Almost 25 years from now, something extraordinary will happen. Somewhere either in a noisy Lahore suburb, a quiet village in interior Sindh, or the walled city of Peshawar a child will be born.
No one will know who they are or what their birth signifies, but they will mark Pakistan’s population hitting the 40 crore mark. According to the latest census, Pakistan currently has a population of 24.5 crores which is projected to grow to over 40 crores by 2050.
It is part of a larger trend worldwide. The 11th of July is officially recognised by the United Nations as the World Population Day, meant to raise awareness of the issues surrounding rising population. From 2023 to 2024, the world population grew by 0.91%.
The percentage may seem small, but it translates to roughly 7 crore people added to the tally across the planet. The challenge of population growth is quite obvious. The earth has never had this many residents at the same time, and the number keeps growing. As populations have grown, more and more of the earth’s resources have been used up. The question is, how do we best utilise the scarce resources we have? Already, reports from 2023 suggest that almost 28.2 crore people in 59 countries around the world face high levels of acute food insecurity.
Framing the problem
The problem is unavoidable. In an international ranking of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) this year, Pakistan 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.
The lack of food security has strong economic implications. According to a special section of the SBP’s annual report from 2019-20, the state of food security has strong linkages with the state of human capital in the country. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has also estimated that a high rate of malnutrition can cost an economy around 3-4% of GDP. In the case of Pakistan, estimates suggest that malnutrition and its outcomes cost the economy 3% of GDP (US$ 7.6 billion) every year.
To put this in very mathematical terms, malnutrition and food insecurity manifests in the shape of high child mortality rates, prevalence of zinc and iodine deficiencies, stunting, and anaemia, which lead to deficits in physical and mental development that weakens labour productivity and loss of future labour force in the country.
On a much more human level, however, the lack of food security means a whole lot of misery, hunger, and anguish. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report for 2020, prevalence of undernourishment in Pakistan is 12.3% and an estimated 26 million people in Pakistan are undernourished or food-insecure. Pakistan’s children have suffered and are continuing to suffer. Malnutrition from an early age results in consequences that last entire lifetimes. Add on top of that a high population growth and unfavourable water and climatic conditions and you have a scenario that threatens to spill over and cause mayhem. Pakistan is barely maintaining its current food security level of just over 60%.
A question of responsibility
So what is to be done? There are two sides to it. On the one hand, there needs to be a greater focus on our agriculture and how it is being handled. Pakistan’s food security, especially for a fast growing population, depends entirely on how much food we can produce for more people with the same amount of land.
And then there is the private sector. What can companies do to address this problem? Take, for example, Unity Foods. To mark World Population Day, Unity Foods is dedicating itself to combating malnutrition and enhancing food security.
At the heart of Unity Foods’ mission lies the Taqatwar Pakistan campaign, a proactive initiative aimed at addressing malnutrition through the distribution of nutrition-rich food products to segments of the population that deserve it the most. With financial challenges and other issues that plague several impoverished households across the country, this initiative aims to boost the overall health profile of the entire population.
So far, under the Taqatwar Pakistan program, the company has reached more than 1.5 lakh families across the country. Additionally, Rs 74.4 lakhs has been donated for education while Rs 35 lakhs have been given for a diverse range of healthcare initiatives. Together, these contributions not only serve to improve physical wellbeing across the population but they also offer sustainable solutions to families through access to quality education for the leaders of the future.
Fixing the food security system
Of course, these are good initiatives that the company has taken in order to try and give back. What is more important is that, as a food company, Unity strengthens Pakistan’s food security. And as they mention in their vision statement, the company aims to “be a reliable and sustainable supplier to the nation’s food security system by way of developing and implementing efficient farms to fork supply chains across the country.”
This is vital if Pakistan is to overcome the challenge of a rising population. A well-nourished population is pivotal to national development, Unity Foods has focused its efforts on fortifying essential food items with vitamins and minerals. By ensuring that every household has access to these fortified products, Unity Foods aims to bolster the health and well-being of communities across the nation.
Beyond nutrition enhancement, Unity Foods has pioneered corporate farming through its Unity Plantations initiative. This innovative approach integrates sustainable agricultural practices to ensure a robust farm-to-fork supply chain and counter food insecurity.
By maintaining control over the production process from planting to distribution, UFL guarantees the quality and reliability of its food products. This not only supports local farmers but also enhances food security by reducing dependency on external sources.
At present, the corporate farming and livestock management solutions integrated by Unity Foods not only cultivate crops like rice, wheat, maize, sesame seeds and edible oil seeds but also have the capacity to house over 300,000 animals per year. Unity Plantations is poised to expand considerably over the years, offering robust agricultural produce to the population at large.
This is the sort of focus on nutrition enrichment and sustainable agriculture Pakistan needs. Agriculture in the country faces some very serious issues. We are far too reliant on imports, there is not enough research and development, farm mechanisation is low, and climate change is a ticking time bomb. The private sector has a major role to play in this. The faster they recognise the fact of our growing population as not just a problem but also an opportunity, the quicker Pakistan will be able to get out of these troubled waters.
