Pakistan has dropped from 38.1 in 2006 to 26.1 in 2022 in the ranking on the Global Hunger Index (GHI-2022) and is at 99th place in the list of 121 countries. According to the report, although Pakistan ranking has improved, the hunger level is considered serious. Zero score indicates a country has no issue of hunger. The report said 16.9 per cent population in Pakistan was undernourished. The death rate of children under the age of five years is 6.5 per cent and 7.1 per cent are wasted, while 37.6 per cent children under five are stunted. The problem itself is due to a combination of factors. One is the devastating 2022 summer floods. A second is the current economic crisis that is severely affecting the Pakistan government’s ability to manage food scarcity.

The devastating floods destabilised Pakistan’s rising inflation and poor economic situation. Pakistani government officials stated that the floods destroyed almost 80 per cent of crops. This staggering number has major ramifications for a country where an average household spends around 50 per cent of its income on food. “The current edition of the GHI reveals that armed conflicts, climate change, and the coronavirus pandemic are intensifying each other; as a result, up to 828 million people were forced to go hungry. As things stand, 46 countries will not even achieve a low level of hunger by 2030, much less eliminate hunger entirely.

In Africa, South of the Sahara and South Asia are once again the regions with the highest rates of hunger. South Asia, the region with the world’s highest hunger level, has the highest child stunting rate and by far the highest child wasting rate of any world region,” the GHI statement added. The GHI annual report is jointly published by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide and shall raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger. Aisha Jamshed, Country Director of Welthungerhilfe, said the GHI worked to assist food insecure communities and build resilience in cooperation with the civil society, government and private sector. Helene Paust, deputy head of Development Cooperation in German Mission (Pakistan), commended the work against hunger and addressed sector as well as political recommendations.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)