Growing food insecurity

56% families in Balochistan, 30% in Sindh face severe food insecurity due to drought, unemployment, price rise

A report by Global Network Against Food Insecurity, an alliance of the UN, the EU, governments and NGOs, says Covid-related widespread loss of jobs amid drought, inadequate rainfall, high food prices and double-digit inflation have severely reduced access to food in three provinces of Pakistan — Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. The situation is more serious in K-P because of a long-drawn conflict in Afghanistan and its spillover effects in the province. In 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, large areas of these provinces experienced severe drought conditions due to scanty rainfall, and simultaneously came the blow of unprecedented price hike and inflation.

This was a back-breaking situation for people with limited income. They lost their jobs at a time when prices were rising with no brakes and inflation galloping. While people’s purchasing power diminished as a result of the eroding value of the rupee, their source of livelihood had nearly dried up. In July-August 2021, 56% families in Balochistan and 30% in Sindh faced severe food insecurity due to a combination of drought induced by insufficient rains, largescale loss of employment caused by the pandemic, and non-stop price rise. It was multiple-whammy. The drought killed a large number of livestock in all the three provinces due to shortage of fodder following scanty rains, lack of money to buy fodder, and diminishing access to veterinary services because of Covid curbs. Many small farmers were forced into distress sale of animals as they were left with nothing to buy food and stay alive. During the pandemic, landless peasants and those with small land holdings also migrated to urban areas in search of work. The lack of rain in Balochistan and eight drought-hit districts of Sindh are likely to reduce wheat production in these regions.

All this happened not because there was not enough food around but because people did not have the purchasing power to buy food. This incongruity can be addressed by making policies that can enable people to afford food and other basic necessaries.