World Food Day Puts Pakistan’s Future Food Security Under Spotlight Amid Population Growth
As the world observes World Food Day on October 16, the occasion serves as a reminder of the growing challenges facing Pakistan’s food system, particularly the need to meet a substantial increase in food demand as its population continues to expand. With the country’s population projected to reach between 370 million and 400 million by 2050, the occasion raises a critical question: how prepared is Pakistan to ensure sufficient access to safe and nutritious food for future generations?
The population projection, highlighted by Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal in May this year, underscores the mounting pressure on a food system already facing challenges from malnutrition, climate change, food losses and limitations in food processing, preservation and distribution infrastructure.
The scale of the nutritional challenge remains significant. Pakistan’s National Nutrition Survey 2018 found that 40.2 per cent of children under five suffered from stunting, reflecting chronic malnutrition. More recently, United Nations agencies reiterated in July 2026 that around four in ten Pakistani children under five were affected by stunting, highlighting the continued need to improve access to adequate nutrition.
Food loss and waste further complicate the challenge. According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report 2024, Pakistan generates an estimated 30.75 million tonnes of household food waste annually, equivalent to approximately 130 kilogrammes per person. Globally, the Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 13.4 per cent of food produced is lost between harvest and retail, demonstrating the importance of improving efficiency across food supply chains.
Against this backdrop, the theme of World Food Day 2026, “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.”, highlights the importance of technology, innovation and collaboration in developing resilient food systems capable of meeting growing demand while protecting nutritional quality, food safety and natural resources.
For Pakistan, greater investment in modern food processing, preservation technologies, hygienic packaging and efficient distribution systems could help reduce avoidable food losses and improve access to safe and nutritious products, particularly in areas where refrigeration and cold-chain infrastructure remain limited. Industry executives say technology-driven innovation could play an increasingly important role in helping Pakistan strengthen food safety, reduce food losses and meet growing demand for nutritious food.
Awais Bin Nasim, Managing Director of Tetra Pak Pakistan, said the challenge was not simply to produce more food, but to ensure that it remained safe, nutritious and accessible to consumers as demand continued to grow.
“With Pakistan’s population potentially approaching 400 million by 2050, technology and innovation will be critical to strengthening our food systems. Advances in food processing, packaging, automation and digital technologies can help improve food safety, minimise losses and make more efficient use of energy, water and other resources. Greater adoption of these solutions, supported by collaboration across the industry, can help Pakistan build a more sustainable and resilient food system capable of meeting the needs of future generations,” he said.
Developments in the food and beverage industry offer examples of how technology can contribute to these objectives. Aseptic processing and packaging solutions, including those developed by Tetra Pak, enable suitable products such as milk and beverages to be safely preserved for extended periods without refrigeration before opening, helping protect food quality and reduce the risk of spoilage during storage and distribution.
Technology is also transforming food manufacturing through automation and digitalisation. Tetra Pak introduced its Factory OS platform globally in 2025 to help food and beverage manufacturers use real-time production data to improve operational efficiency, monitor performance and identify opportunities to reduce product waste.
According to a comparative study cited by the company, highly automated beverage factories demonstrated 20 per cent higher overall equipment effectiveness and 45 per cent lower product waste than less automated facilities, illustrating the potential benefits of wider technology adoption in food manufacturing.
However, meeting the nutritional needs of a rapidly growing population will require more than technological advancement alone. Strengthening agricultural productivity, improving food safety standards, expanding processing and storage infrastructure, reducing supply-chain losses and ensuring the affordability of nutritious food will require coordinated efforts from policymakers, industry and other stakeholders.
World Food Day therefore presents an opportunity to examine whether Pakistan’s food system is evolving fast enough to meet the demands of its future population, and what practical measures are needed today to ensure that safe, nutritious and affordable food remains accessible to generations ahead.
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