Food insecurity: Pakistan urged to step up efforts to avert crises

World Food Programme (WFP) Sunday highlighted the grim situation in the food sector in Pakistan and advised the country to take measures, with an optimistic approach, to dealing with the emerging crises.
The WFP urged this at a dialogue on "school nutrition programme in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Fata", held in Bhurban under the aegis of WFP.
Participants of the dialogue were of the view that food-insecure population has been increasing all over Pakistan as the latest figures show it has recently risen from 40 to 50 percent.
Conflict and dislocation of nearly three million people has aggravated food insecurity in KP and Fata, thus casting an alarming overall impact."
Referring to the report "Food Security and Market Assessment of KP and Fata," Head Vulnerability and Analysis Unit WFP Laura DeFranchis said unconditional safety nets must be provided for food-insecure households in the crisis-hit areas, as 58 percent of Malakand and 46 percent of Fata has inadequate food intake problem.
"Out of total 6.3 million food insecure people, 1.3 million are considered to fall into the severe category, which is putting their lives at risk," she said.
Giving an overview of nutritional insecurity in Pakistan, Focal Point Health and Nutrition WFP, Tahir Nawaz said nutrition security could only be achieved when access to nutritious food, coupled with a clean environment, adequate health services and care, is provided. This could ensure a healthy and active life for all household members.
He revealed that the largest number of children under five years of age, who are stunted (cannot grow according to their potential), live in 24 countries. Out of these, 10 are in Asia including India, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Myanmar and Nepal.
He said WFP's main role in addressing malnutrition would continue. "Having the right approach to treating moderate malnutrition is more important in preventing deaths on a large scale than treating severe malnutrition. This is because many more children suffer from moderate malnutrition than acute malnutrition," he said.
Activity Manager (Education) WFP Rizwan Bajwa stressed that investments are required in the education sector, especially for infrastructure, equipment and staffing of schools to address the supply side-constraints where the impact of the crisis appears to be less prominent this year than previous ones.
"The WFP report on food security situation in Fata and KP purposes that the existing conditional food-based safety nets in the education sector should be extended to cover all primary schools in the crisis-affected areas to support approximately 1.5 million students."
Through these schemes, food rations (oil and wheat) are provided to households with primary school-aged children (5-9 years) in exchange for regular attendance at school," he added.
He suggested that in Fata and the Malakand division, where food insecurity is highest, nutritious biscuits should be distributed on-site to approximately 870,000 students to address short-term hunger and inadequate food intake.
Chief Nutrition Wing Planning Commission Dr Muhammad Ayub expressed concerns over the situation in the education sector, "the picture is not good, we are having a number of problems, of which short-term hunger is on the rise. The nutrition factor is important; the status of our population is not very good." Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa representative Qaiser Alam also spoke on the occasion.