FOOD
Pakistan has performed worst in dealing with hunger in South Asia under the recently released Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2016. Ranking 107 out of 118 developing nations, Pakistan emerges as one of the worst performers when it comes to eradicating hunger, especially among other South Asian countries. The other worst performer has been India, which is ranked 97 in the list.
Except India and Pakistan, other worst performers in dealing with hunger have improved their rankings. Among neighbouring and regional countries, China ranked 29, Nepal ranked 72, Myanmar 75, Sri Lanka 84, and Bangladesh ranked 90. They improved their respective rankings significantly since the issuance of this index back in 1992.
In the past, in 1992 Global Hunger Index Pakistan scored 43.4, performing better than India and Bangladesh, which scored 46.4 and 52.4, respectively. However, now as per the 2016 Global Hunger Index, both India with a 28.5 score, and Bangladesh with a 27.1 score; left Pakistan (33.4) far behind when it comes to dealing with hunger.
Pakistan’s efforts in eradicating hunger have not been up to mark in the backdrop of continuous advancements made in the field of agriculture in the recent past. Farm yield has been better and seen several improvements in the last, almost two and a half decades. Production of grains, vegetables, and fruits has shown a steady increase in this period. Consequently, Pakistan has almost stopped importing grains in the last several years. This means that the menace of food shortages has almost vanished, and hunger must have been eradicated.
However, hunger has yet to subside in the country. Despite showing improvement in the output of food products, the country has been unable to address the hunger issue. In fact, it is proportionally on the rise, when compared with other countries in the region. In Pakistan, close to one-fifth of the population is suffering from hunger and/or malnutrition. This raises the question why people suffer from food shortages and hunger when the country has stockpiles of food and grains.
Pakistan has now been overwhelmed with the crisis of plenty of many food produces. We have surplus stocks of wheat, rice, sugar, and also have had one after another bumper crop of potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and other vegetables for the last many years. Now, bumper crops and excess stockpiles are more of a normal thing, though more consistency is needed in this regard.
It is in fact unaffordable food prices in the country that has led the fight against hunger to an all time low. The main reason for skyrocketing prices of food items are the high rates of farm inputs, coupled with the jumbled taxation system. Both agriculture and food departments and finance departments/ministries at the federal and provincial levels are responsible for such flawed policies that lead to an imbalance in farm input and output prices.
Dr Hafeez Pasha, noted economist and former federal finance minister blamed the wrong policies of the successive governments for high prices of food in the country. He said that the levies and taxes on input are not justifiable; especially keeping in view trends in the region. “The prices of food have jumped manifold and we are not able to compete with other producers of the world. To become competitive, we need to adopt a multi-pronged strategy for reducing input cost of the farmers,” he stressed.
More worryingly, both Pakistan and India are not on the course to end hunger till the deadline of 2030 set under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal. These countries will still have “moderate” to “alarming” hunger scores in 2030, “far short of the goal to end hunger by that year, if the menace of hunger declines at the same rate as the report finds it has since 1992.”
As per the recommendations of the report prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) for reducing hunger in years to come, it is stated that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the 2030 Agenda are inextricably linked with one another. To reach Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture, there must also be progress on the 16 other SDGs. With that in mind, the following recommendations emphasise the ways we can accelerate toward Zero Hunger in the context of the 2030 Agenda:
• Integrate actions to deliver Zero Hunger into national development plans, with targets and indicators for hunger, food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture that are ambitious, appropriate to national contexts, and adequately financed.
• Work with finance and planning ministries to estimate national budget requirements for investments to deliver Zero Hunger, and provide long-term funding pipelines to ensure that the investment plans can be sustainably delivered.
• Prioritise policy coherence for sustainable development at national and international levels, so the intended impacts on reducing poverty and malnutrition are achieved.
• Coordinate across key sectors and programmes, including agriculture, nutrition, health, social protection, education, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), to realise Zero Hunger.
• Focus on poverty eradication and food and nutrition security within the national agricultural policies of countries affected by hunger.
• Promote healthy, diversified, and sustainable diets through agricultural, environmental, and social policies that influence what food is produced and consumed.
• Promote innovative approaches that are people-centred, economically viable, and sustainable to make farming part of the solution to climate change.
• Improve infrastructure, technology, transportation, and distribution systems to minimise food loss, and develop effective policies to reduce food waste and conserve natural resources.
• Prioritise agricultural production for food and nutrition security over the production of biomass for energy and material use in all agricultural policies.
• Sustainably increase the agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers by securing access to land, markets, knowledge, and financial services.
It is only by adopting all these measures, and more that the government of Pakistan will be able to address hunger and food security in the country, especially in the more marginalised provinces.
The writer is a staff member
