FOOD CRISIS IN PAKISTAN: REASONS BEHIND THE SHORTAGES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 002061 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR EAID ETRD ECON PGOV PREL PK SUBJECT: FOOD CRISIS IN PAKISTAN: REASONS BEHIND THE SHORTAGES REF: A. Islamabad 1715 ¶B. Islamabad 1705 ¶C. Islamabad 669 ISLAMABAD 00002061 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: While rising fuel prices, nation-wide power cuts, insufficient irrigation water and global price trends are all to blame for the shortage of basic agricultural commodities in Pakistan, government mismanagement remains a primary cause of the country's agricultural problems. The prices of basic food commodities have steadily risen over the past year and will negatively impact the country's poor. Wheat serves as a prime example of how market distorting price structures have led directly to domestic shortages and rent seeking behavior among wheat hoarders and smugglers. With over 100 million Pakistanis living on two dollars a day, a large segment of the population remains vulnerable to rising food prices. Whatever the cause of Pakistan's food crisis, the nation's poor are increasingly concerned about the price and availability of food. Without a comprehensive plan to alleviate the food crisis, poverty levels and malnutrition are likely to rise, erasing years of success in poverty alleviation. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The prices of basic agricultural commodities have steadily risen over the past year, including the cost of key staples such as wheat, rice and cooking oil (Ref A). Pakistan has been suffering from monthly double digit food price inflation since September 2007. The World Food Program (WFP) identified Pakistan as one of 40 countries at risk for food insecurity. The WFP recently raised its estimate of at-risk individuals from 60 to 77 million, or 48 percent of Pakistan's population. The World Bank estimates that 19 percent of Pakistanis are already malnourished (over 30 million people) and 38 percent of the country's children under the age of five are both malnourished and underweight. Economists from Lahore's Beaconhouse National University report that the prices of basic agricultural commodities will soon become unbearable for Pakistan's poor, erasing recent poverty alleviation gains (Ref B). ¶3. (SBU) Rising fuel costs and nation-wide energy shortages are taking their toll on the agricultural sector, increasing the cost of transporting produce and limiting the utilization of irrigation systems. Power demand in Pakistan currently outstrips supply by at least 4,000 megawatts per day. Not a single megawatt of electricity has been added to Pakistan's national grid since 2000 despite record economic growth and population expansion. Agricultural production in Pakistan is dependent on the country's one million wells, all of which utilize either electric or gas power. ¶4. (SBU) Pakistan faces a shortage of utilizable irrigation water, mainly affecting rice, cotton, fruit and vegetable crops. The GOP estimates that 40 percent of available irrigation water never makes it to crops because of inadequate irrigation technology. Most agricultural producers do not use sprinkler or drip irrigation systems. Members of the Pakistan AgriForum report that cotton producing regions of Pakistan have 77 percent less useable water this year. GOP meteorological estimates predict that irrigation water supplies will be negatively affected by a 25 percent decline in snowfall in Pakistan's northern watershed areas. WHEAT AS AN EXAMPLE OF MISMANAGEMENT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (SBU) Pakistan's 2008-09 wheat marketing year began in May, amid concerns that domestic wheat shortages would continue. Pakistan expects this year's final domestic wheat production to be between 20.8 and 21.8 million metric tons (MT),well below the target of 24 million metric tons. If forecasts prove true, Pakistan will need an additional one to 1.8 million metric tons of wheat in 2008-09 to meet domestic demand. During the 2007-08 marketing year, Pakistan imported 1.7 million metric tons at a cost of USD 800 million. On May 13, the GOP announced plans to import up to 2.5 million metric tons to both meet domestic demand and augment a system of national strategic wheat reserves. ¶6. (SBU) On the domestic market, price differentials exist between the official government wheat purchase price and the going market rate. The GOP provides fertilizer and irrigation subsidies to wheat producers who in turn sell their wheat at a below market price to government procurement agencies. Government procured wheat supplies are then sold at a discounted rate to consumers, keeping the cost of wheat low. The cost of wheat in Pakistan is among the cheapest in the world, currently selling at USD 234 per metric ton versus a ISLAMABAD 00002061 002.2 OF 002 world price of USD 375 per metric ton. This price differential between the domestic and international cost of wheat is directly responsible for Pakistan's wheat shortage. The relative low price of Pakistani wheat increases the incentive to smuggle wheat and wheat flour to neighboring India, Iran and Afghanistan, further exacerbating domestic wheat shortages. ¶7. (SBU) Farmers are reluctant to sell wheat to government brokers at below-market prices. The GOP currently pays Rs 625 (USD 9.3) per 40 kg bag while wheat trades on the open Pakistani market at Rs 800 (USD 11.9) per 40 kg bag. As of early June, the GOP had procured 3.294 million metric tons, well below its internal procurement target of five million metric tons. The provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh, the country's largest wheat producing regions and home to the nation's most food insecure groups, have banned inter-district and inter-provincial wheat transportation. The move is aimed at limiting large-scale private sector wheat purchase, transportation and hoarding. As fuel costs and agricultural commodity prices rise, speculators have reportedly set up nation-wide networks to buy and hoard key agricultural commodities, regulating domestic supply and manipulating prices. Although local police have been mobilized to restrict inter-province transport and hoarding, wheat flour continues to move freely throughout Pakistan. WHEAT EXPORTS TO AFGHANISTAN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (SBU) Pakistan has officially banned wheat exports to neighboring countries, with the exception of Afghanistan. Traditionally, private sector wheat flour sales to Afghanistan average 600,000 metric tons per year. During the 2007-08 wheat marketing year, sales tripled to almost 2 million metric tons, prompting the GOP to prohibit the export of wheat to Afghanistan. The Government of Pakistan announced that it will lift the prohibition this year but will allow only 50,000 tons to be exported on a government-to-government basis. Private sector sales remain illegal and smuggling is still rampant. WORLD FOOD PROGRAM - - - - - - - - - - ¶9. (SBU) Both World Bank and UNDP reports indicate that over 100 million Pakistanis live on less than two dollars per day, including 25 million living on less than one dollar per day. The WFP currently provides food assistance to 3.7 million Pakistanis. WFP analysis further indicates that the purchasing power of Pakistan's poor has declined by almost 50 percent in the past year. WFP officials in Islamabad indicate that the organization will likely seek to temporarily increase food recipients to between six and eight million. The WFP will field a food assessment mission to Pakistan beginning June 10 in an attempt to identify the number of Pakistanis at risk of starvation and propose WFP options. COMMENT - - - - ¶10. (SBU) Pakistan is not a food deficit country and should be able to feed itself. However, poor public and private sector management of the agricultural sector is to blame for the country's rising food prices and insufficient domestic supply. Market distortions, particularly price differentials in the cost of agricultural commodities, are the main sources of the problem. By changing the official government purchase price to more accurately match market prices, the GOP could purchase more wheat and other basic commodities for government-owned utility stores that cater to Pakistan's poor, replenish strategic grain reserves and reduce the rent-seeking incentive to smuggle and hoard. ¶11. (SBU) Comment continued: Whatever the cause of Pakistan's food crisis, rising food prices are increasing insecurity for the growing number of Pakistanis hovering around the poverty line. The country's poorest groups remain vulnerable to malnutrition and starvation. Without a comprehensive national plan to both reform the management of the agricultural sector and protect at-risk groups, poverty levels and malnutrition-related diseases are set to rise. End Comment. PATTERSON