Sindh's senior minister for food, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, has said that the Sindh government lacks the capacity of wheat storage and added that 50 percent of wheat procured lying under the open sky with the possibility of damage. He stressed the need for increase in the storage capacities of grain warehouses
Talking to a four-member delegation of the Food Fortification Programme, which discussed the launch of a five-year campaign for fortification of wheat flour and edible oils in the province, he said that the government spends huge amounts in terms of payment to private parties, including flour mill owners, for wheat storage.
He told the delegation that the Sindh government was establishing the Sindh Food Authority to maintain the quality and standard of food in the province, and added that in this regard the Sindh Assembly has passed a bill recently. The formation of rules of business of authority under process which will be completed soon, he said.
He promised his full support for the launch of the programme. Adviser on social welfare to the chief minister, Shamim Mumtaz, stressed the need for capacity building of officials so that people of the province could be served in a better way.
Earlier, in a briefing about the programme, Director Technical Dr Tousif Janjua said that we are working with help of UK Aid to tackle hidden hunger by ensuring 57 percent of Pakistan's population consume fortified flour and 70 percent consume fortified edible oils to arrest malnutrition that threaten the lives and chances of life for children and women.
He said that they have already started this programme in Punjab and are planning to start a five-year programme in Sindh within the next few months. He said that Karachi, Hyderabad and Thatta have been picked up in the first phase and later it will be implemented across the province. He offered his government's technical support for setting up testing structure of food quality in Sindh and capacity building of the government for monitoring of food quality.
The delegation comprised FFP team leader Diane Northway, technical director Dr Tousif Janjua, health specialist Lucy Palmer and advocacy manager Laila Rubab Jaskani.