The report said that those who had enough supplies for the time being were not sure whether they would continue getting them in future.
A survey taken by the Pakistan Kissan Trust (PKT) to assess food security in the region concluded that there was severe lack of access to adequate food in the farming community in Jhang, Layyah, Khanewal and Muzaffargarh districts. The report was launched officially on Tuesday.
PKT Secretary Mahmood Ahmad and Director Shahbaz Sarwar said that the survey teams had collected primary data from randomly selected families in union councils of the districts.
They said meal intake by each family member was studied.
Sarwar said that surprisingly farmers who produced grains were facing acute shortage of food.
Quoting from the survey results, Sarwar said that 80.41 per cent of the people ate twice a day.
He said that 12.84 per cent ate once a day and 6.76 per cent of the people took three meals a day. He said that 99.9 per cent of the people interviewed said that they did not get to eat enough.
Ahmad said that 296 households were studied in the survey.
Of the respondents, 1,474 were adults and 975 children. None of them, he said, had four meals in a day, he added.
He said the survey results revealed that 100 per cent of the farmers lacked access to sufficient food for their families. Out of the 296 households surveyed, 71 had their own food supplies, 183 sold their agriculture produce, 20 had to supplement their income with seasonal labour and 22 accepted help from friends or family to fulfill their food requirements.
Ahmad said that all household heads said that their children often had to miss a meal a day because “there was not enough food in the house”.
The report said that those who had enough supplies for the time being were not sure whether they would continue getting them in future.
Ahmad said that food insecurity could lead to a generation of malnourished children in these areas.
Ahmad said that the wretchedness of poverty in these areas could be gauged from the fact that people had started accepting charity and other forms of help to ensure basic survival.
They recommended that the government immediately cut prices of fertilisers, seeds and pesticides and introduce interest-free farm loans for small growers.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 6th, 2013.
COMMENTS (11)
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@manishj: india performs worse than pakistan in only sanitation....anyways shouldn't compare......there are better nations to compare with... :)
shameful
@ Usman, I seems Shahbaz Sharif is providing each and every home bulk of food supplies at the expense of southern districts.
@ all 1 Agriculture land is shrinking (due to construction or otherwise) 2 Population is increasing exponentially (1 Couple =5-10 kids) 3 Requirement of Resources are Increasing exponentially (Food, water, Home, Educ. etc) Pakistan will collapse one day, Also In India only 5-8% of Muslims understands the importance Family Planning & i am in those 5-8%
Gulam Rasool "Kuldeep sharma" New Delhi
I don't eat 3 meals a day, either. There have been many, many days in a row where I've only ate one meal a day. Not because I can't. Not because I'm unhealthy as I've been sick once in about 10 years and that was from me walking a lot during an especially frigid winter with nasty winds. Not because I'm trying to lose weight. That's just how it is and was. Yes, that survey is intended for poor people who simply can't but the point is, I would still be counted in that survey.
This is where the two countries of us India and pakistan should be competing with each other. In poverty eradication, education for all, basic amenities for mases, health etc. The situation is not better in India either.
I am upset while living among hungry people looking for staple food even.we are war ridden country with selfish governments... Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
Nearing to grass eating time
This is the shining Punjab that the Sharif brothers have prepared for us. If you want the rest of Pakistan to remain in hunger, please vote them into power. I am from Jhang, only 3 hours from Lahore, and yes it is still in Punjab. The Chief Minister should update his definition of Punjab and expand it to outside Lahore. . People of Pakistan, have some self respect, vote for a leader next time, not a politician. This is not a stage show, people's lives depend on it!
Hope Kashmir and nuclear bombs will continue to remain more important issue than hunger
@Shamsul Islam ! its pity to see kids begging for a meal and its too early to predict worse, which is the result of none birth control. a Mullah of my village, who always knew a HADEES for every occasion, he always opposed birth control. Now even if one wishes to extend a hand, but thanks ENLIGHTENED illiteracy of our Mullahs, our people are working hard to produce more, not FOOD, but children.