By Qudsia Bano ISLAMABAD, Jan. 31 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan's economy heavily relies on small and medium agricultural enterprises to generate employment and subsist livelihoods of teeming millions. Agriculture provides succor to 68% people of Pakistan, and contributes 21% to the country's total GDP with livestock and horticulture accounting for 70% of national value-added agriculture. The government can achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on poverty, hunger, gender, decent employment and climate change through enhancing the competitiveness of agro-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The development of agro-based SMEs can have a compounding effect on employment and growth. The development of rural areas requires focus on the public-private sector’s support to enable SMEs and agribusinesses to become more competitive by improving the value chain and providing a favourable institutional and regulatory environment. In Pakistan, there are around 3.3 million small and medium businesses. Manufacturing companies, service providers and start-ups all fall into this category. Small and medium enterprises constitute 78% of Pakistan's non-agricultural labour force, account for around 25% of industrial exports, and more than 30% of the country's GDP. They have an important role in the economy, yet they receive very little attention in comparison. To support small and medium enterprises, the government has initiated certain projects, including the Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress (GRASP), a European Union-funded programme launched in Sindh and Balochistan provinces to boost the entrepreneurial potential of horticultural and livestock SMEs. GRASP is run by the International Trade Centre (ITC), which works to enhance SMEs around the world through gender mainstreaming, policy shifts, access to finance, networking, capacity building, and product improvement programmes. GRASP granted a matching grant of roughly Rs18 million to 12 SMEs from Karachi, Thatta, and Khairpur as part of its emergency response strategy. The award amount varies between Rs400,000 and Rs300,000, depending on the SMEs' business objectives and GRASP's evaluation. Based on the SMEs' surveys, the strategy included training, seed delivery and cash grants distribution. The government has also created a complete set of guidelines for the Kamyab Pakistan Programme, under which low-interest loans are being made available for the SME sector. Commercial banks, development finance institutions and Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company would issue wholesale loans to micro-finance providers to be disbursed further as part of the Kamyab Pakistan Programme. Pakistan is also partnering with China under the CPEC to learn from the latter’s agricultural experience to improve crop yields, modernise irrigation system and add value. Due to traditional and conventional farming methods, Pakistan has a poor per acre yield. A majority of farmers are small and poor having no or insufficient financial resources to purchase agricultural machinery. The government should ensure that small-scale agricultural machinery suppliers open their plants in remote areas to offer their wares at subsidised rates to farmers, thereby spreading the benefits enjoyed in economic zones or industrial states to rural parts of the country. Agri-leasing business can also flourish in arable areas along the CPEC route. Agro-industries in Pakistan are confronting a number of obstacles that are limiting their growth potential. To overcome these obstacles, both the public and private sectors must pay close attention. The government should make it easier for agro-based SMEs to invest and expand their capacity to respond to agriculture and trade possibilities. The performance of SMEs will have a positive impact on the country's overall growth. Eventually, this will allow SMEs to play a significant role in the economy, assisting the government in reducing poverty and eliminating the country's unemployment rate. The best way to deal with the issues that the agriculture sector faces is to deliver innovative solutions to growers and assist them in achieving sustainable farming.