arkets offering organic farming produce have become a regular weekend attraction in Islamabad, drawing families, health-conscious consumers and young professionals looking for fresh produce and a pleasant outdoor experience. Marketed as spaces that connect farmers directly with consumers, while promoting organic and sustainable food systems, these markets beg the question: are they helping farmers, or have they evolved into lifestyle/ leisure destinations for urban folk?

A close look at two markets operating in the capital suggests mixed answers. One is organised by the Capital Development Authority and the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation in collaboration with The Farmer’s Stand launched this January. The other is a private initiative under the name of the Islamabad Farmers Market established in 2013.

The CDA and MCI-organised Organic Community Markets, held at public parks such as F-7, presents itself as an inclusive community initiative aimed at promoting healthy living. The initiative has succeeded in attracting large crowds. Families stroll through the space, children participate in painting and recreational activities and visitors enjoy food from a variety of stalls. The experience feels closer to a weekend festival than a traditional farmers’ market. Alongside stalls selling fruits and vegetables there are coffee shops, Chinese and Korean food outlets, artisanal food vendors and entertainment corners designed primarily to match the tastes and preferences of Islamabad’s urban population.

Stall holders at the market acknowledge that the platform provides visibility. However, the structure limits its effectiveness as a farmer-support mechanism. Many stalls are operated not by small farmers but by landlords who employ workers from rural areas.

Talking to TNS, one worker said the wages paid for market-related work were often better than what they earned in village fields. This suggests some positive spillover in terms of employment. However, this model benefits farm owners and wage workers more than small, independent farmers who struggle to access such urban platforms. “I believe that having more and more such facilities can benefit small farmers if a mechanism is developed to approach such growers in villages, build their capacities and provide them financial resources to start their initiatives,” says Muhammad Imran, a farm owner from an Islamabad suburb, offering olive products and honey at his stall.

In conversation with TNS, Ali Usman Alvi, the TFS CEO says that these are community markets, not farmers’ markets or organic-only markets. The vision is to provide a platform for local residents to buy and sell locally produced, handmade and homemade items made in small batches. “The initiative is not positioned as a farmers’ market. It is designed to be flexible and inclusive. Local farmers, growers and producers are welcome to participate and are offered discounted stall rates,” he says.

Questions about authenticity of the ‘organic’ claim also remain unresolved. Several vendors say that while they aim to grow food using minimum chemicals, they could not guarantee that their produce was completely organic. There is no formal verification mechanism and no visible certification process to build consumer confidence. As a result, the “organic” label functions more as a marketing device than a regulated standard.

“These facilities are not certified organic markets. However, there is a clear emphasis on wellness-oriented, healthy and responsibly produced items. A move toward a certified organic market would require a separate regulatory framework, which is not part of the current model,” says Ali Usman Alvi.

Drop letter

The Islamabad Farmers Market appears more deliberate in its attempt to create an organic farming space. But the idea of benefitting the farmer is still limited considering its small scale and limited outreach. The market positions itself as a platform for local producers who follow sustainable farming practices. “The intension is to create authentic community market, directly connecting buyers and sellers,” explains Qasim Tareen, co-founder and CEO of the Islamabad Farmers Market. “To match the future structure of markets, we have launched our e-com platform that digitally connects the approved farmers to buyers.”

Many stalls are operated not by small farmers but by landlords who employ workers from rural areas. 

The Farmer’s Market organisers have a system in place for checking the soil and produce of participating farms to assess whether the products meet organic standards. While this process is not nationally certified, it reflects an effort to establish internal controls and build trust with consumers. “We use the Sustainability Assessment for Food and Agriculture system designed by UN Food and Agriculture Organisation,” says Qasim Tareen who has received training in that assessment process from Organic Denmark.

“We have an application form available online. Unfortunately, we have to reject almost 95 per cent of the applicants as they don’t pass our application process that is designed to ensure organic standards. We also conduct field visits and have a sampling process. In addition to that, we conduct weekly monitoring of the stalls. The most effective check is our customers’ feedback,” says Qasim.

