‘Seed-to-table' model cultivates food security, local empowerment
Launched in mid-2023, seed-to-table focuses on strengthening the agricultural value chain by partnering directly with farmers, deploying high-quality inputs, and building resilience through traceability and guaranteed pricing.
The model's pilot focused on tomato production across 500 acres in Sindh — a crop where official reports had projected a maximum of 8,000 tonnes of tomatoes per acre due to climate stress and inconsistent practices.
But NFL's intervention reversed that trend. 'Despite what the data was showing about declining yields, we saw a significant improvement in output — around 35,000 tonnes of tomatoes harvested from the pilot plots,' said Sarwat.
'This wasn't accidental. We hyper-focused on every variable — from seed selection to soil health to timely harvests.'
Key to this success was the use of premium seed varieties provided through NFL's partnership with agri-tech firm Syngenta, along with remote field monitoring via Farmdar. Farmers were incentivised with a guaranteed purchase price, giving them confidence to invest in better inputs and practices.
'When you take away uncertainty and replace it with trust and fair compensation, farmers thrive — and so does the food system,' Sarwat explained.
The result was not only higher yields, but also improved quality and a $2 million reduction in imported tomato paste needs. NFL now plans to replicate the model for red chilies and other ingredients, potentially substituting $10 million annually in raw material imports.
'Seed-to-table is about building a self-sufficient ecosystem. It's not just good for business — it's good for the country,' Sarwat concluded.
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