Pakistan faces a high burden of malnutrition despite self-sufficiency in cereal production, with a significant portion of the population unable to afford a nutritious diet. The government has established a multi-sectoral nutrition strategy to address malnutrition through various agricultural, health, and social protection measures from 2018 to 2025. Key initiatives include the expansion of social safety nets and the implementation of nutrition-specific and sensitive interventions to improve food security and health outcomes.

1. Pakistan’s Multi-Sectoral
Nutrition Strategy
Amna Ejaz
International Food Policy Research Institute – Pakistan
Yangon, Myanmar | October 30, 2019

2. Brief
Background

3. Brief Background
 Self-sufficient in cereal and grain production
 High burden of malnutrition (NNS, 2011)
 66% of households cannot afford a nutritious diet, given their current food
expenditures (GoP & WFP, 2016)
 High inadequacies in food intake
Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform and World Food Programme (2016). Minimum Cost of the Diet – Pakistan. Islamabad,
Pakistan, 2016.

4. 80
85
90
95
100
105
110
115 2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
Index(2000-01=100)
Food Availability Per Capita (1/2)
Food Production Per Capita (1/6)
Self-Sufficiency Ratio (1/6)
Relative Food Price (1/6)
Trends in Food Availability and
Accessibility in Pakistan
Status of Nutrition over the Decades
(IFPRI & AKU, 2017)
49
43 42 42 44 45
38
11 9 11 12
15
11
7
53
48
40
32 30
23
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Stunting Wasting Underweight
Trends in Food and Nutrition Security

5. Government
Initiatives

6. Government is Taking Ownership
 Key Strategies in Place:
o Agricultural and related policies (National Water Policy, National Food
Security Policy, provincial Agricultural Policies, Seed Amendment and Plant
Breeders Rights Act).
o Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Act, Food Fortification Acts
and the Early Marriage Restraint Act
o Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategies
 Expanded social safety nets.
o Expansion of Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) coverage
o Initiatives under the ‘Ehsaas’ Program
 Provincial programs to address stunting, wasting, malnutrition

7. Pakistan Multi-Sectoral
Nutrition Strategy
2018-2025

8. Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy
 A multi-sectoral portfolio of
both “nutrition-specific” and
“nutrition-sensitive”
interventions
 Significantly and sustainably
reduce the burden of
malnutrition in the Country.
Malnutrition &
Food Insecurity
Agriculture
Crop,
Livestock,
Fisheries
Food
Health
Water,
Sanitation
& Hygiene
Education
Social
Protection

9. Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy
 Guiding Principles:
#5: Plan Multi-sectorally;
implement sectorally; and
review inter-sectorally.
#7: Ensure Private Sector
Engagement
Malnutrition &
Food Insecurity
Agriculture
Crop,
Livestock,
Fisheries
Food
Health
Water,
Sanitation
& Hygiene
Education
Social
Protection

10. Program Coordination & Governance Framework
 Federal
o national policy & planning;
o standardization & regulation;
o coordination & information sharing;
o overall monitoring and evaluation.
 Provincial
o Implementation
 All provincial governments have developed and endorsed MSNS with
varying stages of development towards integrated PC-1s.

11. Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy
Successes and Potential
Challenges.
- ’thinking through a nutrition-
lens’
- Potential (future) issues in
coordination, communication, and
knowledge sharing.
Malnutrition &
Food Insecurity
Agriculture
Crop,
Livestock,
Fisheries
Food
Health
Water,
Sanitation
& Hygiene
Education
Social
Protection

12. SDG-2 in
Pakistan

13. Data Sources: State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019. National Nutrition Survey 2011. Pakistan Demographic and Health
Survey 2012-13; 2017-18
Note: Horizontal bars represent the target set forth by the SDGs for each of the indicators.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Prevalenceof
Undernourish
ment(PoU)
Stunting
Wasting
Underweight
Percentage(%)
National Baseline (2014-15)
PDHS 2017-18
SDG Target 2030
Progress towards SDG-2 in Pakistan

14. Thank you!