According to the World Development Report 2000-2001 almost half of the world’s population – 2.8 billion out of 6 billion live on less than $2 a day; while a fifth, i.e., 1.2 billion live on less than $1 a day with 44 per cent of them living in South Asia.1 The Pakistan Economic Survey 2000-2001 reports that about 33 per cent of the country’s population is living below the food poverty line.2 Food poverty trends since 1990-91 shows that food poverty has been on the rise since 1990-91, with a higher increase being observed in rural areas where food poverty increased from a low of 22.5 per cent in 1992-93 to a high of 34.8 per cent in 1998-99 (Table-1).