Although the report itself draws attention to a broader South Asian context, let us focus here on the case of Pakistan.
The present food security situation in our country is increasingly serious. Hunger is now a major problem for nearly half our population. Drawing upon findings of recent surveys, it was illustrated how food insecurity hits poor households the hardest, causing them to sacrifice basic needs such as health and education.
Despite this serious situation, it is surprising that Pakistan has no food security policy. It was thus rightly suggested that food security should be accepted as a fundamental right in the constitution, as education was accepted as a basic right of every citizen under the 18th Amendment.
India has been deliberating legislation for food security to be implemented using its extensive rationing system. Pakistan, however, began favouring cash grants during the 1980s, at the behest of World Bank advice. Unfortunately, current cash grants schemes such as the current Benazir Income Support Programme are too bogged down with beneficiary selection criteria problems and accompanying political nepotism, to effectively provide adequate food security to all those threatened by malnutrition.
While our leaders like to boast about the prominence of our agrarian sector, the fact remains that agricultural growth remains lackluster since many years. Due to lack of adequate investment in irrigational infrastructure, a significant proportion of our freshwater is being wasted before it can reach fields.
The continuing mismanagement of our available food stocks, and the inability of the government to curb rising food prices, is further making the fundamental need of obtaining food an increasingly difficult proposition for the poor.
Conversely, climate changes are also impinging on the food security situation in our country. Pakistan was described as being the most drought and flood prone area in South Asia, according to one food security expert. The extent of damage to crops, cultivable land and livestock which has been wreaked by consecutive flooding over the past two years provides ample illustration concerning the reality of this threat.
Food security can’t be secured without adopting a multi-pronged approach. Band-aid solutions of providing free meals for a limited duration, to calamity hit displaced people, or inefficient subsidy schemes such as ‘sasti roti,’ will not do much to address the hunger problem in the longer term. Doing so requires squarely dealing with structural reasons for prevailing inequality, and correcting institutional biases preventing the poor from access to resources needed to boost food productivity. There is also need for rethinking myopic policies which place undue emphasis on maximising cash cropping and agricultural exports, which may serve the limited interests of large landowners, traders, industrialists, and bureaucrats; but they seem to be diminishing the food security of many poor, urban and rural households.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2011.
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Food security issues cannot be resolved through demand-side solutions - neither India's subsidized rationing system nor Pakistan's cash grant scheme can provide long-term solutions. Demand side solutions only breed corruption, as is self-evident with the diversion of resources away from those in need. Given the large affected population, these solutions such as these cannot be effectively audited to ensure that resources reach those who are the intended beneficiaries.
The ONLY effective solution for food security issues is to fix the supply side bottlenecks. This requires sustained investment in conservation and technology. Policies should reward efforts that promote productive use of natural resources. Subsidizing fertilizers, water and electricity supplies only leads to their unnecessary waste. Instead we should be rewarding drip irrigation systems and investing in watershed management, cold storage, etc. Finally, effective pricing and removing restrictions on who farmers can sell to are essential to have the market thrive.
Unfortunately, electoral politics in India, particularly those of the Congress, are short-sighted and focused on whatever gets quick publicity to its leaders. So while food inflation mounts, our leaders fiddle with interest rates instead of fixing the problems.
Dear Dr.(almost) Ali,
I have had the privilege of communicating with you before re: a pan-South Asian food policy aimed at removing current distortions and based on thermodynamic, watershed and ecological realities that includes human propensity for self-destruction. Just as sodic salinization of soil is driven by greed & irresponsibility, so too practices like drip irrigation can have deleterious consequences, er.g. runaway expansion of acreage, over-exploitation of water sources & salinization.
There is the need to re-visit and alter cropping patterns and crop species. Most importantly, agriculture MUST NEVER be used as either an instrument or a crutch, to achieve financial goals, i.e. the government should not see farm exports as a means of meeting its financial shortfalls. That is suicide, but most of Pakistan cannot see that. Scholars like you need to communicate in Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi e. and in clear, short sentences educate the public. The landed oligarchy & deep state press never will.
Rice for export, sugarcane and cotton in inappropriate areas will destroy Pakistan in ways too many to enumerate here. Strong focus on the major millets, peas (Pisum), and the sugar date palm is imperative, if the present trajectory of population growth continues. There is no time left but none undersutands the urgency of in-situ research. Pakistan is fortunate to have people like you & I hope you are able to convince international forums of some of the points made above.