Hunger dilemma

LAHORE: Sermons like prices in Pakistan are lower than other economies are cruel jokes for empty stomachs that go to sleep with little or no food. Our leaders should also come up with statistics of hungry, starved, and stunted populations in the countries they refer.

Hunger is a physically unpleasant experience, which is accompanied by headaches, pain, dizziness, loss of energy and an inability to concentrate. For a hungry person, therefore, the extra utility from more calories is extremely high.

Two years earlier, the poor were fulfilling that need by arranging wheat in sufficient quantity. Now the rates of wheat have gone out of the reach of the poor. They must ration its use in the family to ensure that the quantity they afford lasts the whole month.

Going has never been smooth for the poor in the past as well but they devised a way to somehow manage within available resources. This is particularly true for the earning poor who possess self-respect, ands do not asking for outside help.

Even three years back, many of those living in poverty did not cook any curry, but instead ate wheat bread with a cup of tea thrice a day. For one such worker, this compromise on food at least assured that his family slept with full stomachs.

Living with his wife, three young daughters and a mother he managed his budget tightly. The major expense even at that time was house rent, power, water, and gas bills.

His office is located 12km from his residence. He used to travel halfway by foot and the other half by public transport that saved him at least half the fare.

His routine is still the same, but the fare of public transport has increased by 50 percent. “Even three years back there were some days when we did not have even the wheat to make bread. On such days my mother used to take my daughters to the house of my younger brother, who was slightly better off where they were served food,” he shared.

Three years down the lane, the finances of my younger brother have also strained. The option of feeding the children there in case of non-availability of food does not exist anymore.

He has also resorted to my formula of wheat bread swallowed with tea. The sugar rates have also doubled. “We used to spread ghee on the bread to make it more palatable for the children. Ghee prices have also doubled,” he said. “What was the use of living in the cheapest country in the region, if the poor cannot have two square meals of inferior quality every day?”

Pain caused by hunger will prompt insufficiently nourished people to spend a larger share of their food budget on staples like rice and wheat, which are cheap sources of calories. This food lacks essential micronutrients and proteins that are essential for healthy growth.

If people are no longer hungry, they do not need to spend their incremental cash on the cheapest source of calories, but can base their choices on things like variety and taste. If someone is consuming a significantly higher share of calories from staple foods than prescribed, then he is likely to be hungry. For most of the rich people, hunger is a temporary inconvenience, easily solved by popping out to the shops or raiding the fridge. But chronic hunger is part of everyday life for many people in poorer places.

Less poverty does not always mean better-nourished people in current day social set up. Studies suggest that poor families continue to remain under-nourished even when their incomes increase. They consume the additional income on buying things like electric fans, fridges or a television to improve the quality of their family’s life.

Poverty assessments are flawed, and part of the problem lies in the way governments and international agencies count the hungry. This typically involves fixing a calorie threshold—2,100 calories per day as a common benchmark—and then count how many people report eating food that gives them fewer calories than this number.

Concentrating on calories ignores the important role of micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins. Government should fortify the staple foods with micronutrients and minerals to ensure better health of the poor. Failing to do so will keep on adding less productive, stunted and fragile population in our society.