Pakistan among 21 undernourished nations: Oxfam

Pakistan is among the 21 nations of the world that are undernourished according to a report released by Oxfam organisation. The new interactive map published by Oxfam on Wednesday shows how poor communities across the world are being hurt by high and volatile food prices.
Pakistan is included among the 21 nations of the world that are found undernourished. Pakistan has been found more undernourished than Tanzania (35%), Niger (28%) and Yemen (32%) where nearly every third person is feared to be malnourished. Most of the identified nations are from the African continent with Eritrea having suffering population of 66 percent followed by Haiti 58 percent and Mozambique 52 percent.
The report states that food prices in Pakistan hovers nearly all time peak since late 2010 sending tens of millions of Pakistanis deeper into poverty and a famine like situation. After decades of steady progress in the fight against hunger, the number of people without enough to eat is again rising in Pakistan and could soon again be at dangerous level. In Pakistan, it was noted that nearly two-thirds of the population spend between 50 and 70 percent of their income on food, making them vulnerable to rising prices.
High and volatile food prices are one of the biggest political issues of 2011. The pressure points map can be embedded directly into any website to give audiences an easy way to raise their voice and take action on the food price crisis. The tool is part of Oxfam's global GROW campaign to fix the broken food system. Leaders from the G-20 nations have delivered little more than band-aid solutions giving little hope to struggling communities.
The map displays countries that are highly vulnerable to price hike which contribute to violence or unrest. It indeed is imperative for the government to develop a policy framework that not only checks the unjust food price hike but also reinvigorates the economy at the local level. Revival of the local economy is extremely important to generate jobs and challenge the mounting fears of poverty that is directly contributing to the malnutrition in Pakistan.