Recent studies reveal rising inflation and unemployment creating high misery for people. Fuelled by these adverse reports, food insecurity, poverty and malnutrition problems had again momentarily hit national headlines, as they periodically do before being quickly displaced by political scandals.
Measuring these problems in Pakistan is made difficult by competing concepts, definitions and measurement approaches. Food security represents “regular access to sufficient and affordable nutritious food”. The 2011 National Nutritional Survey estimated nearly 60pc Pakistanis to be food insecure. Around 30pc had never experienced hunger but were not consuming quality nutritious food. In almost 20pc families, adults experienced some hunger.