[Islamabad] The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) says the 36.9 percent of the population experience food insecurity. Alarmingly, among them, the 18.3% face “severe” food insecurity. In its third quarterly report on the state of the economy, released Monday, the SBP noted provincial disparities in terms of food security. Only 63.1% of the country’s households are “food secure”, even though Pakistan is a self-sufficient country in major staples.
However, Pakistan is among seven countries that cumulatively account for two-thirds of the world’s undernourished population. A quarter of Pakistan’s million population lives below the poverty line. It means that around 50 million people are unable to access basic needs. Most of these people dwell in rural areas where the poverty rate is 30.7%.
