News
May 17, 2024
US Spending $85m on Malnutrition in Flood-Affected Areas
Lahore: With a large portion of Pakistan’s population, particularly children and women, suffering from moderate to acute malnutrition, the US government is spending $85 million directly to address malnutrition issues, including $12mn on acute cases, across the country.
“The US, and the embassy in particular, are focusing on the issue of malnutrition in Pakistan, especially in the wake of the floods , as we started to funnel direct assistance into the flood-affected areas and seeing the scale and scope of malnutrition-related problems in those areas,” US Ambassador Donald Blome said in a recent interview with Dawn .
“But there is a lot more that needs to be done and we are trying to encourage other international organizations and partners, including activating the private sector around it,” said Ambassador Blome , who had arrived in Pakistan to take up his new diplomatic assignment in April 2022, months before the biblical floods struck most parts of the country.
In Pakistan, more than 1.5mn children are at risk of dying from acute malnutrition . And eight million people, half of whom are children, continue to live without access to safe drinking water in flood-affected areas. Moreover, four out of every 10 children under five are suffering from stunting. The wasting rate among children under five is estimated to be nearly 18 per cent.
“Of course, Pakistan is a growing producer of food supplements and vitamin supplements that are critical to the treatment of malnutrition. That’s why I visited Remington Pharmaceuticals in Lahore, which is developing with the US partners and others, nutritional supplements for maternal health and other food supplements directly dealing with malnutrition issues… the private sector is key to Pakistan’s economic future,” the top American diplomat in Pakistan noted.
The US has a long history of working with Pakistan on renewable energy and environment-friendly projects, starting with the Mangla Dam in the 1960s which is currently in the process of upgrading with new turbines. “That is a $400mn project under the US-Pakistan Green Alliance. Also, we are working on solar energy. So, we are working on different fronts on renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, water management, and on climate resilience. That has been the focus of our Green Alliance, especially since the 2022 floods, providing development funding and technical assistance,” he elaborated.
The ambassador considers the agriculture sector as another challenging area for Pakistan. “But I think Pakistan has abundant water. It should be a strength for Pakistan. We are working with the US Department of Agriculture in a number of different ways, sometimes directly with farmers to improve crop yield and on water management issues. The government has to ensure that it’s getting (water) pricing right, so the incentive is to use water wisely and make sure that the right cost is factored into production. I think the agriculture sector in Pakistan is underperforming in many ways.”
Responding to a question, he advised that Pakistan must get its agriculture-related policies lined up to encourage innovation and investment. “We do work directly with farmers on sustainable and modern agriculture practices. I can think of programs specific to chili peppers, dates, bananas, and have several crop specific programs and others that are generally aimed at farm modernization. Yes, we are working across different lines of efforts to modernize the agriculture sector. Again, getting policies lined up to encourage innovation and encourage investment in new equipment is going to be important for the agriculture sector.”
Most of the initiatives relating to malnutrition, agriculture, renewable energy and others are multi-year projects. “It’s hard to do anything on development overnight in complex conditions. We are talking about dozens of projects with different timelines,” Ambassador Blome noted. - Dawn
Courtesy Dawn
Back to Pakistanlink Home