EDITORIAL: The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s latest report on global food insecurity, published last week, casts a spotlight on the growing scale of hunger worldwide, with conflict, climate shocks, economic downturns and faltering humanitarian aid driving hundreds of millions into ever deeper crisis.
Globally, more than 295 million people faced acute hunger last year, a new record, with it being the sixth consecutive annual increase in the number of people hit with “high levels” of acute food insecurity, according to the report.
Worryingly for Pakistan, an estimated 11 million people faced acute food shortages between November 2024 and March 2025, underscoring the country’s deepening vulnerability amid compounding economic and climate-related stresses. The crisis was particularly severe in 68 flood-affected rural districts in Balochistan, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
This included 1.7 million people in the emergency phase of food insecurity, a stage marked by severe food consumption gaps, dangerously high levels of acute malnutrition and elevated risk of mortality.
Extreme and erratic weather patterns emerged as the leading factor contributing to acute food insecurity in the country, with unusually heavy monsoon rains between July and September triggering flooding and landslides across parts of Balochistan and Sindh. These climate shocks not only disrupted agricultural production — causing widespread crop losses and extensive damage to homes, water systems and farming infrastructure — but also deepened economic vulnerabilities for rural communities.
The combined impact of reduced food supply and diminished livelihoods has eroded purchasing power, making access to food increasingly unaffordable for millions. Furthermore, with agricultural recovery remaining patchy and many of the rural areas still struggling to recuperate from the devastation caused by the 2022 floods, millions continue to grapple with limited access to essential agricultural inputs, the loss of livestock.
The surge in acute food insecurity has triggered a parallel crisis of severe malnutrition. For instance, between March 2023 and January 2024, acute malnutrition affected 2.1 million children between six months and five years of age, with the crisis stemming from not just worsening food shortages, but also from inadequate dietary quality and quantity. The situation becomes particularly dire during the winter months when soaring food prices, limited livelihood opportunities and reduced market access further strain vulnerable households.
Moreover, food insecurity has triggered alarming rates of maternal under-nutrition, particularly in Sindh and KP, severely impacting pregnant women and lactating mothers, with dire consequences for child health. According to a 2024 report documenting the malnutrition crisis in the country, a staggering 1.4 million infants are born under-weight each year.
And with malnourished mothers often struggling to breastfeed, newborns become even more susceptible to inadequate nutrition, entrenching a vicious cycle of intergenerational poor health. Given these compounding challenges, it is no surprise that Pakistan suffers among the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in South Asia.
It goes without saying that extreme hunger and food insecurity are crises that have no place in the 21st century, least of all in a predominantly agricultural country like Pakistan, which should have achieved sustainable food sufficiency long ago.
Our systems for climate resilience and agricultural stability are in clear need of an urgent overhaul, with policies geared toward ensuring food security for all, including the most vulnerable segments of the population. With India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty now jeopardising our agricultural lifeline and introducing new volatility to Pakistan’s food security equation, we are in an even more precarious position.
An integrated policy framework that addresses the multidimensional causes of food insecurity, whether they be environmental, economic, or geopolitical, is the need of the hour.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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