This market too follows an ownership-driven model. A majority of products come from farm owners located in and around Islamabad rather than small subsistence farmers from remote villages. These farm owners either employ workers from smaller cities or hire specialised groups equipped with machinery and technical expertise to handle sowing, maintenance and harvesting.

A stall holder of Islamabad Farmers Market, Tahir Inayat, who is a wheat and spice grower from Kasur, says that he employs workers and hires specialised groups for farming. “This system has become increasingly expensive due to high demand. Groups with machinery and skills have to be booked well in advance, particularly during sowing and harvesting seasons, which adds to production costs for farm owners. It also creates employment opportunities for skilled rural labour,” he says, adding that in most of the rural Punjab, leaving aside some areas of south Punjab, there is no concept of bonded labour. “Skilled workers, mostly small farmers, earn a good living,” he says.

Farm owners participating in these markets describe the process of bringing produce to market as complex and demanding. “Every product requires careful planning, adherence to farming processes, labour coordination and transport logistics before it reaches consumers,” says Samina Nazir, executive director of Potohar Organisation for Development Advocacy who handles a stall of organic products produced by women farmers at the Organic Community Market.

A farm owner says that most farmers in villages are not interested in engaging with farmers’ markets at all.

“Their priority is to sell their produce in bulk and as quickly as possible, largely because they operate under constant financial pressure. Many are trapped in debt cycles and use whatever income they receive immediately to repay loans, leaving little room for experimentation with urban markets, organic preference or direct consumer engagement,” says Muhammad Imran, a stall holder at the Organic Community Market.

Suhail Waraich, farmer and activist from Sargodha, says that such markets are organised for usually one day a week. “It is not practical for a small farmer to transport the produce to and from the market same day, as storing the remaining produce can be expensive. They are neither trained nor have resources or interest in preserving, packaging and branding their produce and taking it to the urban market. A comprehensive mechanism that includes awareness raising, capacity building, developing connection and resource provision would be required to connect the village farmer to the urban markets,” says Suhail. This is a deep structural issue in Pakistan’s agricultural economy that farmers’ markets alone cannot resolve.

Both market models, however, have succeeded in catering to Islamabad’s consumers. For city residents, these spaces offer more than food. They provide a sense of community, a healthier alternative to conventional grocery shopping and a socially appealing environment where consumption aligns with lifestyle aspirations. In this sense, the markets have been successful. However, this success does not automatically translate into a meaningful transformation for farmers.

The absence of a nationally-recognised organic certification framework further complicates the situation. Without clear standards, farmers cannot confidently charge premium prices and consumers cannot be certain about what they are buying. This gap undermines long-term trust and restricts the potential of organic markets to grow beyond niche urban circles.

“We have been working on establishing a local organic certification body. In this regard, CABI, an INGO, is creating a policy framework. We are now working with the Ministry for National Food Security and Research to formulate a piece of legislation to be introduced in the parliament. After the legislation is passed, a local organic certification body will be established,” says Qasim Tareen, co-founder and CEO of The Farmers Market.

Islamabad’s farmers’ markets represent a partial solution rather than a comprehensive answer to farmers’ challenges. The Farmers Market model offers relatively greater benefits by enabling direct sales, fostering accountability and creating sustained engagement between producers and consumers. The CDA-organised market, while vibrant and inclusive, appears more focused on urban recreation than on strengthening agricultural livelihoods.

To truly serve farmers, the markets must go beyond aesthetics and weekend leisure. This will require stronger regulatory frameworks for deliberate inclusion of small farmers, logistical support to reduce production and transport costs and policies that address the debt-driven vulnerabilities of rural agriculture. Until then, Islamabad’s farmer and organic markets will continue to flourish as social spaces for consumers, while offering farmers only limited and uneven gains.

The writer is a reporter for The News International