66% of Pakistanis can't afford nutritious diet: UN

A recent report by the United Nations World Food Programme shed light on the affordability challenge of a nutritious diet in Pakistan, revealing that a large segment of the population cannot afford to meet their energy and nutritional needs.

"The estimated cost of a daily energy-only diet ranged from Rs18 per capita in rural Balochistan to Rs32 per capita in urban Sindh,” according to the ‘Fill the Nutrient Gap’ (FNG) analysis.

“Nationally, only 5 percent of the population was unable to afford the costs of meeting energy needs,” stated the report.

The daily cost of a diet that meets individual nutrient needs was substantially higher, ranging from Rs67 per capita in rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Rs78 per capita in urban Sindh.

“On average, 66 percent of the population was unable to afford a nutritious diet” nationwide, and “the non-affordability ranged from 59 in rural KP to 84 percent in rural Balochistan.”

The report stressed the need for specific nutrition for adolescent girls, pregnant, and those women who are breastfeeding their children.

“Children aged 12–23 months have the lowest cost of a nutritious diet compared with other members of the family as they consume less food,” according to the report.

Moreover, the WFP emphasised the good nutrition of the said group as “a failure to meet nutrient intake during this age also has lifelong consequences.”

The report pointed out that the social protection programs, such as Kafaalat cash and Benazir income support, “cover only 13 percent of the cost of a nutrition diet monthly.”

However, the analysis stated that under the Benazir Nashonuma program that was "piloted in 2020 in 14 districts to improve nutrition outcomes of the most vulnerable," the government was providing Rs3000 monthly support to the vulnerable sector.