Suchergebnisse

To quantify the micronutrient deficiencies and their overtime
trends, food quantities reported to be consumed in HIES surveys data
during 1991-92 and 2011-12 are converted into major and micronutrients
using the FAO Food Composition Table for Pakistan. To see the impact of
different price and income support policies on micronutrient
consumption, nutrient demand elasticities are estimated for 2011-12 for
carbohydrates (energy), protein, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin
B1, vitamin B2, and Niacin. The Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) is
applied to estimate the demand elasticities of the eight food groups
which are then converted into nutrient demand elasticities using the
transformation of Hunag (1996). On average, per capita consumptions of
almost all micronutrients are deficient compared to their respective
recommended levels. Our analysis suggest that income support to the poor
in Pakistan through programmes like BISP would have been much more
effective to eradicate nutrient deficiency, if deficient nutrient(s) are
targeted and support is provided to those foods having highest demand
elasticity for that nutrient. For example, the promotion of wheat and
other cereals are important to eradicate energy deficiency, and
promotion of vegetables, fruits, and milk are particularly important in
eradicating vitamin A, C and iron deficiencies. These commodities are
also high value crops for farmers, thus the price support in these crops
will also impact micronutrient consumption through income
effect.

Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) multiplier analysis has been employed to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on various macroeconomic variables including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, and poverty in Pakistan. SAM multiplier models are well-suited to estimate the direct and indirect effects of unanticipated demand-side shocks and short-term fluctuations on various sectors and agents in the economy, such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that Pakistan's GDP declined by 26.4 percent from mid-March to the end of June 2020 (14 weeks) compared to a non-COVID scenario. Services were hit the hardest, registering losses of 17.6 percent, followed by industry with losses of 6.7 percent. Agriculture turned out to be resilient and remained relatively unhurt, falling by 2.1 percent. All households witnessed a reduction in incomes, but higher-income quartiles appeared to have lost more than lower-income ones. Our approach for economic impact with mitigation measures is to assess the effectiveness of Emergency Response Packages (ERP) by altering the remittances to levels that reflect the magnitude of the support from the government. The total government expenditures were directed towards different kinds of households of PKR 318.6 billion (USD 2.12 billion). This led to a reduction of about USD 3.1 billion in GDP losses, which, compared to the amount spent implied a multiplier of 1.4 in GDP per PKR spent. The national poverty rate soared to 43 percent and 38.7 percent in April and May respectively. The Government's cash transfers program proved highly effective and led to 11 percent reduction in poverty rate during the pandemic. The recovery scenarios indicate a cumulative GDP loss of USD 11.8 billion and 11.1 USD billion under slow and fast recovery scenarios, respectively, by December 2020. Our estimates show that Pakistan's annual GDP (at market prices) will register a decline of 4.6 percent in the year 2020 due to negative effects of the pandemic and sluggish economic recovery. Poverty is expected to stabilize at 27.6 percent and 27.4 percent for the two recovery scenarios by December 2020. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; G Cross-cutting gender theme; Capacity Strengthening; Pakistan Agricultural Capacity Enhancement Program (PACE); CRP2 ; DSGD; PIM ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)