Not being able to buy food
According to prominent international NGO Oxfam, increasing food prices in Pakistan are forcing nearly 120 million to spend between 50 to 70 per cent of their household incomes just to buy food, and 36 per cent of our population has now become undernourished. This assessment was cited in Oxfam’s latest global survey, published last week, which includes Pakistan amongst the 21 nations facing a serious food crisis.
It is hard to dismiss such alarming statistics, since they only reinforce the gravity of the situation highlighted last year by a study conducted by Islamabad-based think tank Sustainable Policy Development Institute (SDPI), in partnership with the World Food Programme, which had warned that half of Pakistan’s population was threatened by food insecurity, and this was before floods had hit large parts of the country.
Food security in our country has been deteriorating since 2003. Food insecurity is deemed to be particularly severe in conflict-ridden Fata and Balochistan. Although it is difficult to present conclusive empirical proof, the SDPI has said that poverty and hunger fuel violence and insecurity.
This current food crisis has a global dimension, and it is indeed a shame that after decades of steady progress in the fight against hunger, the number of people without enough to eat may again exceed the one billion mark.
The current food crisis affecting African countries affected by drought or overly reliant on food imports is one thing, but why prices of food have become so unaffordable in a country like Pakistan despite it being an agriculture country is harder to understand.
Decision-makers in our country have been congratulating themselves for improving the lives of the rural population by increasing the support price of wheat, the staple food grain in the country. The government is the biggest buyer of wheat in Pakistan and its procurement prices dominate pricing trends in local markets. The government has justified this price increase to not only incentivise high production targets, but to in turn ensure food security for the country. However, local food expert continue pointing out that food security is linked more to prices than availability.
Many poor people do not have enough food because of their low income levels, not because there is no food available in the marketplace. It is a mistake to think that this problem only affects the urban poor. Due to the highly inequitable distribution of land in rural areas, a substantial proportion of rural households also do not grow their own food, and thus depend on daily wages, non-agricultural incomes and remittances to make ends meet.
The gap between the incomes of the people and food prices across the country has now reached an alarming level, which will unfortunately not subside after the month of Ramazan is over. It is thus high time we took solid steps to tackle the underlying causes of poverty and growing inflation across the country, so as to reduce the widening gap between food prices and the ability of ordinary people to purchase it.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 13th, 2011.
COMMENTS (9)
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So, what is the solution? Whether just in Pakistan or at the global level, people are suffering due to a system of economics that creates a vicious cycle of poverty and loss of empowerment on the one hand and concentration of money and power in fewer and fewer people on the other hand. Should we just sit, write columns and complain?
Why do folks in Pakistan think they live in a vaccum. Look at the tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrating against high food prices. Look at all the Arabs demonstrating and toppling dictators over food and basic rights. Look at how food prices threaten the growth of China and how Indians are crying in public over high food prices. Look at how millions are starving in the Horn of Africa. This is a global problem.
Is Sharad Pawar your food minister too?
I would have thought someone like the CCP would be on the war-path before Ramzan and there would be a visible crack-down on hoarders and price manipulators. No such luck.
Of course there is a big jump in demand for food during Ramzan. So much for self-discipline.
The writer has not analysed the reasons of non-availability of essential consumer goods on affordable prices. To subsidize main crops in Pakistan means to mainly favour the big land owners, who are also in politics and thus rulers of this country, due to the influence of their wealth. They have planned their families in such a way that they control most of the policies and planning of the government. It has become a vicious cycle. They sell their crops on high rates to the government(subsidised), also get fertilisers on reduced rates and sufficient water for the crops, in time. It is said that these influentials also buy crops of smaller peasants on cheaper rates and sell to the government on high rates. They do not pay any taxes and thus their wealth is being multiplied. They are in sugar manufacturing business and game is same. Pakistan has also to feed Afghanistan
s needs of food and most of it is smuggled, again in financial favour of big land owners Then there are several hoarding and middleman mafias, who are working in connivance of government functionaries. Increase in prices of petrol/diesel, electricity,gas also gives direct effect on increase of prices and these prices are not being increased once in a year but every month and sometimes every week, which has created a sense of uncertain atmosphere in the market and supports hoarding business. Cartels have come up in the business of every kind and not controllable by any means. The weak management, mis-management, lack of planning, insufficient laws and non-concerning/non-devoted attitude of government functionaries has further agreviated the situation. These factors have added heavily to the sufferings of the common man. Middle class and lower middle class society is diminishing very fast, which is another success of elite and ruling class but harmful to the country, as they are the people who effect the society and provide guidance. Success of countries depend on the largeness of middle class and not the elites. Millions of innocent Pakistanis are now on roads just for oneroti. Self respect of our countrymen is being badly hurt when they make cues for obtainingkhairatorsasta Atta`. This was not the vision and planned fate of these innocent Pakistanis, where the food is in abundance but not available to the needy, on reasonable prices. Systems and laws need to be changed to obtain good results; only speeches and slogans will not work.Some would argue that the price hike of all essential goods in Ramadan is the gap between supply and demand. To a certain extent, this argument has some weight-age because this is a common mis-perception that in this holy month of Ramadan people consume less as compare to other months, but in Pakistan there is no veracity behind this notion because we tend to eat more in this month and consequently demand of subsistence and other luxury goods{mainly for poor masses due to this un-bridled inflation} namely fruits surge up and cant match with supply. However, in Pakistan the other factor that contribute towards this phenomena is the rise of lust of ten-fold profit and hoarding is the other factor too. To put all the responsibility on the government is in fact not justified. Government do have role in controlling the price of essential goods, but on the other hand to adopt nefarious designs by general public also exacerbate this already worse situation of price hiking in Ramadan further.
Yes! The gap between the rich and the poor is on rise. Adding to this gap is the population growth which scares me more than anything else.
Food prices have been going up every Ramadan for the last twenty years. It will go up again next year and the year after next. If anyone thinks otherwise is living in Shangri-la.