Food shortage may spark violence in Pakistan: report

Source: Dawn

Date: 05 Aug, 2010

WASHINGTON: About 77 million people go hungry in Pakistan while 36 per cent of the population are afflicted by poverty, says a new report released on Wednesday.

“From small farmers to the urban masses and internally displaced persons, millions of Pakistanis are affected by the scourge of food insecurity,” warns the report by the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, Washington.

 The report notes that while the global food crisis subsisted in 2009, Pakistan continues to suffer from an acute food shortage.
The report — “Hunger Pains: Pakistan’s Food Insecurity” — warns that the food shortage may lead to widespread violence if immediate steps are not taken to feed the hungry.

Quoting figures provided by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the report notes that in February 2010, the prices of wheat and rice — Pakistan’s two chief staple crops — were 30 to 50 per cent higher than before the global food crisis, and were on the increase.

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