Four ticking time-bombs threatening Pakistan’s food security

Despite its great capability, Pakistan’s food security is hanging by a thread. Profit identifies key indicators of the systemic problems our agriculture faces

Pakistan has a problem. In an international ranking of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) this year, the country ranked 92 out of 116 nations, with its hunger categorised as ‘serious.’ Pakistan currently faces a scenario in which it is largely food sufficient but not food secure. 

Despite Pakistan being ranked at 8th in producing wheat, 10th in rice, 5th in sugarcane, and 4th in milk production, a 2019 report of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed that nearly 37% of households in Pakistan are food insecure. In the three years since the SBP’s report, matters have only worsened. Food price inflation in Pakistan has been in double digits since August 2019. The cost of food has been 10.4-19.5% higher than the previous year in urban areas and 12.6-23.8% in rural areas, according to figures published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

So how does a country with one of the largest agrarian economies in the world find itself unable to sufficiently provide food for nearly 40% of its population? For decades, agriculture has been neglected and people’s earnings have been hit by one economic crisis after another. On top of this, particularly in the past decade or so, climate change related disasters and changes in the environment have resulted in our already neglected agriculture becoming less competitive.

 

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Abdullah Niazi
Abdullah Niazi
Abdullah Niazi is senior editor at Profit. He also covers agriculture and climate change. He can be reached at [email protected]

4 COMMENTS

  1. There are many companies in Pakistan carrying modern technology for cost-effective services and have been developing the required expertise to serve the Pakistani farmers’ community in a highly effective manner however they are not encouraged on high levels to make a difference however some organisations are going beyond and providing complete agricultural solutions through products and farm advisory services and offering expert guidance for excellent yields

  2. “Pakistan is food sufficient but not food secure”. I expected this article to provide the underlying reason for this disparity. However, the article have defined it in just one word “i.e. neglected agriculture”. We expect more to know since the neglected agriculture we all know this is the problem. What exactly is neglected would be of more concerning for us to know.

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