26.03.

2020

PROPOSED NATIONAL FOOD DISRIBUTION PLAN

DURING CORONA LOCKDOWN
Submitted by Mohammad Jibran Nasir

OBJECTIVE:
All provincial governments in Pakistan are moving towards a complete lockdown to
control the outbreak of Covid-19 (Corona Virus). The most urgent concern in this scenario
is ensuring food and cleaning supplies to citizens of Pakistan at their doorstep. Several
NGOs and many citizens in their individual capacity have started food distribution in
certain areas. Federal and Provincial Governments have also announced certain relief
packages. However, to ensure most effective use of available resources including ration,
manpower and monetary packages it is imperative to form a synergy between
Government and civil society efforts to ensure food and cleaning supplies to every
Pakistani household in need.
The two primary concerns this plan tries to address is (i) ensuring effective delivery of
food and cleaning supplies at doorstep of deserving households (ii) avoid community
outbreaks of Corona Virus by avoiding scenarios where people have to come out and
gather or assemble at any location to receive food and cleaning supplies.

WHAT DO PEOPLE NEED?

1. People need a reliable and effective schedule of ration and cleaning supplies
delivery at their doorstep. Having prior information of when and how ration and
cleaning supplies will be delivered is imperative to calm their anxiety and make
them trust the Government.

2. People need assurance that enough mechanisms are in place to verify them as a
deserving family to ensure they will get supplies.

3. In case the lockdown is extended people need effective reminders and assurance
that ration and cleaning supplies will continue to be delivered to them.

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CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD:

Currently, due to an absence of a national food distribution plan the following hurdles are
being faced:

A. NO CENTRALIZED DATA AND SCHEDULE:

1. No centralized data is being referred to hence most of the current distribution of
ration by NGOs and individuals is being done in a sporadic (whoever we can find)
manner, resulting in possible duplication of efforts and wastage of limited
resources. Hence a centralized Data bank should be maintained District wise by the
District Commissioners Office for each district of how many households need
ration and food supplies.

2. There is no Government mandated centralized schedule of distribution of ration in

terms of time and place of distribution resulting in frequent supply shortages at
end of vendors. The same is also leading to anxiety amongst masses. Hence a
schedule needs to be issued for every District by the respective District
Commissioner informing locals of when and how food supplies will be delivered in
their respective area.

3. No centralized data is being maintained of households who have already been

provided ration by a NGO or an individual, hence there is no effective way to verify
when the household will need ration again in case the lockdown is extended.
Solution to this problem is addressed in para 1 above.

B. NO CENTRALIZED RESOURCE POOL:

4. NGOs and Individuals are delivering food in terms of their capacity to raise funds
or existing funds available hence the amount and manner of food delivery is
sporadic. Hence it is important to form District wise food banks (“DFBs”) where all
NGOs, individuals and Government itself submits ration and cleaning supplies and
then pool in their man power to purposes of packaging and distribution.
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5. Individual efforts are being limited by accessibility issue so people of means are
only being able to geographically reach those deserving households who are in
close proximity which means several localities due to their distance from
economically affluent areas are not even getting sporadic help. This is also
resulting in duplication of efforts as individuals with means due to living in certain
neighborhoods are all mostly visiting the same nearby areas. It is important that
individuals efforts are centralized by encouraging people to either donate in kind
to the DFBs or donate monetarily to the Government fund or NGOs which are
providing supplies to the DFBs.

C. NO STANDARDIZATION OF RATION PACKS

6. No standard size in terms of contents and weight of what should constitute a family
ration pack for a period of month for at least a family of 5 have been advised by
any government based on recommendation of health professionals. Hence NGOs
and individuals are preparing ration bags based on either past exercises or on
information available. Government should immediately issue directions of what
should constitute a Family Ration Pack including cleaning supplies fit to serve a
family of five for at least a month.

