KARACHI:
While Pakistan has successfully introduced a number of social safety programmes into its budget, such as the Benazir Income Support Program and the Bait-ul-Maal, rising levels of inflation have been raising questions on the future of food security in the country. The harsh reality is that Pakistan, home to more than 200 million people, is undergoing a severe food crisis with studies indicating that one out of every five person is malnourished.
Despite having an agricultural-based economy, the mortality rate in the country is on its highest with children dying because of essential-food deprivation. The issue can be further understood from the fact that 8.9% of the entire world population remains malnourished. The irony is that Pakistan is blessed with a surplus amount of food, yet its people are dying of hunger. This shows that the problem is not about the availability of food, but rather the access to these products. While the UN has pledged to end world hunger through its “Zero Hunger” sustainable development goal by the year 2030, the estimates do not seem promising. Due to the rapid increase in inequality, researchers now fear that world hunger may affect more than 840 million people across the world by 2030, if the trend keeps on increasing.
Therefore, it is imperative to further delve into the root causes of the issue before producing a rash solution so that more effective strategies may be initiated and the basic needs of our people are fulfilled. The establishment of social safety net programs and a check and balance over the cost of basic food products can help in alleviating the deepening crisis of food security.
Taseer Ali
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2020.
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