‘181m people in S Asia will be at high risk of hunger by 2050’

Islamabad : Dr Omer Ahmed Bangash, Sector Advisor for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security (SFNS), Welthun­gerhilfe-Pakistan (W­H­­H-P­ak­istan), has said that there is no blueprint to solve food and nutrition insecurity under changing climate, solutions have to be contextualised and adaptation mechanism drawn by integrating multi-sectors and engaging range of actors.

Dr Bangash was speaking here on ‘Resilient food systems under climate change’ at Institute of Regional Studies (IRS). Dr Bangash in his presentation evaluated the situation of food and nutrition security, the concept of food systems and the impact of climate change on SFNS. He shared alarming predictions for South Asia in the face of climate change, highlighting that an additional 181 million people will be at high risk of hunger by 2050. He added that the yields of staple crops such as maize, rice and wheat are expected to decrease by 30 percent and freshwater availability will also diminish significantly.

He noted that while the Global Hunger Index improved from 36.7 in 2000 to 26.6 in 2023, the progress for reducing hunger has largely stalled since 2015 and the level of hunger in the country is termed serious. This is mostly because of overlapping crises including fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war, economic turmoil, and climate disaster, ie, 2022 floods. Given that the world is expected to be subject to increased weather shocks in future years, particularly as a result of climate change, the effectiveness of disaster preparedness and response is likely to become increasingly central to the outlook on food security.

Dr Bangash in light of such critical statistics offered approaches to practical actions and policy recommendations emphasising the need to work with existing food systems while integrating new research. He advocated localised solutions to address this global problem stating that site-specific, farmer-oriented and locally adapted agriculture was the way forward. He said that there exists an excess of policies with some commendable examples such as National Food Security Policy, National Climate Change Policy, and National Water Policy. However, he stressed that progress can only be made once the “right to food” is in essence considered a basic human right under the Constitution of Pakistan given the UN Resolution “Right to Food” that has been endorsed by the Government of Pakistan.

Jauhar Saleem, President, IRS, drawing upon his experience as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), IFAD and World Food Program (WFP) highlighted the urgency of building resilience in food systems as the South Asian population continues to rise rapidly while current systems are faltering. He particularly mentioned the role of youth as the inheritors of these food systems and future decision-makers. The gravity of the challenge is not fully realised, he remarked urging the governments in South Asia to take cognizance of this impending crisis.