Fighting hunger

World Nutrition Day, marked every year on May 28 globally by a number of associations, should be more widely marked than is currently the case in Pakistan – particularly since this is also the day we observe World Hunger Day. In a country where 50 percent of children suffer wasting or stunting and where malnutrition is widespread, notably among women and children, there is clearly an urgent need to focus on such initiatives. World hunger has risen from 777 million undernourished people in 2005 to 815 million in 2016. In Pakistan, according to the National Nutrition Survey, 58 percent of households are food insecure and 18 percent of the population is undernourished. The budget this year announced an allocation of Rs10 billion to combat child stunting. This is a positive measure, but it is not enough. Malnutrition is in many ways insidious and not always clearly visible. The continuing deaths of children in the Tharpakar area due to health issues associated with both their own malnutrition and that of their mothers is horrifying. At least 50 children aged under five have died this year alone in the district. Elsewhere in the country too, there are families who go hungry. Anaemia is common, especially among women, and deficiencies of vital vitamins are found in populations in each of the four provinces.

Self-sustainability is one of the solutions to hunger and malnourishment. This can be undertaken by promoting kitchen gardening, even on very small plots of land, promoting the growth of food on every available piece of community space and educating people about the best means by which to meet nutritional needs adequately and safely. While there has been an increase at the international level in the number of women breastfeeding children in Pakistan, we still have a situation in which almost 50 percent of mothers, according to the Nutrition Survey, do not feed their own children – one of the factors that contributes to malnutrition and child ill health. For a very long time, Pakistan has been reluctant to face up to the scale of its hunger problem. Even in major urban centres, there are many who go hungry each day. Women are often the last to be fed within homes; many themselves hold back from eating in order to ensure husbands and children receive more. More projects in this area need to be put in place to empower people to find means to feed themselves. We need to take up the matter wholeheartedly and ensure we aim towards a future in which no child, woman or man anywhere in our country goes hungry or is deprived of the nutrition he or she needs to live a healthy life.