Meals for 1850 Young Students in Pakistan

Project Report | May 6, 2022
Food for the Poor

By Aazer Durrani | Head of Marketing

Some 193 million people experienced “acute food insecurity” last year, a joint report by the EU and UN said on Wednesday, calling it a record figure and warning that the war in Ukraine will add to a “perfect storm” to make the hunger crisis even worse in 2022.

Acute food insecurity is defined as a lack of food so severe that it puts a person’s life or livelihood in immediate danger. Its most serious form is famine, leading to starvation and death.

The Global Report on Food Crises, compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Program (WFP), and the European Union, has been monitoring it since 2016 when acute food insecurity was said to have affected 108 million people.

Last year’s figure of 193 million marked an increase of nearly 40 million from 2020. However, part of the increase is due to the fact that the latest report looked at a wider population sample.

In 2021, the countries with the highest numbers of food-insecure people were the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Yemen, Nigeria, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, Pakistan, and Haiti, the report said.

It added that around 570,000 people in Ethiopia, South Sudan, southern Madagascar, and Yemen faced famine. This was four times the number that was observed in 2020 and seven times higher than in 2016.

The report listed conflicts, extreme weather events, and economic shocks as the “key drivers behind rising acute food insecurity in 2021,” and said the outlook for 2022 was gloomier even before Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24.

“The unfolding war in Ukraine is likely to exacerbate the already severe 2022 acute food insecurity forecasts included in this report, given that the repercussions of the war on global food, energy, and fertilizer prices and supplies have not yet been factored into most country-level projection analyses,” it said.

The World Food Program (WFP) reports that over three million people in the country are experiencing severe food insecurity, mainly in the drought-affected districts of Balochistan and Sindh. Over half a million people in these provinces are described as in emergency conditions.

Based on an analysis, nine rural districts of Balochistan, seven rural districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and nine rural districts of Sindh were analysed, amounting to around 8.6% of Pakistan’s population.

Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh are three provinces in Pakistan, all having a high prevalence of food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty. In 2021, their populations faced multiple shocks including high food prices, drought, inadequate rainfall and livestock diseases, which were exacerbated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For all three provinces, food insecurity has consistently remained high over the years, and urgent action is required to protect livelihoods and reduce food consumption gaps of people in Crisis and save lives and livelihoods of those in Emergency. The latest analysis conducted in Sindh province also reported nearly 640,000 children under the age of five likely suffering from acute malnutrition through February 2022.

Current scenario of hunger in Pakistan is clearly explained above. A large number of people in Pakistan sleep on an empty stomach every night. Based on the above, Fatima Memorial Hospital and NUR Foundation have taken the matter in their own hands and have started to supply food to poverty stricken students and families of NUR Community Outreach Program (NCOP). Our community outreach program has 4 locations where there are large number of families living in poor state and with your support we are able to provide them with food and clothes. The number keeps on increasing and we lack resources for which this appeal is being made. Help us so we can help the needy.

We depend heavily on donations from our valued donors and would like to urge that the support continues and grows, through which we can provide food to the needy as much as we can.

Thank you.

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Dec 31, 2021
Food Insecurty

By Aazer Durrani | Head of Marketing

Pakistan ranked 92nd out of 116 nations in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) this year. With a score of 24.7, the country’s level of hunger is categorised as ‘serious’. On the regional level, Pakistan is better positioned as compared to India (ranked 101), while the other two close regional neighbours, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, outshine Pakistan by grabbing ranks of 76 and 65, respectively.

GHI is aimed at galvanising global action to combat hunger. The index comprises four indicators including undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting and under-five mortality rate. While 37.6pc of children are stunted, Pakistan has been able to bring the proportion of the undernourished population down to 12.9pc from 21.1pc in 2000. Along the same lines, Pakistan has also succeeded in cutting down the percentage prevalence of wasting in under-five children to 7.1pc in 2020 from 14.1pc in 2000.

