ISLAMABAD:
Despite Pakistan being one of the major food producing
countries in the world, 50% of its population is food insecure, said a
top representative of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) to Pakistan, Patrick Evans.
He noted this on Tuesday while speaking at the 7th International
Development Conference organised jointly by Sustainable Development and
Policy Institute (SDPI), FAO, IFAD and WFP.
“To me this country has contradictions as far as food is concerned.
On the one hand it is the 8th largest food producing country and on the
other, its 50% population is food insecure,” said Patrick. Pakistan was
the 6th largest producer of apricot, 5th largest producer of milk and
grower of 25 million metric tonnes of wheat last year, he added.
He said that 40% of its children are malnourished and underweight due
to lack of access to adequate food. “Pakistan produces enough food for
its people. But the issue is access of its people to food.”
The FAO representative pointed out that there are some identified
areas, which could be fixed to address this issue including equal access
to the food and inclusive economic growth.
Federal Minister Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan told the audience that
Pakistan has made some progress in several areas over the last several
decades, adding that if we look at the agricultural sector, we find that
Pakistan is now producing enough food for its population, and also
exporting significant quantities of various food commodities, including,
rice, fruits and livestock products.
However, the minister also noted, much needs to be done to ensure
that every Pakistani has access to safe and nutritious food at the
household level.
“This has particularly been a challenge for the poor sections of
society, and the problem has been exacerbated by various shocks,
particularly the frequent natural disasters”, Sikandar Hayat said.
Furthermore, SDPI Executive Director Abid Qayyum Sulehri said that
maintaining adequate food production and its availability to all the
segments of society is the major challenge being faced by the country.
Secretary for the ministry of National Food Security and Research
(NFCR), Seerat Asghar, said that our priorities need to be redirected
for food security. He also added that budget for the NFCR is merely Rs1
billion for the year 2014-15, which clearly shows that food security is
not a priority of the government.
Source : http://tribune.com.pk/story/804504/food-for-thought-50-of-pakistanis-food-insecure-says-fao/
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