WFP chalks out plan for food-deficient Pakistanis

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ISLAMABAD: The World Food Programme (WFP) will launch a relief operation with US $ 600 to address the food security issues of 12 million Pakistani people.
“This will be the second largest operation of the WFP in the world after Sudan and it will address the food issues of 12 million vulnerable people facing food insecurity owing to high inflation and floods in the country and unrest in the tribal areas”, Amjad Jamal, the WFP spokesman told Pakistan Today on Sunday.
He said that food security had emerged as a serious problem in Pakistan because food prices had increased manifold over the years, rendering nutritious food beyond the reach of many people.
He said that the programme, initially for the period of two years, would be launched on January 1, 2011 adding that various existing programmes of the WFP’s would be merged in the new operation and certain ongoing projects, no longer needed, would be closed.
He said that the WFP would have a special component in the programme in collaboration with UNICEF for pregnant women and food deficient children.
When asked which areas of Pakistan were thought to be facing food insecurity, he said that flooded areas of Sindh, Punjab, some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkawa and tribal regions of FATA and Balochistan.
He said that WFP would launch Assessment Study of Pakistan on December 15 in which the announcement about the new relief project would also be made.
“The collapse of road infrastructure linking rural agriculture to markets, fear and insecurity among people and damages to crops all have had an accumulative impact on food security in the tribal regions” he added.
He said that if the damages caused by floods, violence in tribal regions and bad law and order situation, high inflation and recent price-hike were put together, one would understand the gravity of the situation.