Food security is being threatened on numerous fronts, with growing conflicts, extreme weather events due to global climate change, and the economic and health issues posed by the Covid-19 pandemic all contributing to hunger. Food insecurity is about more than just a scarcity of food in the market. It also indicates a lack of sufficient funds to acquire food, let alone nutritious and wholesome foods.

Over the last three years, Pakistan’s double-digit food price inflation, along with dwindling income, has left more Pakistanis food insecure. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that approximately 43pc of Pakistanis are food insecure and 18pc of those have acute food insecurity. The WFP contends that affordability is the “greatest barrier in achieving a nutritious diet,” estimating that the majority of Pakistanis are incapable of affording nutritionally acceptable food.

In Pakistan, a person is ‘food insecure’ if she/he is unable to reach a caloric target of 2,100 kilocalories per day. Imagine: 90.7 million Pakistanis are unable to reach a caloric target of 2,100 kilocalories per day.

Shockingly, of the five countries – Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Nepal – Pakistan has the largest ‘food gap’ (food gap is defined as the amount of food needed for all food insecure to reach the caloric target of 2,100 kcal/day). The food gap in Pakistan stands at 389; Bangladesh 300; India 289; Sri Lanka 258; and Nepal 255. In essence, the food gap indicates the ‘intensity of food security’. Shockingly, of the five countries – Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Nepal – the intensity of food security is the highest in Pakistan.

With a population of over 210 million, Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world. With nearly one third of the population subsisting from daily and piece-rate wages, the COVID-19 response has necessitated an urgent and immediate strategy to protect those living in extreme poverty.

We depend heavily on donations from our valued donors and would like to urge that the support continues and grows, through which we can provide food to the needy as much as we can.

Thank you.

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Sep 7, 2021
Acute Food Shortage

By Aazer Durrani | Head of Marketing

Despite claims made by the federal government about ending hunger from the country, the food inflation in the country continues to take its toll on masses, aggravating food insecurity in 2021 and beyond.

Amid a prediction that global hunger will surge by about a third this year in the region and continues to haunt the relatively large population in Pakistan even in 2031, dreams of curbing price hike of commodities may not materialize in the distant future.

The present cycle of inflationary pressure has mainly been driven by surging prices and dwindling income during the Covid-19 pandemic, affecting Central and South Asia mostly, according to the International Food Security Assessment, 2021–31, prepared by the US Department of Agriculture this month.

The analysis released this week utilizes information on domestic prices and consumer responsiveness to changes in prices and incomes for 76 low- and middle-income countries, containing current estimates and 10-year projections of food security. The 2021 report particularly assesses the combined impact of lower incomes and price shocks associated with the lingering effects of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on present and future food security.

However, the International Food Security Assessment, 2021–31 Report projects Pakistan is poised to be the second most food insecure country in the CSA sub-region in 2021 and beyond. Pakistan —like the other countries in the region— has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, Pakistan’s economy shrank by almost 2.4 percent in 2020. Even though GDP is anticipated to grow almost by 2.1 percent in 2021, GDP per capita is anticipated to remain 4.3 percent below its 2019 level.

The prevalence of food insecurity in the country is estimated at 38.1 percent of the population in 2021, whereas the food insecure population in Pakistan is estimated to be 90.7 million.

With lockdowns in effect and physical distancing measures mandatory, there were concerns about the spread of COVID-19, due to which the large population living under the poverty line such as daily wagers are facing hunger.

The state of hunger in Pakistan is clearly explained above. A large number of people in Pakistan sleep on an empty stomach every night. Based on the above, Fatima Memorial Hospital and NUR Foundation have taken the matter in their own hands and have started to supply food to poverty stricken students and families of NUR Community Outreach Program (NCOP).

Our valued donors are requested to keep supporting us so we can help eradicate hunger. We are trying to provide food to maximum people that is only possible through your donations.

However, due to COVID19, the situation has further worsened and in order for us to continue to serve the poverty stricken masses, your donations and support is requested which will make a huge difference.

Thank you.

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