US spending $85m on malnutrition in flood-tossed areas, says ambassador Blome

LAHORE: With a large portion of Pakistan’s population, particularly children and women, suffering from moderate to acute malnutrition, the US government is spending $85 million directly to address malnutrition issues, including $12mn on acute cases, across the country.

“The US, and the embassy in particular, are focusing on the issue of malnutrition in Pakistan, especially in the wake of the floods, as we started to funnel direct assistance into the flood-affected areas and seeing the scale and scope of malnutrition-related problems in those areas,” US Ambassador Donald Blome said in a recent interview with Dawn.

“But there is a lot more that needs to be done and we are trying to encourage other international organisations and partners, including activating the private sector around it,” said Ambassador Blome, who had arrived in Pakistan to take up his new diplomatic assignment in April 2022, months before the biblical floods struck most part of the country.

In Pakistan, more than 1.5mn children are at risk of dying from acute malnutrition. And eight million people, half of whom are children, continue to live without access to safe drinking water in flood-affected areas. Moreover, four out of every 10 children under five are suffering from stunting. The wasting rate among children under five is estimated to be nearly 18 per cent.

Ambassador Blome says over 70 US companies are staffed by Pakistanis, stresses competitiveness

“Of course, Pakistan is a growing producer of food supplements and vitamin supplements that are critical to treatment of malnutrition. That’s why I visited Remington Pharmaceuticals in Lahore, which is developing with the US partners and others, nutritional supplements for maternal health and other food supplements directly dealing with malnutrition issues… the private sector is key to Pakistan’s economic future,” the top American diplomat in Pakistan noted.

The US has a long history of working with Pakistan on renewable energy and environment-friendly projects, starting with the Mangla dam in the 1960s which is currently in the process of upgrading with new turbines. “That is a $400mn project under the US-Pakistan Green Alliance. Also, we are working on solar energy. So, we are working on different fronts on renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, water management, and on climate resilience. That has been the focus of our Green Alliance, especially since 2022 floods, providing development funding and technical assistance,” he elaborated.

The ambassador considers the agriculture sector as another challenging area for Pakistan. “But I think Pakistan has abundant water. It should be a strength for Pakistan. We are working with the US Department of Agriculture in a number of different ways, sometimes directly with farmers to improve crop yield and on water management issues. The government has to ensure that it’s getting (water) pricing right, so the incentive is to use water wisely and make sure that the right cost is factored into production. I think the agriculture sector in Pakistan is underperforming in many ways.”

Responding to a question, he advised that Pakistan must get its agriculture-related policies lined up to encourage innovation and investment. “We do work directly with farmers on sustainable and modern agriculture practices. I can think of programmes specific to chili peppers, dates, bananas, and have several crop specific programmes and others that are generally aimed at farm modernisation. Yes, we are working across different lines of efforts to modernise the agriculture sector. Again, getting policies lined up to encourage innovation and encourage investment in new equipment is going to be important for the agriculture sector.”

Most of the initiatives relating to malnutrition, agriculture, renewable energy and others are multi-year projects. “It’s hard to do anything on development overnight in complex conditions. We are talking about dozens of projects with different timelines,” ambassador Blome noted.

Trade & Investment

The diplomat said the US embassy spends a lot of time and effort to increase what is already a relatively robust trade and investment relationship between the two countries. “We are already the largest market for Pakistani products and are one of the largest investors here. Let me also mention that the US investment here is a very high-quality investment. More than 70 US companies are operating in Pakistan and tend to be almost entirely staffed by Pakistanis. They train their Pakistani staff at the highest level of management and often move them around from one part of the company to the other. And have very robust CSR programmes. So, this is a very high quality of investment, and we’d like to see more of it.”

However, he pointed out, Pakistan will have to get its investment policies and business environment right. “Obviously, Pakistan is challenged in some ways in attracting investment both, and I’d say both, from outside of the country and from inside of the country. … It is a question of putting together sustainable private sector-oriented policies and applying them consistently across the country. That’s the fundamental challenge that Pakistan has. And when Pakistan gets those policies right it’s going to attract investments not only from the US but also from many other investment partners. If it cannot get this right, then it would be a lot more difficult to generate that kind of interest. We live in a world where companies and investors have many many options. Pakistan has to become regionally competitive for that kind of investment.”

He went on: “You see in Asia investment moving around a lot now for different reasons, but Pakistan should be in that conversation about investment destinations. And I think it will take a very strong effort by Pakistani leaders to go out there and be competitive and make a case for Pakistan to those investors. You have to get the policy environment right to ensure the companies have predictability and that Pakistan stands out as a destination. Those firms you are mentioning here are moving out and moving to different countries in the region. But those companies look at the countries in a very systematic way to see which countries offer the most inviting possibilities for investment. So, Pakistan has to look at how it can make itself more competitive than its competition. It’s simple in some ways and complicated in others. But I think Pakistan can do it; it’s got talented people and it’s got cost advantages in many fronts. There is no reason Pakistan shouldn’t be in a very strong competitive position compared to others.”

The soft-spoken Donald Blome also highlighted the exclusion of women from economic activity in the country, saying Pakistan’s inability right now to tap into the talents and energies of its women is a drag on its economic growth and development.

“There is a loss to Pakistan in having too large a percentage of women out of the labour force.”

He also underlined the work being done by USAID for women empowerment, including women in rural areas, who play a vital role in Pakistan’s agriculture sector. USAID has recently inaugurated a unique “gender-smart farm” in Kasur that aims to provide female farmers with the necessary resources and tools to achieve economic success. The “gender-smart” farm includes an on-farm daycare centre, female restrooms, a rest area for women, and access to clean drinking water.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2024