As floods in Pakistan inundate farms and cities, country staring at major food crisis
Floods of Agricultural Land, Destruction of Plants, and Loss of Livestock in Pakistan have raised questions about the country’s food security, especially when winter approaches.
Around 170,000 square km in Pakistan, which had been staggered under the increase in food prices, was reported to have drowned, of which 78,000 square km of plants cultivated in 57 districts were under water.
It is also estimated that around 65 percent of the country’s food baskets – especially plants such as rice, cotton, wheat and onions – have been abolished.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, in an interview with CGTN earlier this week, offered a view that was even more striking by saying that “around 80 to 90 percent” of state crops had been damaged by floods.
In some parts of Sindh, chili, sugar cane, and palms have also been devastated. The Sindh CM advisor about Manzoor Wassan agriculture told Dawn that agricultural loans given to farmers during this year’s kharif season in areas affected by rain could be rescheduled and loan interest could be abolished.
Before the flood, Pakistan had struggled with an increase in food prices and inflation carried by the Russian invasion to Ukraine. However, the federal government now estimates that the impact of the flood economy could be at least $ 10 billion, which is around three percent of the country’s GDP.
Although the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the release of $ 1.1 billion for Pakistan on Monday, as part of the bailout program that began in 2019, damage to the country’s agricultural infrastructure is estimated at around $ 20 billion.
Agricultural sector in chaos. Cotton plants and vegetables are completely erased in many main areas. Wild weather can’t give us a break. The first wave of heat, now floods, “Vice President of the Pakistani Business Forum Ahmad Jawad, who planted wheat, corn, oranges, and sugar cane, told Bloomberg.
According to experts, floods are currently greater than what happened in the Indus River in 1973 and 1976.
