By Muhammad Mudassar ISLAMABAD, Feb. 10 (INP-WealthPK): The production of basic food is increasing but there is a gap between the speed of population growth and food production. Pakistan's population is growing by 2 percent per year which is the highest among the South Asian countries. The demand for food is rising sharply day by day driven by the rapid urbanisation, lifestyle changes, and increasing world population. According to the Population Reference Bureau, the global population reached 7.8 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach 9.9 billion by 2050. Food security is a global issue confronting 1 billion people. According to OLIO (a mobile app for food-sharing, aiming to reduce food wastage), globally, 30 to 50 percent of edible food is wasted, accounting for almost $1 trillion. Pakistan's economy is based on the agriculture sector. According to International Food Security Assessment 2021-31, 38 percent population of Pakistan is food insecure. Pakistan's agriculture sector is heavily relying on the Indus basin for irrigation. Traditional irrigation systems and lack of policy reforms are the main reasons behind food insecurity and water scarcity in Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement, 16.4 out of every 100 households surveyed during the fiscal year 2019-2020 reported moderate to severe food insecurity. According to Dr. Mumtaz Lakhani, General Secretary of Pakistan Pediatric Association (PPA), 15 percent of milk is wasted due to a lack of storage or cooling facility and lack of roads infrastructure in rural areas. Pakistan Economic Surveys 2003 to 2021 Due to the rapid increase in population, the gap between demand and supply is increasing. This gap was also created due to food wastage. Technology plays an important role in the agriculture sector to maximise production. In Pakistan, a developing country, farmers usually use conventional methods in the agriculture sector, resulting in low yield per acre. Availability is not enough to tackle the food security issue. Accessibility and affordability are also important. Due to urbanisation, the pressure on the labour sector has increased. Vulnerability to food insecurity or food non-availability is high in households clustered around the poverty line. Pakistan heavily spends its revenue on the import of fossil fuels that directly affects every commodity in the country. Climate change is considered the most pivotal cause of food insecurity. The change in temperature, rainfall, water availability, and population size have a greater impact on food production. Reasonable and good roads, transportation, and storage infrastructure ensure easy accessibility to food. To ensure affordability, there is a need for government intervention through social safety nets like Ehsaas Program, Kisaan Package, and health cards to protect the most vulnerable and poorest segments of the society. The Pakistan government imports basic items like wheat and sugar by giving billions of rupees subsidies. It clearly shows that there is a lack of long-term policy to increase local production. Production must be increased by adopting updated technologies and stopping the waste of food. The government should ensure access to machinery that can help them achieve a better output. The government should also take steps to control the population. Education is an important factor that can positively affect population control and food wastage. Around 36 million tons of food are wasted per year in Pakistan. The government should add some chapters or courses in the school and college syllabus to minimise food wastage. In the light of the declining share of agriculture in GDP and continued dependence of the labour force on agriculture, there is an urgent need to focus on the promotion of a non-farm economy in rural areas with the view to alleviating rural poverty.