7. Current ration bags are being prepared keeping in mind conventional eating habits
and mindset about food items consumed on daily basis under ordinary
circumstances as opposed to preparing a nutrition efficient pack. We need a
nutrition based ration pack not necessarily a quantity based one which may not be
according to conventional eating habits in terms of the food items it contains (eg
certain fruits or vegetables) but may still allow us to make more cost effective
ration packs and subside some supply issues of other food items.

D. NO PRICE CAPS ON FOOD PRODUCTS:

8. Some NGOs and individuals donors are also limited in terms of their access to
vendors providing cost effective rates and hence they are procuring ration and
cleaning supply from nearest possible retailers often buying high end branded
products which limits their monetary capacity to reach more families.

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9. No price cap has been set for mills, importers and producers of ration products to
subsidize their prices and sell their products under a certain price cap with
opportunity to recover their losses through relief in utilities, taxes, subsidies etc.
To ensure that ration supplies are in every one’s access a universal price cap is
imperative. Government should immediately announce measures in this regard.

E. MANPOWER ISSUES AT SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTER END

10. Due to the lockdown economic activities have slowed down. Many laborers from
cities are returning to their villages and most are seeing the lockdown as time off
from work and many are also returning home due to struggle of surviving in the
city without a daily wage and also out of health concern of families back home.

11. As no special package or regulations have been made for mills, importers,
wholesalers, distributors and retailers most of them are only working on the orders
being currently received and hence many have no incentive or target to retain their
labor which will result in supply and packaging issues in days to come.

12. The slowdown of economic activities has had a direct impact on the transport and
logistic industry resulting in the same problem of retention of labor. In the weeks
to all logistical resources will be needed to make food distribution at the national
level and no special instructions or regulations have been made for the industry.
Hence Government needs to immediately take necessary measures to facilitate
groups identified in para 11 and 12.

F. NO ADHERENCE TO SAFETY PROTOCOL DURING FOOD DISTRIBUTION:

13. During the entire process of food distribution all those involved continue to remain
at risk of contacting the corona virus or being a cause of community outbreak.
Most food distribution is happening without presence of LEAS, where discipline is
not maintained, protocols are not followed, people gather in hundreds rubbing
against each other defeating the entire purpose of the lockdown and the food
relief initiatives. Every food distribution exercise needs to be carried out following
all necessary safety protocols even if it is a more time consuming exercise. This is
a major reason why food distribution exercises by individuals need to be
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discouraged and all NGOs working on food distribution need to be registered with
the District Food Banks or DFBs.

14. In this regard the DFBs will help as food will be supplied from a central source as
per a Government sanctioned schedule in coordination with LEAS. NGOs should be
specifically asked to be registered with the National Food Distribution Program for
this very purpose and qualify to be a “Program Registered NGO” whereby they are
made to adhere to all safety protocols and train their staff in same and not
undertake any food distribution exercise without coordination from District
Commissioner’s office and LEAS.

RESOURCES AND HOW TO USE THEM?

A. DATA:

1. CENSUS:
Pakistan recently conducted a national census in 2017. The same data helps
us identify how many people live in a household. The same will be most
helpful in determining how many ration packs (each serving 5 people for a
month) should a respective household get.

The census data also helps us identify density of each locality in terms of
population which will help in making initial estimates of expected ration and
cleaning supply needs of that area which will help in procuring appropriate
amount of supplies for DFBs for purposes of periodic distribution.

2. NADRA:
NADRA’s data bank is one of the biggest national assets. NADRA can launch
a mobile application wherein CNIC of the person receiving the ration pack
on behalf of the household will be entered at time of delivery which will put
a check on the family only making it eligible for supply of food after a month.
This data should be accessible exclusively to Program Registered NGOs and
Government bodies involved in food distribution in a respective area.

