Hunger is a physically unpleasant or painful experience brought on by not consuming enough energy from food. It becomes chronic when the person does not consume a sufficient amount of calories on a regular basis to spend a normal, active and healthy life. The world has made much progress in reducing global hunger in recent decades but we are still far away from an end to hunger. Pakistan, like many other developing countries, grapples with the issue of undernourishment (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2022).
Tragically, around 10% of people still go without enough food. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that a significant portion of the population is undernourished in Pakistan. According to estimates, 18.3% of Pakistan’s population suffered from chronic undernourishment in 2019, which is lower than the 8.9% prevalence of undernourishment, reported in global data. Based on these statistics, Pakistan is among the nations where undernourishment is most common worldwide (Hussain et al., 2021).
Goal number two, Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN, is to “end hunger by 2030.” The world has advanced in recent decades, but we are still a long way from achieving this goal. This difference highlights the pressing need for focused interventions and approaches to combat hunger in the nation. Pakistan faces issues with undernourishment due to various factors, such as: a significant portion of the population cannot afford a sufficient diet due to persistent poverty, which continues to be a major obstacle to food security. Pakistan is extremely sensitive to climate change due to frequent droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events that reduce agricultural output and exacerbate food insecurity. The primary factor contributing to food insecurity is (inequitable) displacement of communities and disruption of food systems caused by political instability and violence in some areas (Alaimo et al., 2020).
A comprehensive strategy is required to effectively tackle hunger and undernourishment; Pakistan must employ focused tactics suited to its unique issues such as investing in irrigation infrastructure and promoting sustainable farming practices can increase food production and resistance to climatic variability. For vulnerable communities, strengthening social safety services like food assistance programs and cash transfers can be quite helpful. Household food security and nutrition results can be enhanced by funding women’s education and economic development (Roser et al., 2019).
Pakistan must make concentrated efforts to address the root causes of undernourishment as it moves forward in its mission to achieve food security and nutrition for everyone. It can significantly improve the lives of its people and reduce hunger by adopting context-specific interventions and learning from global best practices.
References
Alaimo, K., Chilton, M., & Jones, S. J. (2020). Food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition. In Present knowledge in nutrition (pp. 311-326). Academic Press.
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. (2022). Hunger and food insecurity. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://www.fao.org/hunger/en/
Hussain, S., Hali, S. M., Ahmad, R., Iqbal, S., & Iftikhar, H. (2021). Fiscal decentralization and poverty alleviation: A case study of Pakistan. Poverty & Public Policy, 13(2), 139-154.
Roser, M., & Ritchie, H. (2019). Hunger and undernourishment. Our World in Data.
