Pakistan appears to be on the brink of food riots as prices of wheat flour surge following low production due to flooding, massive hoarding, and little foreign exchange to import food.
Situation in #Pakistan
Food crisis in Neuclear Power People r fighting for 10 kg bag of flour 🤔🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/J6BGHlcFoe— Fakhar Yousafzai (@fakharzai7) January 10, 2023
Pakistani daily News International is reporting that highly subsidised 10 and 20 kg flour bags in Punjab province are still short in supply despite the fresh availability of wheat.
Pakistanis jostle to buy cheap flour in Karachi#Watch #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/jWnSGYw6gD
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) January 7, 2023
In urban Sindh, Balochistan, the price of wheat flour, the staple in Pakistan, hit the ceiling at Rs150/kg. Insurgency hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been hit especially hard as a 20kg flour bag is hard to find even at the record price of Rs 3,000 per bag.
Situation in #Balochistan: People with guns are guarding the trucks that distribute wheat flour, and people are fighting over the bag of flour. According to reports, Pakistan is the seventh-most wheat producing country in the world. pic.twitter.com/is1D0Tyi5e
— Dr. Shujaat Ali Quadri (@shujaatQuadri) January 10, 2023
Besides, quality is an issue as people complain that smelly wheat flour is being supplied by flour mills.