PAKISTAN / FOOD PRICES

The FAO announced today that the Food Price Index had dropped for the first time after eight months of continuous price spikes, adding that prices are still 37 percent higher than they were in March of last year. In Pakistan, catastrophic flooding last summer caused enormous damage to major crop and vegetable producing areas. FAO

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:59
• Production Date: 7 April 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION - FAO
• Subject Topical: AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; FISHING; NUTRITION
• Geographic Subject: PAKISTAN
• MAMS Id: U110407b

Description

STORY: PAKISTAN / FOOD PRICE
TRT: 1:59
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / PUNJABI / NATS

DATELINE: JANUARY 2011, PAKISTAN / FILE

Shotlist

JANUARY 2011, PAKISTAN

1. Various shots, people at Multan Market
2. Various shots, vendors at Sukkur Market
3. SOUNDBITE (Punjabi) Shiree, Shopper:
“The story is very miserable, everything has gone up in price – vegetables, rice, beans, wheat, flour, dahl. It’s difficult to buy due to the floods and rising prices.”

FILE – OCTOBER 2009, PAKISTAN

4. Various shots, Bootay Wala food distribution center
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Faizal Bari, Project Manager, Food and Agricultural Organization:
“The issue is accessibility and people’s purchasing power. The food is available but people don’t have the money to buy. Therefore we are addressing this issue, let’s go to those areas which are food vulnerable, where the people are poor, they are ready to invest but they don’t have resources.”

JANUARY 2011, PAKISTAN

6. Various shots, women working at Kitchen Gardens in Bootay Wala
7. Various shots, Amina and her friends at Kitchen Gardens
8. SOUNDBITE (Punjabi) Amina Shakeel, Project Beneficiary:
“We started planting vegetables on this plot two years ago. Now we are growing enough vegetables not just for our own homes but we also sell to out neighbours and relatives.”
9. Various shots, Amina and family cooking
10. SOUNDBITE (Punjabi) Amina Shakeel, Project Beneficiary:
“It’s a healthy activity and we want other villages to adopt this, I would like to share our training and experience with others nearby and increase this success.”
11. Wide shot, Multan market

Storyline

Food prices are on the increase globally. And those who feel it most are poor families who spend the majority of their income on food.

In Pakistan, the catastrophic flooding in the summer of 2010 caused enormous damage to major crop and vegetable producing areas. Shoppers in the market are still complaining about the impact.

SOUNDBITE (Punjabi) Shiree, Shopper:
“The story is very miserable, everything has gone up in price – vegetables, rice, beans, wheat, flour, dahl. It’s difficult to buy due to the floods and rising prices.”

When food prices rose sharply in 2007/2008, the European Union working with the Food and Agricultural Organization and World Food Programme started a 40 million Euro Food Facility project. A small component was food aid but the emphasis was on increasing food production to make more food available to over one million of Pakistan’s most vulnerable people.

SOUNDBITE (English) Faizal Bari, Project Manager, Food and Agricultural Organization:
“The issue is accessibility and people’s purchasing power. The food is available but people don’t have the money to buy. Therefore we are addressing this issue, let’s go to those areas which are food vulnerable, where the people are poor, they are ready to invest but they don’t have resources.”

The project provided seeds, fertilizer and training for growing more food in a proficient way. Here in Bootay Wallah, one of 340 target villages, one acre of land was donated for kitchen gardening. Sixteen people, who had no land at all, were given an equal share. The impact has been huge.

Amina Shakeel received a plot of land. It is close to her home so she’s able to come here every day.

SOUNDBITE (Punjabi) Amina Shakeel, Project Beneficiary:
“We started planting vegetables on this plot two years ago. Now we are growing enough vegetables not just for our own homes but we also sell to out neighbours and relatives.”

Amina is preparing her evening meal, helped by her close family. The women all agree that nutrition in the village has improved thanks to the addition of a variety of vegetables in their daily diet.

SOUNDBITE (Punjabi) Amina Shakeel, Project Beneficiary:
“It’s a healthy activity and we want other villages to adopt this, I would like to share our training and experience with others nearby and increase this success.”

High and volatile food prices can only be mitigated with increased investment to boost agriculture, livestock and food production at country level. When there is this commitment, successful results can be achieved.