Pakistan has also been one of the worst-impacted nations in the world in terms of a massive increase in the number of chronically food-insecure populations.
According to a report most of the population is experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity. The incidence is high among the rural population than the urban population. Moreover, three out of five households are experiencing food insecurity.
Food insecurity is not just about the shortage of food, it also signifies people’s inability to purchase the required amount of food to sustain a day. In addition, food insecurity affects women, children, and rural households disproportionately, which leads to socio-economic inequalities and increases the number of food-insecure households.
The food crisis in the country has attracted popular attention throughout the country, while there is also criticism of the policymakers for being unable to present a timely assessment of demand and supply.
The food price crisis has adversely affected the purchasing power of those already living below the poverty line of less than $2 a day.
According to World Food Program, around 82 percent of children in Pakistan remain deprived of a meal when they need one, and has the second-highest rate of malnutrition in the region.
Approximately eighteen percent of children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition and forty percent of children in the same age group suffer from stunted growth.
According to a survey, nearly half of the population of Pakistan does not have access to sufficient food for an active and healthy life at all times. This survey also reports that Pakistan suffers from the largest food gap in the whole region.
Due to a lack of decentralization in decision-making at the top level of the government, the food security crisis has been further exacerbated. This is mainly because of bureaucratic bottlenecks, leading to ineffective policy formulation to deal with the issue on a timely basis.
Pakistan is suffering because of excessive exploitation of the environment. In the long term, the government should develop climate-resilient infrastructure with the international community’s help.
Moreover, there is a need for increased research to understand the impact of temperature variation on the production of different crops in Pakistan. The government should start developing seeds that can grow in these new kinds of environments.
The devastation caused by floods in Pakistan, destruction to agriculture, crops, and livestock, and lack of access to healthy diets, inadequate quality and quantity of food have largely contributed to the state of food insecurity in the country.
Moreover, the deteriorating quality and quantity of food consumption due to the impacts of flooding as well as high food prices have worsened the food security crisis in Pakistan.
Heat waves in conjunction with fertilizer shortages and lack of irrigation water affected wheat crop yields and lowered livestock production. Subsequently, flooding and landslides brought widespread destruction, disrupting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.
Climate change has greatly affected physical access to food. The floods have wreaked havoc on crops and caused a food crisis. Loss of agricultural land and crop damage has left farmers’ organizations extremely upset. The floods have negatively affected farmers and agricultural workers.
The term food security reflects the desire to eliminate hunger and malnutrition. Food security is defined as when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
The condition of food security in Pakistan has deteriorated. Out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index Pakistan has a ninety-ninth position. Water scarcity is also a major impediment to food security in Pakistan and is likely to become worse by 2025.
