A nation with vast agricultural land, a strong farming workforce and abundant rivers still struggles to ensure basic nutrition for all its people, it depicts an opportunity to strengthen governance, promote equity, and build greater climate resilience for a more secure and nourished future.
Food Security Indicators in Pakistan
| Indicator | Value | Description |
| Population | 258 Million | 5th most populous country |
| Population faced Insecurity | 36-40% | Not sufficient access to safe food |
| Stunting child (under 5 years) | ~40% | Depicts persistent malnutrition |
| Post-harvest losses of crops | 20-40% | Reflects weak infrastructure and weak food system |
The scale of the crisis: Facing the numbers
Nevertheless, the statistics reveal a very alarming condition. As per an estimate, somewhere between 36-40% of the population of Pakistan suffer from food insecurity, i.e., lack of availability of sufficient nutritional food all the time. Secondly, Pakistan boasts of having one of the highest percentage of children suffering from stunting due to malnutrition in the whole world, with almost 40% children under the age of 5 years suffering from this menace. Nutritional deficiencies, especially iron deficiencies, among women living in rural parts of the country are high.
The recent flooding in Pakistan, wherever about one-third of the land was flooded, has showed the vulnerability of the food system in the country. Several million tons of agricultural crops were lost, along with the loss of life-stock by floods. Billions of dollars’ worth of money was lost because of damage in agriculture. But the recent disaster has shown us that climate change and poor infrastructures have been the main causes for this kind of destruction.
Root causes: The Realities Behind the Problem
Structural Agricultural Deficiencies
The agriculture sector in Pakistan makes up around 24 percent of GDP while employing almost 40 percent of the workforce, low productivity, and obsolete farming methods. The farm sizes are reducing because of land division through inheritance. Most farmers have no means to buy high-quality seed, irrigation, fertilizer, financial support, and marketing. There is a huge difference between the yield potential of crops like wheat, rice, and maize and the actual yield.
Water Shortages and Management Problems
Pakistan is regarded as a nation suffering from water shortage, and it is an increasing menace. The Indus Basin Irrigation System used to be the largest irrigation system ever but now suffers from problems such as old infrastructure, water leakages, and inequitable distribution. Groundwater scarcity is a major concern in Punjab and Sindh because of the extensive extraction through tube wells. The impact of climate change on the glaciers is putting agricultural water at risk.
Climate Vulnerability
Although adding only about one percent of greenhouse gases globally, Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries effected by climate change. Droughts, heatwaves, unpredictable monsoon rains, and glacial floods, have happened in Pakistan with greater consistency. Such incidents damage crops, and cause instability in food prices. Hence, climate adaptation needs to be put right at the center of food security policy for Pakistan.
poverty and inequality
The problem of food insecurity in Pakistan is not only connected to poverty and inequality but cannot be separated from them. Economic marginalization, lack of employment opportunities, high inflation rates, and the weakening of purchasing power have made food inaccessible for a rising number of people in Pakistan, especially those living on the borders of major cities and rural areas in Balochistan and Sindh provinces especially.
Our Stand: Food Security is a Basic Right and an Urgent National Priority
It is our firm belief that there should be no ambiguity regarding making food security a constitutional right and supreme priority of national security in Pakistan. Stability, economic development, and unity of a nation are impossible without ensuring food security as hunger creates a situation where people are susceptible to being radicalized. Food security is never charity; it’s an investment, which generates many folds of returns on investments in terms of productivity, health, and social stability. Pakistan cannot afford to treat food security as anything less than a top priority than economic development and geopolitics.
Moving Ahead: A Strategic Roadmap for Food Security
Addressing the food security dilemma of Pakistan involves the need for intensive efforts at various levels and on multiple fronts. Below are some recommended strategies:
Revolutionizing and Transforming Agriculture
- Cultivate high-yield, climate-resistant crops by revitalizing the national agricultural research institute.
- Enhance digital agricultural that could help remote farmers adopt modern practices.
- Encourage farmers to embrace precision agriculture technologies such as soil conservation.
- Revamp the credit system to ensure availability of credit to small farmers.
Reform Land and Water Governance
- Conduct land reforms that ensure fair allocation of agricultural land.
- Restore the irrigation system of the Indus Basin through massive investments in canal lining, upgrading barrages, and addressing inequity in water distribution.
- Create a national water rights policy that ensures food production, ecological balance, and balanced distribution across provinces.
Make the Food System Resilient to Climate Change
- Create a National Food Security and Climate Adaptation Strategy that includes disaster risk management, crop insurance, and early warning systems.
- Escalate community-level climate resilience initiatives in the highly susceptible districts of Sindh, Balochistan, and KPK.
- Mobilize climate finance from the international community, especially the Loss and Damage Fund, to reconstruct flood-affected agricultural infrastructure.
Improve Nutrition and Social Protection
- Develop school meal programmes not only as a nutrition program but as a tool for increasing school enrolment and attendance.
- Develop biofortified crops like wheat, vegetable oil, to overcome micronutrient deficiencies.
Minimize Post-Harvest Loss and Improve Food Distribution Networks
- Develop a system of rural cold storage and grain silo facilities along with food processing centers to minimize post-harvest loss.
- Strengthen farmer cooperatives to increase farmer bargaining power in the market.
- Better connect rural areas through improved road transport infrastructure.
Empowerment of Women in Agriculture
It has been estimated that women form about 60% to 70% of Pakistan’s agricultural workforce, but they do not have much visibility when it comes to landownership, financing, and policy-making. Meaningful food security will never be possible until rural women are economically and socially empowered, requiring reforms in inheritance laws, finance schemes for women, and gender-focused extension services in agriculture.
Data and Research
There exists no effective data system on food security in Pakistan. Setting up an integrated database of remote sensing, forecasting of crop production, nutrition, and food prices will be critical for informed policy making. Public investment should increase dramatically in research universities, biotechnology companies, and agri-tech startups.
The Need for International Partnerships
It will be impossible for Pakistan to handle the food insecurity problem alone. Pakistan should engage with multilaterals such as the FAO, WFP, IFAD, and bilateral aid organizations with the aim of developing more strong partnerships. Moreover, Pakistan can seek the assistance of neighboring countries by way of the SAARC organization and building agricultural trading relationships and sharing information about potential food crises. Equally important is that Pakistan needs to advocate for itself in terms of climate justice and aid. Given that Pakistan bears the brunt of the climate crisis despite having little responsibility for the same, Pakistan needs considerable international support for addressing climate change and food insecurity issues.
Conclusion: Time for Action
The food insecurity situation in Pakistan is both dire and fixable but requires nothing less than full engagement by the Government of Pakistan. The combination of demographics, climate change, and poverty have reached a point where the implications go far beyond just hunger, extending into issues of national security and sustainable development.
It is important for Pakistan to make food security a national issue and form an independent Food Security Commission to facilitate coordination and policy enforcement. Moreover, it is vital for the government to assist farmers, particularly small-scale farmers, modern farming techniques, and availability of finance and other agricultural inputs at lower cost.
Acknowledgement: Muhammad Khuram Razzaq is Co Author and research data subject expert from Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences from Superior University in this Opinion Paper.
The Author
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