Kabul persuading Islamabad for wheat procurement

The Afghan government is reported to be persuading Pakistan for procuring wheat after the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has placed Afghanistan on top of the first three countries that would face severe food shortage, well-placed sources in Foreign Office told Business Recorder.
The other two countries are Sudan and Somalia where food riots are feared to erupt in the coming days. Pakistan imposed a ban on wheat/flour export to Afghanistan through private sector after acute shortage of flour. However, it had been decided that any deal for export of wheat or flour to Afghanistan would be at the government level for which Pakistan would sell wheat at the international price.
Sources said that Afghan Commerce Minister Dr Amin Farhang was desperate to meet his Pakistani counterpart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to resolve wheat price issue. It may be noted that wheat price has increased by 50 percent during the last two-three weeks due to its acute shortage. "Majority of the Afghan population do not enjoy food security, and a significant minority is vulnerable to acute food insecurity," the sources added.
Reports reaching here suggest that there was exchange of fire between Frontier Corps and Afghan security forces at the Chaman border on Monday over flour smuggling to Kabul. Islamabad had recently delegated powers to Civil Armed Forces (CAF) to control smuggling of essential items ie wheat/flour, sugar, edible oil/ ghee, rice and pulses to Afghanistan.
"Food item prices, particularly of wheat, have shot up between 40-50 percent during the last fortnight in Afghanistan," the sources quoted a letter written by Pakistani Embassy in Kabul to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Sources said the Afghan commerce minister has requested Islamabad to look into the precarious situation in his country and for this purpose, he would like to visit Pakistan.
"Farhang is even willing to visit Islamabad as and when his Pakistani counterpart feels convenient," the sources maintained. Sources said the Foreign Office would dispatch the request for a visit of the Afghan commerce minister to the commerce ministry.
Food insecurity has had a particularly negative impact on rural population, which was at the bottom of the ladder of access to resources. Sources said that both the countries were yet to finalise the wheat procurement arrangements, besides its price as the prevalent international price would hardly be acceptable to Kabul.