The Challenge of Spatial Information Accessibility for Agricultural Policies: Case of Pakistan

Agriculture is directly linked to the socio-economic development of every region. Agriculture impacts us all, whether we are seeking food security, better health or striving to conserve natural resources. Goal 2 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underlines the significance of agriculture as a means to achieve food security. United Nations in its recently published report titled “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2020”(UN, 2020) has declared agriculture as one of the global priorities for achieving high-quality health care and formal employment opportunities. Agriculture is a spatial subject. Policy makers demand unrestricted access to spatial data of various kinds in order to address agricultural issues and for evidence-based policy-making. Therefore, what types of spatial datasets are required for agricultural policy-making is a relevant question which is the objective of this paper. This paper also explores agriculture in Pakistan, main challenges faced by the agriculture sector of the country, and how many as well as what kind of spatial datasets are required to address these policy challenges.