Oxfam warns of food insecurity in Pakistan

This was stated by Neva Khan Oxfam country Director in Pakistan.Marking the end of its global grow week here in Islamabad on Saturday, Neva Khan said that soaring food prices and lack of political will to fix the broken food system are forcing more people into greater hunger each day.She said that depleting land and energy resources, inadequate land distribution especially among women, lack of effective agriculture policies, the gathering pace of climate change and recurrent natural disasters are interconnected and are directly affecting food security.She said that during a study conducted by Oxfam in six disaster-prone districts of the country shows that number of undernourished people exceeds fifty percent of the area population.In Pakistan, the poverty rate has officially jumped from 24 to 38% between 2005 and 2009 and according to latest figures, 72.9 million people in Pakistan fall below the poverty line while hundreds of thousands of others barely manage to have their basic needs met. Less than half of all rural households own agricultural lands, while the top 2.5 percent of household own 40 of all lands, she added.Iftikhar Khalid, Oxfam country programme manager in Pakistan, said that landless farmers especially women and small farmers particularly in the acute poverty pockets of the country needs to be at the centre of all agricultural policies.He said that timely availability of inputs such as certified seed, quality fertilizer, and legal support as well as the necessary equipment must be made possible to help them better grow the food that they and we all consume.He demanded the government ensure the provision of specialized services for pest management, veterinary care water management and creation of farmers organizations to guarantee improved food production and fair return for farmers.Its high time that action be taken to improve food security in Pakistan as the country cannot afford more delays and this must be happen now, he added.