“Hunger crisis in Pakistan”
By: Irsa Rafiq
Tags: Amal Academy, Life Long Learner

“Hunger crisis in Pakistan”

Pakistan experiences high levels of food insecurity due to a lack of access for poor households. Poverty is a particularly strong predictor of household food insecurity. The scarcity of food is caused by economic, environmental and social factors such as crop failure, overpopulation and poor government policies.

So I highlighted this point for my MEGA PROJECT work as I want to work for welfare of these people. I’ve met most of people belonging to such state who have only 1 meal per day. I understand the scenario in which they are living. Here is a women works at neighbor’s house, I know her, I also visit her house and the miserable condition in which she is living. She told me that she has only one meal/day. So, I decided that I will do something for her. Her house looks like this:

Statistics:

Out of the total of 113 countries in the Global Food Security Index of 2016, Pakistan ranked 78th. The country scored 47.8, lagging behind longtime rival India and several other African countries. According to the World Food Program, 43 percent of Pakistan’s population faces food insecurity. Of this number, 18 percent of people in Pakistan severely lack access to food. This is linked to the fact that most of these people are heavily dependent on agriculture for a living.

Same is the case in whole Pakistan. According to recent survey: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a poverty and hunger watchdog, estimates around one in five of Pakistan’s more than 200 million people are malnourished due to lack of access to good and hygienic food. food shortage has far reaching long and short term negative impacts which include starvation, malnutrition, increased mortality and political unrest.

Causes of food shortage and hunger:

A number of factors are responsible for the food security of a country. Among these, the gap between food supply and demand is extremely important. It is closely linked to other factors like agricultural production and development, trade and foreign aid, population and purchasing power change etc. Physical and economic access to food and affordability are also equally important factors, which are primarily influenced by infrastructure and food distributional arrangements, as well as poverty and income distribution.

Effects of hunger:

Undernutrition and malnutrition have led to stunting in 38% of Pakistani children under the age of five. In some regions, the percentage of children who experience stunting is nearly 50%. Pakistani children experience some of the highest stunting rates in the world.

2. Some of the physical effects of hunger are malnutrition, stunted growth, wasting, babies born prematurely, low birth weights, and in extreme cases infant and child mortalities. Other effects are poor health, physical symptoms such as stomachaches and headaches, signs of worry, anxiety, and behavior problems.

Pakistan actually has a surplus of food However, instead of being distributed to its own people, much of this food is exported. From mid-2018 to mid-2019, around a half million tons of wheat and more than seven million tons of rice were exported from Pakistan. One in five Pakistani’s are not malnourished because there is a lack of food availability, but because of socio-economic factors that prevent them from accessing the country’s abundant resources. However, even if Pakistani’s had more access to the wheat and rice resources of their country, these crops alone cannot provide a nutritious and sustainable diet.

Strategies to overcome hunger crisis:

Say “ NO” to food waste .Consequently, people love to taste everything and in that process leave most of the dishes wasted because either they do not like it or something else catches their attention if one gets a chance to visit kitchens of restaurants, then one would be shocked to see the amount of food going into the trash.

At a typical wedding in Karachi, the average food waste is equal to at least 300 individual meals. In some cases, the waste is to the extent of 20–25 percent when the number of dishes exceeds the number of guests invited to the marriage halls. As Muslims, it is simply unbecoming of us to waste food. Wasting food is a sin in Islam.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verse 31:

“O children of Adam! Attend to your embellishments at every time of prayer, and eat and drink and be not extravagant; surely He does not love the extravagant.”

Anas said: “The prophet ordered us not to leave anything in the plate and he said: “You do not know in which portion of your food Allah has put the Barakah (Blessing)”. Muslim.

2. The food security situation in Pakistan is precarious and the Pakistani Government has been taking steps to try to address the issue. In 2018, the country’s first food security was unveiled. The policy aims to alleviate poverty, eradicate hunger and promote sustainable food production. Those aims would be achieved through close co-operation between federal and provincial governments, the implementation of new food safety measures and the launch of a “zero hunger” program. The intent behind the policy is good, but is likely to experience difficulties.

3. The government has also recently introduced a large “Anti-poverty initiative” which aims to provide employment, healthcare and empowerment for women in Pakistan’s poorest communities. This too, is likely to encounter difficulties. The government has pledged to allocate 80 billion rupees towards the initiative, which considering Pakistan’s economic situation and the likelihood of IMF constraints in the near future, puts the success of any anti-poverty measures in serious doubt.

Until Pakistan is able to spend freely on the poor and on food security, it is likely that the ongoing pressures on food security will continue to multiply, which will inevitably put pressure on the most vulnerable members of its society.

May I and all of us succeed in our goals.

Thank you so much.