafeez Malik – perhaps the   first Pakistani women of the world repute having acquired immense expertise in ‘mountain farming’ techniques is currently serving with the “International Cnetre for Integrated Mountain Farming Development” (ICIMFD) based in Nepal. She certainly has to her credit a varied experience of closely monitoring mountain farming particularly in Gilgit-Baltistan where she has been working with the Agha Khan Rural Supports Programme (AKRSP) prior to her present assignment in ICIMFD. She has thus had an opportunity of carrying out ample research in this region in the context of how to give a boost to mountain farming aimed at positive socio-economic transformation. What is nevertheless of more significance is the raison d’etre of the organization she is presently attached to that solely aims at bringing abo...