SURYA-1
BANNED
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2013
- Messages
- 1,508
- Reaction score
- -11
- Country
- Location
Biggest joke of 2013.
Increasing food insecurity | Business | DAWN.COM
THERE has been a significant
rise in the number of food
insecure people in the
country over the last five
years. The number now
stands at 51 per cent of the total population as compared
to 22 per cent in 2007, says
Pakistan Agriculture
Scientists Association
Chairman Jamshed Iqbal
Cheema. At a discussion organised by
the Agriculture Journalist
Association (Aja) at Lahore
recently, Cheema cited the
reduced crop production in
Punjab — the grain house of the country — because of the
ill-conceived agricultural
policies of the government, as
a major reason for the increase
in food security. According to
him, the decline in agricultural productivity in Punjab started
between 2007 and 2011
whereas in Sindh it increased
significantly despite some
reduction in the cultivation
area. They key issue in productivity
is lack of enough investment in
modernisation of farming
which is moving at a slow pace
for want of enough savings
with the farmers, lack of investment by a vast majority
of the growers and paucity of
bank credit. The widely accepted definition
of food security adopted in the
World Food Summit (1996) is:
“When all people at all times
have physical and economic
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet the
dietary needs and food
preferences for an active and
healthy life”. The common perception about
food insecurity in Pakistan is
that there is physical
availability of safe and
nutritious food, but due to
economic constraints, between 20 and 29 per cent of the
population goes hungry.
According to reports, the
number of people who live in
hunger has risen over a decade
due to constrained purchasing power. The previous government’s
policy to increase support price
of wheat and sugarcane
encouraged farmers to some
extent, and motivated them to
bring in more area under cultivation and to increase per
acre yield. However, the
benefits were substantially
eroded by increase in the cost
of inputs. Moreover, it could
not create food security because of the escalation in
prices of the crops and
financial inability of the
consumers to purchase enough
of the foodstuff at higher
rates. Similarly, with depreciating
rupee, imports of pulses, which
are not produced in sufficient
quantity within the country,
have become costly and
expensive for the common man. The crisis continues to worsen.
According to a common
observation, there has been a
visible increase in the number
of people visiting free-feeding
centres of Edhi, Chipa, Sailani, Alamgir and other such welfare
trusts in Karachi as well as in
other big cities of the country. In an April 2012 report, the
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)
had stated that 37 per cent of
the urban population was food
insecure and warned the
government to “reduce the risk of a severe hunger-like
situation.” The 2011 National
Nutrition Survey revealed that
58 per cent of the households
were food insecure. It also
noted widespread malnutrition among children, with women
also badly hit in the past eight
years. The SBP had earlier asserted in
another report published in
December 2011, “Majority of
the rural population is facing
food insecurity including
malnutrition, under-nutrition, hunger, etc. The population
consuming less than 1700
calories per day, which is far
below the international levels,
has increased from 35 million
to 45 million during last couple of years”. Cheema suggested that the
government should reduce the
cost of inputs by waving taxes,
and bring down diesel prices
and electricity tariff for
growers. This, he believed, will enhance usage of quality
seeds, adequate quantity of
fertilisers, pesticides and other
inputs with more areas under
the plough which would
increase per acre yield and enhance over all crop
production thus ensuring, to a
great extent, food security in
the country.
Increasing food insecurity | Business | DAWN.COM
THERE has been a significant
rise in the number of food
insecure people in the
country over the last five
years. The number now
stands at 51 per cent of the total population as compared
to 22 per cent in 2007, says
Pakistan Agriculture
Scientists Association
Chairman Jamshed Iqbal
Cheema. At a discussion organised by
the Agriculture Journalist
Association (Aja) at Lahore
recently, Cheema cited the
reduced crop production in
Punjab — the grain house of the country — because of the
ill-conceived agricultural
policies of the government, as
a major reason for the increase
in food security. According to
him, the decline in agricultural productivity in Punjab started
between 2007 and 2011
whereas in Sindh it increased
significantly despite some
reduction in the cultivation
area. They key issue in productivity
is lack of enough investment in
modernisation of farming
which is moving at a slow pace
for want of enough savings
with the farmers, lack of investment by a vast majority
of the growers and paucity of
bank credit. The widely accepted definition
of food security adopted in the
World Food Summit (1996) is:
“When all people at all times
have physical and economic
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet the
dietary needs and food
preferences for an active and
healthy life”. The common perception about
food insecurity in Pakistan is
that there is physical
availability of safe and
nutritious food, but due to
economic constraints, between 20 and 29 per cent of the
population goes hungry.
According to reports, the
number of people who live in
hunger has risen over a decade
due to constrained purchasing power. The previous government’s
policy to increase support price
of wheat and sugarcane
encouraged farmers to some
extent, and motivated them to
bring in more area under cultivation and to increase per
acre yield. However, the
benefits were substantially
eroded by increase in the cost
of inputs. Moreover, it could
not create food security because of the escalation in
prices of the crops and
financial inability of the
consumers to purchase enough
of the foodstuff at higher
rates. Similarly, with depreciating
rupee, imports of pulses, which
are not produced in sufficient
quantity within the country,
have become costly and
expensive for the common man. The crisis continues to worsen.
According to a common
observation, there has been a
visible increase in the number
of people visiting free-feeding
centres of Edhi, Chipa, Sailani, Alamgir and other such welfare
trusts in Karachi as well as in
other big cities of the country. In an April 2012 report, the
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)
had stated that 37 per cent of
the urban population was food
insecure and warned the
government to “reduce the risk of a severe hunger-like
situation.” The 2011 National
Nutrition Survey revealed that
58 per cent of the households
were food insecure. It also
noted widespread malnutrition among children, with women
also badly hit in the past eight
years. The SBP had earlier asserted in
another report published in
December 2011, “Majority of
the rural population is facing
food insecurity including
malnutrition, under-nutrition, hunger, etc. The population
consuming less than 1700
calories per day, which is far
below the international levels,
has increased from 35 million
to 45 million during last couple of years”. Cheema suggested that the
government should reduce the
cost of inputs by waving taxes,
and bring down diesel prices
and electricity tariff for
growers. This, he believed, will enhance usage of quality
seeds, adequate quantity of
fertilisers, pesticides and other
inputs with more areas under
the plough which would
increase per acre yield and enhance over all crop
production thus ensuring, to a
great extent, food security in
the country.
