Developing an Inclusive and Competitive Value Chain of Pulses in Pakistan

Developing an Inclusive and Competitive Value Chain of Pulses in Pakistan

Duration of Project: January 2026- March 2026

Donors/Partners: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)

Project Focal Person from SDPI: Mr. Qasim Shah

Locale: Pakistan

Project Team: Qasim Shah, Khansa Naeem, Dua Mobeen

Unit: Systems Research Group (SRG)

Program/Project Rationale and Background

One of the most important agrifood systems in Pakistan are pulses, mainly chickpeas, lentils and mung beans which are well suited to smallholder farming by both men and women. Domestic production in Pakistan has declined over recent decades and now falls well short of demand.

Declining production in the face of rising prices and demand is attributed to low profitability of pulses relative to other crops, lack of innovation, poor quality product delivered to domestic consumers and lack of policy support. Improving the performance of the pulses industry therefore represents an important poverty reduction, nutrition security and economic growth opportunity, requiring approaches that adopt a farmer-to-consumer perspective.

Expected Outcomes

Identifying and analysing barriers, opportunities and options for developing inclusive competitive pulses value chains.
Strengthening the capacities of pulses industry stakeholders and actors.
Informing policy that facilitates the development of inclusive competitive pulses value chains.
Demonstrating successful value chain development methods and practices for scaling out of pulses value chains.

Project Activities:

Policy Communique,
2 Op-eds
Briefing Session with Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Parliamentarians and Media
Seminar on “Developing Inclusive and Competitive Value Chain of Pulses in Pakistan”
3 Podcasts

Contact email: khansa@sdpi.org