Pakistan’s food supply falls short of healthy diet needs, FAO warns; vegetables and fruits face major gaps

A food supply falls short of a healthy diet when available food does not match national recommendations for different food groups. The problem is not simply how much food exists. It is whether people can regularly obtain enough diverse, nutritious, safe and affordable foods.

Pakistan’s guidelines identify ten food groups and recommend the types and quantities needed for healthy diets. The FAO compared annual supplies with population-level requirements from 2010 to 2023. It found shortages in vegetables, fruits, roots and tubers, and legumes and pulses, while cereals and sugar exceeded recommended levels.

This mismatch matters because encouraging healthier choices cannot work if healthier foods are unavailable or unaffordable. The report links the imbalance with high malnutrition, persistent undernutrition and rising diet-related noncommunicable diseases. It recommends changes in production, distribution, affordability and consumer information.

Pakistan’s food supply is weakest in several foods that national dietary guidelines consider important for a healthy diet. Persistent shortages affect vegetables, fruits, roots and tubers, and legumes and pulses. These foods are therefore less available at the national level than population requirements indicate.

The clearest excesses are cereals and sugar, whose supplies remain above recommended levels. This does not mean every household has equal access. It describes the balance between total national supply and the quantities suggested by the guidelines. Milk and milk products, meat and eggs showed improvement, while fats and oils moved from a small gap in 2010 into the estimated required range later.

The pattern reveals a supply problem, not only a consumer-choice problem. The FAO says healthier eating efforts will remain limited unless nutritious food is available and affordable. It recommends investing more in vegetables, fruits, pulses, roots and tubers, while improving distribution and reducing waste.

Pakistan’s vegetable and fruit shortages grew substantially between 2010 and 2023. The FAO assessment compared annual food supplies with population-level requirements, showing that production and availability did not keep pace with dietary needs. The figures are expressed as estimated ranges because the size of the gap varies across the assessment.

For vegetables, the gap widened from 10.9–17.8 million tonnes in 2010 to 13–21.6 million tonnes in 2023. For fruits, it increased from 1.9–10.3 million tonnes to 3.9–14.3 million tonnes over the same period. Thus, both the lower and upper ends of the estimated gaps rose.

The trend points to growing pressure on Pakistan’s agrifood system. Population growth increased the number of people needing food, while climate change and other challenges may intensify demands. The FAO recommends greater investment in these crops, alongside better distribution and reduced post-harvest losses.

More than 60 per cent of Pakistanis cannot afford a healthy diet, according to the FAO brief cited by Dawn. This means national food availability alone cannot guarantee healthy eating. People also need sufficient purchasing power and reliable access to nutritious, safe and affordable choices.

A country might have food in aggregate while households face different prices, incomes and distribution barriers. Pakistan’s supply has shortages of vegetables, fruits, roots and tubers, and pulses, while cereals and sugar exceed dietary requirements. Even where some nutritious foods are available, their cost or location may prevent families from obtaining them regularly.

Affordability therefore connects food supply to real diets. The FAO calls for improved distribution, lower post-harvest losses and stronger demand for healthier products. It also recommends nutrition education, food labelling and evidence-based taxes on foods and beverages high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats.

When nutritious foods are scarce or unaffordable, people may struggle to build the varied diets recommended by national guidelines. Shortages of vegetables, fruits, roots and tubers, and pulses reduce access to several important food groups. Excess cereals and sugar show that national supply is not balanced simply because food is available.

The FAO brief links this imbalance to high levels of malnutrition. It also reports persistent undernutrition and rising diet-related noncommunicable diseases. These problems can occur together: a population may lack enough nutritious foods while consuming too much of foods supplied above recommended levels. The article does not identify specific diseases or nutrients.

The health concern makes supply policy important. Encouraging better choices will be insufficient unless healthier foods are available and affordable. The FAO recommends more investment in nutritious crops, product reformulation, nutrition education and front-of-package labelling to support healthier diets.

The FAO’s approach is to align Pakistan’s food system with national nutritional needs. It recommends coordinated fiscal and regulatory measures so agricultural production and trade priorities support healthier diets. This goes beyond telling consumers to change; it aims to make nutritious choices available, affordable and easier to identify.

Proposed actions include improving distribution, reducing post-harvest losses and food waste, and investing more in vegetables, fruits, pulses, roots and tubers. The FAO also recommends supporting milk production in certain regions. Processors could receive incentives to meet quality standards and reformulate products with less salt, sugar and unhealthy fat.

The brief additionally calls for updated food-based dietary guidelines that include nutrition, public health and environmental priorities. Nutrition education and behaviour-change initiatives should expand. Evidence-based taxes on unhealthy products and front-of-package labels could influence purchasing and make information clearer for consumers.

What people can eat depends on more than farming alone. Agricultural production determines which foods enter the system, while distribution determines whether they reach different communities. Post-harvest losses and food waste reduce the amount that survives from farm to consumer, making shortages and access problems worse.

Pakistan’s population grew from 189.3 million in 2010 to 235.2 million in 2023 and is projected to reach about 330 million by 2050. That growth increases demand for food. The FAO brief also warns that climate change and other challenges will intensify pressure on the agrifood system.

These forces help explain why vegetable and fruit gaps widened despite improvements in milk, meat and eggs. Pakistan needs stronger production of nutritious crops, better distribution and less waste. Coordinated agricultural, trade, fiscal and regulatory measures will become increasingly important as demand grows.