Posted on Mar 3, 2023
The proud Pakistani tradition of feeding the hungry is strained as food prices soar
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https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/03/01/ [login to see] /food-and-fuel-are-out-of-reach-for-many-pakistanis-because-of-the-economic-crisi
A dervish in a scarlet whirling skirt, bells strapped to his chest, raises his fist to salute a Sufi saint buried in a soaring shrine on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad.
The dervish, Ghulam Mohammad says he loves the saint, Bari Imam, because he comforted the afflicted. Muhammad wishes more people would do the same. Lately, all he sees in his travels from shrine to shrine across the length of Pakistan are poor and hungry people.
Since the pandemic, Pakistan has been battered by calamities that have pushed up the price of food and fuel: Russia's invasion of Ukraine and two events made more extreme by climate change: a spring heatwave that shriveled harvests, then summer floods that drowned them. Now there's an economic crisis so dire, the country risks default.
Inflation reached nearly 25% last year, but the figure conceals dramatic variations. In poorer rural areas, prices of food rose even higher.
A dervish in a scarlet whirling skirt, bells strapped to his chest, raises his fist to salute a Sufi saint buried in a soaring shrine on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad.
The dervish, Ghulam Mohammad says he loves the saint, Bari Imam, because he comforted the afflicted. Muhammad wishes more people would do the same. Lately, all he sees in his travels from shrine to shrine across the length of Pakistan are poor and hungry people.
Since the pandemic, Pakistan has been battered by calamities that have pushed up the price of food and fuel: Russia's invasion of Ukraine and two events made more extreme by climate change: a spring heatwave that shriveled harvests, then summer floods that drowned them. Now there's an economic crisis so dire, the country risks default.
Inflation reached nearly 25% last year, but the figure conceals dramatic variations. In poorer rural areas, prices of food rose even higher.
The proud Pakistani tradition of feeding the hungry is strained as food prices soar
Posted from npr.org
Pakistan
Food/Chow
Posted 1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."That's partly because the government in February raised taxes and trimmed subsidies on fuel and electricity as part of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to resume a stalled bailout.
Those moves have already triggered more price hikes locally and are expected to push inflation up by more than 30% this year. The problem is, without a bailout, Pakistan could spiral into chaos.
Back in Faisalabad, 45-year-old Ghulam Nabi keeps an eye on cotton looms in a one-room factory. He's gaunt. His cheekbones protrude. His arms are bony.
He's piling up debt to buy food for his family and now owes $70 – his monthly wage – at the local shop. But somehow, Ghulam Nabi says, he is managing. "I work," he says, "I don't need free food."
At least for now."
..."That's partly because the government in February raised taxes and trimmed subsidies on fuel and electricity as part of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to resume a stalled bailout.
Those moves have already triggered more price hikes locally and are expected to push inflation up by more than 30% this year. The problem is, without a bailout, Pakistan could spiral into chaos.
Back in Faisalabad, 45-year-old Ghulam Nabi keeps an eye on cotton looms in a one-room factory. He's gaunt. His cheekbones protrude. His arms are bony.
He's piling up debt to buy food for his family and now owes $70 – his monthly wage – at the local shop. But somehow, Ghulam Nabi says, he is managing. "I work," he says, "I don't need free food."
At least for now."
(3)
(0)
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