Floods and food

The lifeline offered to Pakistan’s flood victims through WFP food distribution programmes has been severed and is in danger of being suspended entirely. The agency suffers a shortfall of $548 million and has been unable to keep up food supplies in flood-hit areas — in part due to procurement issues caused by the rising global prices of food. The WFP had been hit earlier by terrorism, notably a suicide bombing in December 2010 near a food handout point at Khar in Bajaur Agency, which killed 45 people and forced a suspension of operations in the area. While many flood victims have been able to return to their homes, an estimated 600,000 remain displaced in Balochistan while water still stands in some villages in Sindh. While the cash now being handed out by the WFP to allow victims to purchase their own food will bring some benefits, it will also pose problems for many households still dependent on the food they received.

Indeed, especially from Sindh, where the floods have led to a greater assessments of social realities and more interest from international agencies, there is evidence that people had been in acute need of food even before the flood. A Sindh government survey, supported by Unicef, has found high levels of malnutrition among children and women. Experts engaged in relief work in the province believe this is the result of years of poverty and deprivation, rather than of the flood alone.

Groups in the country have also pointed out that official policies with regard to flood victims have been deeply flawed. The delays in repairing infrastructure, lack of transparency in the distribution of aid and issues with the handing out of compensation to those whose homes have been damaged rank among the issues listed. While factors such as the global recession have played a role in funding constraints, it is conceivable that perceptions about Pakistan’s ability to deal with crises or ensure accountability have contributed to this — and these are matters we need to give serious thought to as we ponder our ability to deal with fresh catastrophe in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2011.