Hunger Pains

"Yes, I should mention that one of the reasons I picked this book is that it was published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC. This is one institution in the US that is doing a tremendous job of focusing on very critical issues in Pakistan. They have actually published a number of short books on Pakistan between 2005 and 2010. One is on Pakistan’s water crisis; another is on Pakistan’s energy needs. The third one is about education reform in Pakistan, and this one, Hunger Pains , is another one in the same series. I want to especially recognise their work because most of the academic and policy work that is taking place in the US and Europe, and most of the books that are written on Pakistan, focus on very specific topics. For example, if you go to a bookstore in New York or Washington DC or in London, or even in Paris (I have checked this everywhere) and ask for a book on Pakistan, in 99% of cases you’ll be given a book which is either on a terrorism-related or a religious extremist issue. On other important issues – which are necessary for us to understand if we want to change things – there is not much work that is available to the ordinary person. And the Woodrow Wilson International Center is doing a great job of looking at exactly those issues which will help those in Congress, in the US government, or among the international donors in the EU who say, “OK, what are the areas where we can make a real difference in the lives of the ordinary people?” So I wanted to recognise and acknowledge this project and their work. Yes, the book is an excellent collection of essays from Pakistani and American experts, raising the critical issue of Pakistan’s food insecurity. Pakistan is an agricultural country where 65-70% of the land area is rural, and most people’s livelihood in rural areas is also dependent on production of food items. And Pakistan used to export food items once. But now they’re at a stage where they have been facing severe food shortages, especially of wheat and sugar. Food insecurity has become a major crisis and to the majority of the people in Pakistan today, the real struggle is the daily effort to get food onthe table. Nation-building efforts take a major hit in this scenario and this book looks at these basic issues in that context. It talks about inadequacies in Pakistan’s infrastructure, the government support system for the ordinary farmer and the transportation system. For all these reasons, fulfilling the basic food needs of the people has become an insurmountable task for the state. There is a serious potential for violence and social upheaval as a consequence.In fact, in 2008, this food insecurity crisis did trigger civil unrest in many urban areas, and Pakistan’s army was dispatched to guard grain supplies. This can happen again at any time. There are a variety of challenges. The government over the years took it for granted that Pakistan would have enough food. The energy shortages and dwindling water resources are also related to this – you need water foragricultural production and if there is no electricity there are no water pumps, so there is no water for many areas. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter There has been a criminal failure on the part of the government of Pakistan – of the political leadership and of the military leadership – to address this. They have been so deeply stuck with internal political tussles, on rivalry with India, that overall development trends have deteriorated to the extent that these are proving to be devastating for Pakistan. If you can’t provide basic necessities to the majority of your own people, what will you gain from getting Kashmir from India? Shouldn’t you get your own house in order first? But this kind of worldview, of the Pakistani military, of the Pakistani political leadership, their focus on India and Afghanistan, took up so much of their time that they did not focus on these basic issues. They did not stop to think that if there is not enough energy for this rising population, and if water resources are not utilised effectively, it will have a direct impact on food production.So there is no easy solution to solving these related problems – except more investment in the social services sector rather than the defence budget."