Islamabad, May 20 – More than 11 million people in Pakistan are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity in 2025, with the situation particularly severe in rural areas affected by recent floods and climate shocks, according to a new report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The 2025 Global Report on Food Crises, released on Friday, highlights that 11 million people, or 22% of the analysed population, in 68 rural districts across Balochistan, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are projected to experience acute food insecurity, including 1.7 million people at emergency levels.
The report said that food insecurity levels remained persistently high between November 2024 and March 2025, following the trend from the previous year, when 11.8 million people in 43 districts were also classified as food insecure during the winter lean season.
The FAO warned of a worsening malnutrition crisis, with 2.1 million children under the age of five affected between March 2023 and January 2024. Malnutrition rates among pregnant and breastfeeding women remain high, especially in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where a significant number of babies are being born with low birth weight.
The report flagged Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) prevalence above 10% in many districts, with some areas exceeding 30%, indicating emergency-level conditions.
The situation has been exacerbated by extreme weather events, including heavy monsoon floods in 2022, which damaged infrastructure, restricted market access, and worsened sanitary conditions. The winter season further restricted livelihoods and drove up food prices, aggravating the crisis.
“Climate shocks and acute food insecurity risk further aggravating already high levels of acute malnutrition,” the report said, adding that diarrhoea, respiratory infections, and malaria were widespread, particularly in flood-hit regions.
Access to healthcare and nutrition services remains severely limited, partly due to blocked roads and insufficient funding. Poor sanitation and unsafe drinking water continue to undermine health and nutrition, especially in underserved rural areas. Despite some signs of recovery from previous years, the FAO warned that without urgent interventions, food insecurity and malnutrition levels could deteriorate further in 2025.
