Nearly half of Pakistanis 'food insecure'

Islamabad : Nearly half of Pakistan's 160 million people are at risk of going short of food due to a surge in prices, the World Food Programme said on Friday.

The WFP survey covering the year to March showed the number of people deemed "food insecure" had risen 28 per cent to 77 million from 60 million in the previous year.

Sahib Haq, an official with the WFP's Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping Unit in Pakistan, said food prices rose at least 35 per cent in the past year compared with an 18 per cent rise in minimum wages.

"There is a very big gap between the increase in prices and increase in wages. The purchasing power of the poor has gone down by almost 50 per cent," Haq said.

The latest findings comes a week after the World Bank urged Pakistan to make rapid adjustments and reforms to avert an economic crisis as it reels from the impact of high global prices for petroleum and food.

The price of wheat flour in January was between Rs24-Rs25 (38 cents) per kg in three of Pakistan's four provinces, compared with Rs15 per kg in January 2007, the WFP said.

Tough times

Prices have since moderated to around Rs17 but are expected to shoot up 40 per cent or more in the coming months, according to grain industry officials.

"There will be a big crisis," Haq said.

Wheat flour is used to make roti and naan, the flat unleavened breads that are a the central component of the Pakistani diet.

Pakistan consumes about 22 million tonnes of wheat a year. Prices for rice, vegetables and cooking oil have also risen sharply.