MALNUTRITION: Price hike causes malnutrition in flood-hit KP

By Akhtar Amin
PESHAWAR: Hundreds of children are suffering from diseases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to malnutrition and poverty as price-hike and the recent devastating floods have caused food crises in the province.
“Malnutrition causes various diseases among growing children,” paediatrician Mohammad Khalid told Daily Times on Saturday. He said that the number of malnourished children was on the rise due to lack of access to proper food.
Unusual rise in prices of food items in the province has made it difficult for the common man to get proper food. According to the United Nations, about 9 to 11 percent of children are faced with hunger and starvation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Dr Khalid said about 10 to 15 percent of the children brought to hospitals were facing food shortage and this percentage was growing. He warned that out of ten, every two children could die, if the price-hike was not controlled.
Massive floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of the country caused price of the commodities to skyrocket. The rising prices threaten to intensify misery in the province where many residents were already struggling with poverty and food insecurity before the floods struck.
In the last one year, the price of one kilogram sugar has increased from Rs 56 to Rs 80. Yogurt is at Rs 60 per kg while the previous year it was Rs 50. A litre of milk is now Rs 45 that was previously Rs 40.
Price of one kilogram mutton has increased from Rs 280 to Rs 350 while of beef, from Rs 160 to Rs 220. Prices of vegetables have also highly increased after flash floods; tomatoes are now at Rs 50 per kg, onion Rs 40 per kg and potato Rs 35 per kg.
Of pulses, daal mash is at Rs 200 per kg and daal chana is at Rs 80 per kg. In fruits, guava is at Rs 150 per kg, apricot Rs 70 per kg, banana Rs 50 to Rs 60 a dozen and apple Rs 60 to Rs 120 per kg.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has called for a united front against hunger on World Food Day (October 16), with nearly one billion people suffering from food shortages worldwide.
“We are continually reminded that the world’s food systems are not working in ways that ensure food security for the most vulnerable members of our societies,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his message for World Food Day.
“When people are hungry, they cannot break the crippling chains of poverty, and are vulnerable to infectious diseases,” the UN secretary general noted. On October 11, a new global hunger index released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) showed that one billion people face hunger this year.
The 2010 Global Hunger Index showed there was alarming hunger in 25 out of the 122 countries surveyed.
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