Unicef warning: No district of Balochistan food secure

Ten out of total 20 high food insecure districts of the country are in Balochistan.

QUETTA: The province of Balochistan is facing the risk of malnutrition as evidence of mortality rate among children and women belonging to marginalised groups in the province have acquired ominous proportions. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already declared emergency in Balochistan in view of the indicators of Global Acute Malnutrition. Ten out of total 20 high food insecure districts of the country are in this province. “Against the WHO threshold of 15%, as many as 16% of children in Balochistan are acute malnourished,” said Jawahar Habib Communication Officer UNICEF, Balochistan, told APP. After Sindh, Balochistan has the highest level of food insecurity in the country. About 63% of households in the province are food insecure and 11.5% as food “insecure with severe hunger”. Overall 90% districts are classified as “extremely high” to “high” food insecure. None is qualified to be “food secure”.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2014.