ISLAMABAD: A hunger crisis is looming in Pakistan as catastrophic floods have wiped out vast stretches of farmland in Punjab province, which produces around half of the country’s staple crops, the aid agency Islamic Relief warned on Thursday.
The charity said the floods, which began in June, have inundated about 1.8 million acres of agricultural land across Punjab, affecting up to 70 percent of the province, and are likely to disrupt at least two crop cycles, raising fears of severe food shortages and surging prices nationwide.
Nationwide, over 1,000 people have been killed and more than 4.5 million people affected since the monsoon season began on June 26. Many farmers in Punjab have lost all their crops, grain stocks and livestock — their only source of income — while some remain in damaged or flooded homes to protect surviving cattle.
“Punjab province is the most important food-producing region in Pakistan, but 70 percent of it has been flooded and crops and livelihoods have been washed away. It will have an impact across Pakistan and national food shortages are now looming,” said Raza Narejo, acting country director of Islamic Relief Pakistan.
“Many people here depend on agriculture, but now they have almost nothing. They are now completely dependent on government and humanitarian support. They urgently need food, water and sanitation services, and when they can return to their homes they will need seeds, fertilizer and further support to re-establish their crops on their land once more,” Narejo added.
Islamic Relief said it has so far provided assistance to more than 140,000 flood-affected people across Pakistan, distributing food, water, tents and hygiene supplies, and helping farmers to replant through seeds and other agricultural support.
Abdul Rehman, a 55-year-old farmer from Muradabad in Punjab province, said the floods came at night and left his family destitute.
“The floods came at night and we had to run away in a hurry. We couldn’t grab anything to take with us because we were in fear. In the morning everything was destroyed,” he told Islamic Relief. “We had two goats and two sheep but they all drowned.”
Pakistan, among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, has seen repeated bouts of destructive monsoon flooding.
In 2022, similar deluges killed more than 1,700 people and caused economic losses exceeding $30 billion, according to government and UN estimates.
