Dr Suleri is the executive director, Sustainable
Development Policy Institute (SDPI), social policy analyst and a development
practitioner. Here, he gives his expert opinion on the subject affecting the
masses.
Can
you please elaborate why Pakistan has not been able to feed its population
despite having an agriculture-based economy?
Firstly,
we are no longer an agro-based economy. Services sector is the largest
contributor of our gross domestic product (GDP). In agriculture our focus
remained (and still is) on increased food production and enhanced productivity.
This partially tackled the issue of physical availability, yet the issue of
socio-economic access to food remained the biggest problem. Over the years, one
saw some improvement in food production followed by increased prices.
In
2008, Pakistan was the sixth largest producer of wheat and the ninth largest
wheat exporter, yet wheat prices doubled in that particular year. Even now,
while we have sufficient wheat stored in our reserves, the prices of flour have
shot up to Rs42 per kg from Rs33 per kg. Lack of employment opportunities,
energy crisis (which has deprived the people of their existing income assets),
natural and man-made disasters especially recent floods, inflation, withdrawal
of subsidies on agro-inputs and more importantly governance crisis are the
major contributors towards increased hunger. I believe that hunger in the wake
of abundant production of food is merely a governance crisis.
What
policies and measures did the government introduce to reduce hunger and
malnourishment?
There
are (and were) many stand-alone initiatives such as the Benazir Income Support
Programme, Baitul-Mal, Rural Support Programmes and Poverty Reduction Strategy
Papers. In March 2012, Yousuf Raza Gilani, the then prime minister, initiated
the National Zero Hunger Programme for the 45 worst food-insecure districts.
However, that programme never took off and became a victim of a bureaucratic
tussle between the ministry of national food security and research (MNFSR) and
the ministry of finance.
The
launch of Zero Hunger Programme had symbolic significance as the prime minister
admitted on record that 48.6 per cent of people in the country were extremely
food insecure.
Barring that occasion, our policymakers are in a constant state of denial.
Citing bumper production of wheat, milk and export of rice, they simply rule
out that food insecurity is an issue in the country. The mindset to deny
existence of a problem coupled with governance issues is the root cause of all
policy failures against hunger and malnourishment.
Does
the government plan to invest in agriculture research to achieve better self
sufficiency in food production?
There
are a few issues here. First the contribution of agriculture to GDP is
declining, so investment in agriculture is no more a public or private
priority. Second, there is a complete disconnect among agricultural
universities, applied research centres and field extension services. Third,
there is no research on improved food storage, agricultural marketing and
measures to improve access to food. Weak coordination between federal and
provincial governments in the context of devolution of ministry of food,
agriculture and livestock is yet another hurdle in bridging
research-policy-practice gap.
Can
you explain the political and social implications of food insecurity on society
and national cohesion?
‘Insecurity
breeds insecurity’ is true in case of food insecurity as well. In the absence
of an effective social safety net mechanism and in the presence of huge income
inequalities, food insecure individuals may resort to extraordinary behaviours.
Some of these deeds include violent and destructive protests for basic
amenities such as uninterrupted supply of electricity, natural gas and water;
resorting to industrial action (which may turn violent); organ trade, putting
children on sale; resorting to various criminal activities (theft, burglary,
petty and street crimes, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, etc.); and forcing
women into prostitution and kids into child labour.
In
extreme cases, some people commit suicide and/or kill all their family members
and a few may fall prey to the Jihadi propaganda of militant groups by becoming
suicide bombers and militant fighters. All these behaviours not only promote
intolerance and violence, they also lead to socio-political instability. Due to
Pakistan’s peculiar geo-strategic situation, any socio-political instability
has the potential to create a situation where regional or global players may
want to intervene.
At
meso level, perception of individual marginalisation, social vulnerability,
social exclusion and individual food insecurity may lead to social conflict and
contest over scarce resources as and when individual insecurity takes on a
collective identity — be it ethnicity, creed, gender, sect, class, or regional.
This may lead to social instability and may erode the basic societal fabric
when it turns violent. The fact that this is already taking place in today’s
Pakistan is there for everyone to see in the cases of urban violence in
Karachi, increased street crimes in central Punjab and militancy in
Balochistan.
The
socio-political instability leading to violence not only threatens national
security but also regional (and at times global) security. The international
community gets concerned that a nuclear state has limited or no writ over its
violent groups and global and regional forces start doubting the state’s
capability to protect its nuclear weapons. This leads to regional and global
interference in the country’s affairs, which in turn provides a solid excuse
and rationale for enhanced national security measures (and increased spending
on them).
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