Food insecurity

While the government is claiming that it has improved the economy of the country, we hope it does not overlook the severity of food insecurity in the country. There are various reports and surveys that have highlighted the worsening situation of food security and around one-fifth of the population is now reported to be living with insufficient food. Though food security has never been stable in Pakistan, it has been fluctuating between moderate to severe at various times. In the past couple of years it has once again declined to severe mode, which means the number of food insecure households has increased in recent months and years. Confirming this are the latest PSLM survey, the Democracy Reporting International’s policy brief and IPC’s update. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics conducts the PSLM survey which is a fairly reliable source about the conditions the people of Pakistan live in. The partial lockdowns that we have seen over the past 18 months may be one of the causes behind the increasing food insecurity, but this is not the whole story. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the situation was alarming as many people in Pakistan always lived on the verge of collapsing economically.

The dismal situation in which the country’s poor are living now should be an immediate cause of concern for the government. Providing free food to the needy at some outlets may be a relief for a few people, but this is not the solution to the long-standing food insecurity in the country. Essentially, a reduced number of jobs and insufficient livelihood opportunities are the primary causes of this inability of people to buy food for their families. As incomes have reduced, there is even more need for policies that cater to the requirements of people rather than finding ways to meet IMF conditions. The marginalized communities in the country – both in the rural and the urban areas – are increasingly finding themselves at the mercy of fluctuations in job markets across all provinces.

The poor-rich divide has been widening and the current government does not appear to be in command of the economic issues that engender food insecurity. The worst affected areas happen to be in Balochistan, and that is not by chance. The largest province of the country has reported food insecurity during most of the past few decades. Now due to the effects of climate change the level of agricultural productivity has declined in the face of severe droughts. As the level of poverty surges, the size of the food-insecure population also goes up. Even those who can buy food to sustain themselves face malnutrition and lack of wholesome meals. The government must take a couple of steps to alleviate the situation. First, it must reduce inflation, second it should strive to increase livelihood opportunities, and most of all it must – in the short term – increase the number of beneficiaries of cash transfers.