ADB says Pakistan faces $2 billion annual post-harvest losses amid agribusiness investment and infrastructure gaps

Profit by Pakistan Today reported that the country's agribusiness sector loses roughly $2 billion every year after harvests. According to a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, weather extremes, too little investment, weak infrastructure and wasteful use of water and soil are behind the losses. Agriculture supplies about one-fifth of GDP and employs more than a third of the workforce, yet the bank says limited institutional capacity holds the sector back.

Private money provides under 5% of the sector's capital, the report noted, while SMEs face demanding collateral rules, thin credit histories and few financial products that suit them. Climate finance is mostly directed at mitigation, with little left for farm adaptation, and the lack of agriculture-focused green bonds and blended-finance tools further limits climate-related investment.

Shortfalls in cold storage and roads, plus weak logistics, certification and testing, add to post-harvest losses and export rejections. Women, who make up over 65% of the farm labour force, remain largely shut out of agribusiness ownership, financing and innovation. To address these issues the ADB proposed a five-pillar roadmap centred on a national Agribusiness Investment Fund, green bonds, credit guarantees and warehouse-receipt financing, and said policy announcements alone would not be enough.