Pakistan Among 10 Countries Facing Severe Hunger Crisis

Pakistan Among 10 Countries Facing Severe Hunger Crisis

ByBisma Zafar

A recent report by Action Against Hunger has placed Pakistan among the top ten nations grappling with the worst food crises worldwide. An estimated 10.6 million Pakistanis will require humanitarian aid in 2026, highlighting the escalating hunger challenge facing the country.

Global Hunger Crisis and Pakistan’s Position

The report, titled ‘Ten Largest Global Food Crises’, was released on World Food Day, October 16, 2026. It identified Nigeria, Congo, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Sudan, and Syria as the most severely affected countries. Collectively, these nations are home to approximately 177 million people facing extreme food insecurity. The number of people suffering from acute hunger has doubled in a decade, now impacting 266 million individuals across 47 countries.

Factors Contributing to Hunger in Pakistan

In Pakistan, a combination of enduring poverty, soaring food prices, limited employment opportunities, and shrinking household incomes has diminished families’ ability to afford adequate nutrition. Economic instability and unfavorable agricultural market conditions have further weakened livelihoods, forcing vulnerable households to reduce food consumption, sell essential assets, and withdraw children from school to cope.

These short-term survival strategies risk deepening poverty cycles, damaging children’s health and education, and reducing long-term resilience. Moreover, insufficient access to healthcare, nutritional services, clean water, sanitation, and social protections exacerbates vulnerabilities, especially in rural and disaster-affected areas. Budget cuts to social and livelihood support programs have also weakened community coping mechanisms.

Impact of Climate and Security Issues

Climate-related disasters play a significant role in Pakistan’s food insecurity. Recurrent floods, droughts, heatwaves, glacial lake outburst floods, and unpredictable monsoon patterns have harmed infrastructure, reduced crop yields, and undermined livestock-dependent livelihoods. Continued drought conditions in several districts increase food reliance on markets, which often become inaccessible during extreme weather events, especially in the lean season from December 2025 to March 2026.

Additionally, localized security challenges in provinces such as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan complicate access to markets and humanitarian aid, further disrupting economic activity.

Why This Matters for Pakistan

The World Bank’s recent report paints a grim picture, revealing Pakistan hosts nearly half of the region’s extremely poor population living on less than $3.00 a day in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAAP) region. The increase in poverty rates has been driven by Covid-19 impacts, major floods in 2022, inflation, currency devaluation, and prolonged economic hardships. Although Pakistan’s GDP growth is projected to improve modestly in the fiscal years 2026 and 2027, food insecurity remains a pressing challenge, compounded by forecasted adverse climatic events and geopolitical uncertainties.

For Pakistanis, this crisis underscores the urgent need for robust social safety nets, investment in agricultural resilience, and enhanced access to essential services to safeguard food security and protect vulnerable populations from falling deeper into poverty.

As Action Against Hunger’s report emphasizes, alleviating hunger is vital not only for immediate survival but also for sustaining economic stability and social development in Pakistan.

“The deepening food crisis threatens millions of families by limiting access to nutritious meals, which impacts education, health, and long-term economic growth,” the report warns.

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