ALPHARETTA, Georgia — As Pakistan’s inflation rate grows to the highest in Asia, nearly 10.5 million of its citizens are experiencing food insecurity at a critical level. With prices for food showing a 39.45% increase, goods such as grain are being sold at an all-time high, leaving many Pakistani citizens struggling to provide for their families. As Pakistan’s hunger crisis increases, aiding Pakistani citizens is becoming an imperative pursuit.
Pakistan is the 30th lowest-ranked country in human development. Due to failures to provide political and economic security and unwavering natural disasters, the well-being of the country’s citizens decreases.
Political Instability
Following the arrest of Prime Minister Imran Khan in May, the government was met with violent civil unrest, with citizens who supported Khan even raiding opposing government officials’ homes. The instability in the region has been triggered by decades of government corruption, heightened during Khan’s rise to power, beginning with an anti-IMF (International Monetary Fund) Campaign.
Despite Pakistan’s economy dwindling, Khan refused aid until 2019. Though he sought help from the IMF, his continual pursuit of populist policies and refusal to expand Pakistan’s narrow tax base put a standstill on the financial aid opportunity.
With Khan out of power, the new Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, is likewise failing to provide citizens with necessary economic and social rehabilitation, continuing the deterioration of the rupee. The Taliban’s current occupation of Afghanistan furthermore destabilizes Pakistan, with a slow response from Sharif and the military to daily attacks from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Afghani fugitives, harming Pakistani civilians.
Natural Disaster
Heavy monsoon rainfalls in Pakistan have been a huge contributor to the hunger crisis, as farmland and crops have faced unprecedented damage. From June 2022 to November 2022, one-third of Pakistan was submerged by catastrophic flooding, leaving families reliant on agriculture unable to grow crops or earn an income without land to grow on. The floods killed 1,700 citizens, destroyed millions of homes and ravaged farmlands, leaving 8 million people displaced and relying on contaminated water. UNICEF reported that six months later, 20 million people still need assistance and 1.8 million still live in stagnated flood areas.
Floods are a humanitarian disaster, harming the health and well-being of Pakistani citizens, forced to live in polluted and flood-devastated areas. Civilians harmed by the floods are still trying to rebuild their homes and livelihoods, feeling the aftermath of flooding to this day.
Foreign Trade
A main impairment of Pakistan’s food security is their dependency on foreign imports, which have put them in a balance-of-payments crisis; they have been spending more on trade brought in than goods they have sold. Pakistan has a negative balance of trade, valued at 530,150 PKR Million (1.825 billion USD), attributed to their spending on foreign goods and inability to repay loans back to other countries. Generally, debt is manageable by many countries because they are owed more than they owe, which is the opposite for Pakistan, leaving them close to default, which is when a country can not pay back their debt. Saved by emergency loans, Pakistan is circling in a debt trap, having to borrow money to pay for the money they have already borrowed.
Due to their massive debt, Pakistan cannot pay for their food imports, leading to a shortage of basic goods and causing a wheat crisis. The shortage of flour has caused chaos in the country, with hoarders smuggling the goods and brawls breaking out over free, government-issued rations. Stampedes over rations have caused at least 16 deaths and 56 injuries. Pakistan’s hunger crisis is hurting the lives of millions, claiming civilian lives, as the country struggles to recover financially.
The IMF has given Pakistan a $3 billion loan, which will serve to stabilize the country and its economy, providing resources to help repay its debts sustainably.
Unemployment
A lack of employment opportunities in Pakistan has led to a 6.3% unemployment rate, contributing to the poverty crisis in the country.
Industries across Pakistan have stopped production, contributing to the unemployment of 2 million citizens, because of import restrictions and a lack of natural resources in the region. The massive sectors either slowing production or closing down include producers from the automobile industry, petroleum industry and textiles and agriculture. As some of the major sources of income for Pakistan, including their main supplier of oil, have come to a standstill, so have the livelihoods of many Pakistani citizens.
Moving Forward
The World Food Programme has helped 40,189 affected citizens in five districts across Balochistan, Pakistan. Per the Government of Pakistan’s plea for help, they are currently expanding their support to 495,957 more, reducing Pakistan’s Hunger Crisis.
– Nadia Soifer
Photo: Flickr