3. PERIODIC SURVEYS TO ACCESS EVOLVING NEED:

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The CENSUS and NADRA data will not necessarily help identify the economic
needs of a family. Hence for that purpose on ground surveys need to be
carried to identify struggling households and those expected to struggle
within weeks allowing us to draw a stage wise food distribution schedule.
As all health workers are engaged in controlling the Corona outbreak this
data can be most effectively gathered through local body government
officials, Program Registered NGOs, District Commissioners, Government
teachers and local representatives of Political Parties.

4. MOBILE TRACKING

Pakistan has an advantage that it already has several companies working in the
transport, logistics and tracking sector like TCS, Careem, Daraz, C Track which
track location and delivery points. There system and experts could be engaged
to launch a real time tracking network to ensure timely food supplies to DFBs
across Pakistan bringing transparency and accountability within the system.

B. INFRASTRUCTURE FOR District Food Banks (DFBs)

1. MOSQUES/SCHOOLS
Mosques and Schools make the most ideal location from District Food
Banks. Not only are these the two location every locality is familiar with but
the same also have a walled compound helping to maintain security. They
also have running water facilities to ensure all those working in the Food
Bank repeatedly get to disinfect themselves. Mosques and Schools also
have electricity and washrooms available allowing certain members
involved in packaging of ration pack to permanently station there on weekly
basis to avoid exposure of Corona Virus from outside.

Mosques also have loudspeakers which can function like local radio stations
announcing schedule of ration pack delivery in the area, reminders to stay
indoors, assurances that ration packs will be delivered at door step and
precautions everyone needs to take avoid exposure to Corona Virus.

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As all food and cleaning supplies will be gathered in these DFBs from
different areas going through several hands before reaching the DFBs, the
DFB facility itself would allow a good opportunity to disinfect packing
surfaces of food products using fumigation tools before the same head out
for supplies to household.

C. MANPOWER AND VOLUNTEERS

Providing ration and cleaning supplies at doorstep to every deserving family

would require a dedicated and huge manpower. The following options would
serve best to address them:

1. Local Governments/Metropolitan Corporations/Municipal Corporations:

Officials of local governments and metropolitan and municipal corporations
are best fit to facilitate the National Food Distribution Program at the
District level with local knowledge, familiarity and existing ties with the
community.

2. Political Parties:
Almost all major political parties have offices at Union and Rural Council
level. They may not currently be elected but share similar local knowledge
and familiarity with the area and would be tremendous resource in data
collection and food distribution. For the Government must reach out to all
political parties for help whereby Political Parties will get certain dedicated
workers at local level registered with their respective DFBs.

3. Program Registered NGOs

NGOs are already leading whatever efforts we see on ground for food
distribution. It is only a question of bringing them all under a uniform
umbrella of the National Food Distribution Program to use their resources
in most efficient manner whereby NGOs also abide by food distribution
schedules, needs, requirements and safety protocols.

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4. Unemployed Labor
Due to economic slowdown thousands of laborers have been laid off work
and their data is available with factories and traders employing them. The
labor can be reached to be hired to work full time in the Food Distribution
Program

5. Transporters
Companies and Sole Proprietors engaged in the business of logistics and
transport need to be brought on board and made to register to the National
Food Distribution Program. Their resources need to be engaged and
dedicated to purposes of managing food supplies. All such transporters also
need to be issued special cards for each vehicle being used where by All
Petroleum Product Retailers would be bound to provide them fuel and
service them free of charge for the duration of their duty.

Summary

In summary the system works with Government and NGOs pooling in

resources to get food delivered to DFBs. The food will be procured from
wholesalers, distributers and retailers as existing stocks of ration with
retailers also needs to be consumed. The price will very at each
procurement point and this is where the universal price cap will help. As
DFBs will be operating based on periodic survey assessing evolving need of
the District this would also to make advance request for supply of food to
DFBs. The transport and logistics companies will be used for the purposes
of delivering and tracking food and cleaning supplies from point of
procurement to DFBs. Once the supplies reach DFBs it will be local
government officials, local reps of political parties, volunteers of Program
Registered NGOs and any hired labor who will participate in packaging of
supplies and delivery at doorstep.