AWARAN: In the rugged, drought-hit lands of Awaran, Balochistan, where farming was considered a losing battle, a young woman has turned barren soil into gold — and caught the world’s attention.
Aqsa Mirwani, a Gold Medalist in Agriculture and a native of Awaran, has been honored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations as one of the Top 100 Women Farmer Heroes in the World. She is the first Pakistani woman farmer ever to receive this global distinction.
Aqsa’s story is one of courage and comeback. Born in a district known for poverty, water scarcity, and tribal constraints, she chose to return after completing her higher education instead of taking a city job. She started cultivating on her family’s barren land using climate-smart methods — drip irrigation, organic compost, tunnel farming and drought-resistant seeds. Within two years, her barren plot became a model farm producing vegetables and fodder throughout the year. But she didn’t stop there. Realizing that women in Awaran were invisible in the fields despite doing most of the labor, she organized them into farmer groups. She trained them in kitchen gardening, seed preservation, and market selling — helping over 50 women become financially independent for the first time.”
They told me women can’t farm commercially here. I wanted to prove them wrong,” Aqsa said. Her work was spotted by FAO during its field assessment for food security in Balochistan, leading to her selection for the prestigious award. Today, Aqsa is being called the “Daughter of Awaran” — a symbol that education plus determination can transform even the most neglected district of Pakistan.
The FAO award will be formally presented at a ceremony in Rome later this year.
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