Pakistan has improved its standing slightly as compared to 2008 with respect to hunger levels in the country. The latest Global Hunger Index released by the International Food Policy Research Institute gives it a rating of 33.4 as opposed to 35.1 in the 2008 index, placing it at 108th place amongst the 118 countries included in the Index. This essentially reads to state that 22 percent of Pakistani people are undernourished, a status gauged on the basis of child mortality, child wasting and child stunting. Pakistan has fared worse than India and Bangladesh, which scored 28.5 and 27.1 respectively. The comparison with India in particular needs to be examined and thought about given that that country sustains an immense, growing population with hunger levels that have for decades stayed unacceptably high. The central message delivered by the IFPRI report is that countries need to do more to reduce hunger. It estimates that if the current decline in the ability to feed people continues, then by 2030 more than 45 countries including India, Pakistan and Afghanistan will have ‘moderate to alarming’ hunger scores.
Hunger is something we need to look at as beyond a mere statistic. In real terms, it is brutally ugly, accounting for children who die, children who are unable to reach their mental or physical potential, and to acute tensions within families, communities and countries. The social divide we currently face is reflected in patterns of food consumption and food wastage. Hunger and deprivation lead also to a whole host of other social problems including crime, child labour and much more. Pakistan has paid too little attention to the problem over the years. The marginal improvement it has demonstrated since 2008 is encouraging. But essentially a great deal more needs to be done to feed people and ensure no one is left unable to feed themselves or their families. Only then will we be able to count ourselves as a civilised nation capable of guarding the most basic needs of our people. We need to climb out of the abyss of hunger faced by far too many people across a country which has abundant agricultural resources and should be able to provide food for all its citizens. We can ensure the sustainability of this by reducing population growth and discrepancies in food distribution across the country.
