Archive for 'Grain Drain'
Common Sense Approaches to A ‘Food Secure’ Pakistan
Posted on 22. May, 2008 by Majid Sheikh.
An interesting advertisement appeared in the national press in mid-May 2008, seeking tenders for food supply in various prisons in Sindh. The benchmark was three meals of 150 grams wheat flour each on an average. Immediately one thought of the wheat crisis, as well as the food crisis, and the mind began to calculate. Extrapolating Prison [...]
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Pakistan’s CSR Mentality Change
Posted on 20. May, 2008 by Andrew Webster.
Since arriving in Karachi nine months ago, I have heard widespread criticism of CSR in Pakistan for being focused on philanthropy as opposed to sustainable business practices. Such criticism results in calls for a change in mindset in relation to CSR. However, on their own these calls will have little effect. In reflecting on my previous [...]
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A Diary of A Food Volunteer
Posted on 19. May, 2008 by Salman Abedin.
May 14, 2000. A bus load of volunteers and myself head to the Thar desert. We set up a relief collection point in Indus Valley School, and plan to participate in the distribution of the relief goods. Our leaders in this campaign are the Raasta Development Consultants’ people. We are met by the staff of [...]
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Commodity Crises: A Liberal Capitalist Perspective
Posted on 18. May, 2008 by Ali Salman.
In 1997, Vietnam, a predominantly agricultural country where 80 percent of the population is rural, lifted the internal and external trade restrictions on rice: its main staple. 95 percent of urban households are net buyers of rice and a North-South divide exists in terms of rice production. The incidence of poverty in the rural areas, 45 [...]
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Etsko Schuitema: Intent – Care & Growth
Posted on 18. May, 2008 by Ramla Akhtar.
At the core of the crises humanity is facing is the spectacular failure of controls and policies – be that in food management, financial sectors, international relations, governance systems, or even inter-personal relationships. In a world that is becoming fragmented and franchised, more controls are impossible to implement. Yet there is a need of collective decision-making [...]
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CSR for CSR
Posted on 17. May, 2008 by Shadab Fariduddin.
Businesses are increasingly expected to solve social problems with the efficiency technically inherent in business processes. This expectation, coupled with the downsides of a short-term, profit maximizing motive, gave birth to the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR has caught the fancy of business leaders across the world. In order to live or (show) responsible [...]
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Malnutrition In Pakistan: The Hidden Hunger
Posted on 17. May, 2008 by Ronald Inayat.
Pakistan has an alarmingly high level of malnutrition; 24 percent of the population is undernourished. The most recent estimates by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) state that 37.5 million people in Pakistan are not receiving proper nourishment. The issue is complex and widespread, with deficiencies ranging from protein to iodine, along with [...]
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The Role of The Food & Beverage Sector in Expanding Economic Opportunity
Posted on 17. May, 2008 by Ramya Krishnaswamy.
This report by Harvard University John Kennedy School’s CSR Initiative and FSG Social Impact Advisors reveals that the food & beverage industry plays a unique role in expanding economic opportunity because of its universality to human life and health. The industry operates at multiple levels of society where billions of people grow, transform, and sell [...]
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World Wheat Whereabouts
Posted on 17. May, 2008 by Ahsan Ali Mangi.
Pakistan is the world’s sixth largest producer of wheat, according to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, with an annual production of over 21 million metric tonnes (MT). The US Department of Agriculture estimates Pakistan’s rice consumption to be over 2.5 million MT. With exports of about the same quantity, Pakistan is capable of feeding [...]
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The Losing Battle: Fuel Versus Food
Posted on 17. May, 2008 by Jia En Teo.
In the environment of rising oil prices and issues of climate change looming large, rich countries needed to wean themselves off dependence on fossil fuels. Biofuels seemed like a sure winner – firstly, because supporting biofuels meant supporting domestic agricultural industries. Secondly, because biofuels were thought to be greener than fossil fuels since the amount [...]
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The Hunger Opportunity
Posted on 17. May, 2008 by Fouzia Ishaque.
The World Bank estimates that, as of 2008 (2004 statistics), there are about 982 million poor people in developing countries who live on US$ 1 a day or less (World Bank, Understanding Poverty, Chen 2004). The most recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimate states that 854 million people worldwide are undernourished. This [...]
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Elusive Commodities, Starving Masses and Ruthless Speculators
Posted on 17. May, 2008 by Miriam Katz.
In recent months, the food crisis has increasingly been in the news. There have been riots in many different countries all over the world including Mexico, Egypt, India and Yemen due to the increase in food prices. Even though these riots have only happened recently, the increase in food prices has been building since 2005. [...]
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The Grains of Truth in Crises: Food For Personal Thought
Posted on 14. May, 2008 by Asim Malik.
We are living in a global food catastrophe that will be more crippling than anything the world has ever seen. The credit crunch and the reverberations of soaring oil prices around the world will pale in comparison to what is about to transpire. The greatest demand challenge is not oil – it has yet to [...]
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