Incentives vs Rewards: Who’s Really Benefiting from Agri Support? | Ep 4 | Junaid Iqbal

Pakistan gives billions in subsidies and tax breaks to agriculture — but what’s the return? From cheap gas for fertilizer to subsidized electricity, 0% sales tax on inputs, and support prices for wheat and sugar — the agriculture sector enjoys massive state support. Yet, small farmers remain poor, food inflation is soaring, and we’re still importing wheat and cooking oil. In this episode of Pakistan & Counting, Junaid Iqbal exposes how decades of incentives have failed to boost productivity or food security — and why it's time to rethink who really benefits from this broken system. In this episode Junaid covers: 1- The $3–5 billion incentive structure propping up Pakistan’s agri sector 2- Why elite landowners benefit more than poor farmers 3- The massive tax gap: agri contributes 0.1% of taxes but employs 37% of the workforce 4- Why food inflation is worse in Pakistan than India and Bangladesh 5- What reforms are urgently needed — and what’s blocking them Thank you to Syngenta Pakistan for supporting Pakistan & Counting. 🔔 Subscribe and turn on notifications to follow Pakistan’s economic transformation. Follow Pakistan & Counting on: 🔹 X: https://x.com/PakAndCounting 🔹 FB: https://www.facebook.com/PakistanAndCounting 🔹 IG: https://www.instagram.com/pakistanandcounting/ 🔹 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pakistanandcounting?_t=8rbVjlJIYOw&_r=1 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pakistan-and-counting/ #JunaidIqbal #PakistanAndCounting #AgriSubsidies #FoodInflation #TaxJustice #FarmReform #PakistanAgriculture