More than 50 percent of people do not have access to adequate food after the monsoon rains and floods – Vice Chancellor SAU
Tando Jam
The country’s agricultural experts have warned that severe food crisis may emerge in the entire country in general and Sindh in particular due to the recent torrential rains and flash floods that have destroyed almost entire agriculture sector.
“More than 50 percent of people do not have access to adequate food after the monsoon rains and floods,” Vice Chancellor Sindh Agriculture University Dr. Fatteh Marri said and appealed to the international community including international donors, G20, OIC countries to help Pakistan, and urged that the FAO should put Pakistan’s case before the world.
Dr. Marri was speaking at a seminar organized to observe the World Food Day under the auspices of the Institute of Food Science and Technology IFST of Sindh Agriculture University, Tando Jam, in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), on Monday.
The mortality rate among women and children is increasing rapidly due to shortage of nutrient food, he said.
Dr. Rubina Wahaj, the provincial head of FAO, said that climate change has left negative effects on agriculture and food, due to which food security risk has increased. She said still more than 83 million people in the world are suffering from food insecurity, while people do not even have the purchasing power of food.
She said FAO is working with Sindh Agriculture University and other institutions on the international food system, focusing more on supporting and training small farmers, and wants to create many other opportunities, including nutrition for rural children and women.
Dr. Jan Muhammad Marri, Pro Vice Chancellor, SAU Sub Campus Umerkot said that on the one hand there are many concerns regarding the health of women and children due to lack of food in Thar, on the other there is enough organic vegetables and fruits in Thar. In this regard, Sindh Agriculture University is starting work on arid agriculture instead of canal agriculture in Thar,
Dr. Aijaz Ali Khooharo, Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences said that there are other causes of food insecurity, especially lack of suitable storage, wastage of food and non-utilization of food are also important reasons.
Dr. Muhammad Ismail Kambhar said that Pakistan is self-sufficient in various agricultural commodities and produces more than most of other countries in the world, but in the current situation, the situation of food has become serious, while the health and growth of children is not going well due to the lack of nutrition in children.
Dr. Tahseen Fatima Miano, Dr. Shahzor Gul Khaskheli, Dr. Asia Akber Panhwer, Dr. Dilip and others also spoke on this occasion, while Director IFST, Dr. Aijaz Soomro, Dr. Asadullah Marri, Dr. Bhai Khan Solangi, Dr. Muharram Qumbrani, FAO’s Miss Sadia Siddiqui, Dr. Jam Ghulam Mustafa Sahito, Zahoor Ahmad Palijo, Miss Mahwish and others also participated.
The food exhibition was organized by IFST, which was inaugurated by Vice Chancellor Dr. Fateh Marri and Dr. Rubina Wahaj, in which students displayed food, juices, jam jellies, biscuits, and other food items and posters were prepared. (PR)
___________________
