LAHORE: The fourth Federal Congress of the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC) began here on Saturday, bringing together small farmers, peasants, tenants, workers and activists from across the country to discuss Pakistan’s worsening political, economic and agrarian crises. The two-day congress marked PKRC’s emergence as a national-level alliance of small farmers and peasants, with delegations participating from all provinces. The opening day focused on the impact of debt-driven economic policies, structural inequalities and political instability on agriculture and rural livelihoods. In the inaugural session, speakers reviewed PKRC’s more than two decades of struggle for land rights, agrarian reforms and food sovereignty, noting that policy neglect and elite capture continue to marginalise small cultivators. Addressing the political economy session, Farooq Tariq and Dr Ammar Ali Jan examined global capitalism, IMF-imposed austerity, neo-liberal restructuring and imperialist conflicts, arguing that debt-led policies have intensified exploitation of peasants and workers while weakening food security. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026