Pakistan floods: Ancient grains like millet could be key to rebuilding food systems

Published 2022년 11월 17일

Tridge summary

The article highlights the severe impact of summer flooding in Pakistan in 2022, as reported by the UN, which has displaced over 8 million people and destroyed more than 2 million homes. The floods, followed by severe heat, have contaminated pastures and delayed the sowing of next season's crops, leading to significant agricultural losses and the need for increased food imports. The article also discusses the effects of climate change, such as melting glaciers and increasing droughts, on global food production and suggests that Pakistan and other countries could benefit from cultivating more hardy crops and implementing water conservation methods like drip irrigation. It emphasizes the importance of diversifying crops and improving transport and storage infrastructure to reduce food loss and support local economies. The article calls for global attention and action towards building resilient food systems that can withstand the challenges of a changing climate.

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Original content

The UN estimates that the floods which besieged Pakistan in the summer of 2022 have affected 33 million people, with over 2 million homes destroyed and over 8 million people displaced in a region which already struggles with high rates of malnutrition. A recent report showed that the flooding followed severe heat. Parched land cannot easily absorb water from swollen rivers and the soil will need time to recover, delaying the sowing of next season’s crops. Receding flood waters are also more likely to leave pastures contaminated by harmful microbes such as salmonella. When floods last devastated Pakistan in 2010, an analysis by the International Food Policy Research Institute argued that, as a country with just under 40% of the population employed in agriculture, Pakistan needed to invest in the recovery of its farming sector as a priority. The recent inundation of fields has destroyed standing crops of commercial rice and cotton and those which are consumed in the country, like ...

Source: The Conversation