The escalating food shortage and a looming food crisis have been termed to be the real concerns for Pakistanis right now as prices are increasing behind imagination.

Though the food prices inflation and shortage had already been an issue after the corona pandemic but after the summer floods, which damaged an estimated eighty per cent of our standing food crops including wheat, rice and sugarcane, food shortage has risen to a level to become a real concern.

On the other hand, the economic crisis due to which the letter of credit opening issue has arisen has further added to our food woes as a number of containers bringing food from abroad have been stuck at the port and if the same were not cleared and off loaded, then the food crisis can go to an unprecedented level creating a real food emergency. Food items and edible containers are being held at the port as banks are not clearing the dues due to the crisis of the opening of Letter of Credit and some perishable food items can waste if they remain stuck for some more time.

As our foreign exchange reserves have fallen to record low, the import of food is going to come to a standstill in coming weeks as SBP says that the country’s reserves are to cater for only few weeks of imports.

The purchasing power of the citizens has shrunk by thirty-five per cent.

The IMF team is in the country and crucial talks are in progress which may continue till Feb 9.

It now all depends on the IMF bail-0ut but for that the Govt has swallow the bitter pill of meeting the IMF nationalities which may add to the common man woes as food prices will definitely hit by the conditionality’s arising out of rising energy prices and cost of doing business as rising prices of seeds, fertilizes and food import etc.

It may be mentioned here the crisis can be averted for the time being if the dollar ten billion loans okayed by the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, is materialized soon.

The conference which was jointly organised by the Pakistani government and the United Nations in Geneva last month, the  world community had promised  $10 billion help for the flood damages.

On the other hand, the impending food crisis in the country was also aggravated by the war in Ukraine and the record depreciation of Pak rupee. We used to import quite a good quantity of  fertilizers and wheat from Ukraine that was stopped after the war in Ukraine and soon after the Ukraine war was followed by biblical floods that damaged eighty per cent of the country’s standing crops, so one can imagine the loss.

Pakistan food crisis has reached an alarming level as is evident from the little availability of across the country and the provision of same at exorbitantly higher prices.

The masses  are running from pillar to post to get wheat flour at affordable prices.

The price of 20kg flour bag in the mega polis is selling at Rs2,800-3,000  and the food consumers are in a fix as to what to do to make both ends meet. The food crisis is aggravating with every passing day as the old supplies of wheat are running out while the new crop is yet to arrive. In fact, the new wheat crop is sixty days away.

And one more aspect of the crisis is that the shopkeepers and the middlemen mafia are also making life hell for the common man as they contribute their bit to high prices of essential items. Meanwhile, the inflationary trends are at their peak once again and a latest report says that the prices of essential commodities have recorded a rise of up to 30 percent, which is a matter of serious concern. In this way, the over inflation on the weekly has also touched the same level year-on-year.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data says that Inflation has risen 0.48pc week-on-week basis and it can further worsen.

On the other hand, the sudden rise in the prices of eggs, meat, pulses and chicken is also an issue.

Prices of vegetables like onions, potatoes etc are also sky-rocketing. Overall, prices of nineteen essential items have shown inflationary trends. The short-term inflation as indicated by the Sensitive Price Indicator has touched a record high level of unprecedented 45.5pc in recent months.

Latest report and surveys reveal that seventy per cent of the household budget is spent on kitchen items and only 30 per cent left to meet other expenses like utility bills, education, medicines etc. The new wheat crop will arrive in the market in April in Sindh and till then the prices of flour are going to only rise.

One liter Milk price is Rs200 per litre, curd for Rs220 per kg, ghee for Rs550 per kg whereas vegetables prices are also very high. Though we never lived in hunky-dory times before, but after the biblical floods, majority of population seems to concerned about high food prices and shrinking sources of income.

The fact that one in every five people in our country go to bed on an empty stomach is a grave reminder of rife food shortage in Pakistan. 

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 02 2023

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