Sugar Crisis in Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is the beholder of an Agro-Economy. The economic backbone of Pakistan is the agricultural sector. The agriculture Sector contributes 24 percent to the GDP (PBS, 2021), maintaining its position as the largest sector to grasp almost 45 percent of the country’s human capital directly as well as indirectly. It is not only the human capital consuming sector, but this sector provides the largest raw material to many industries of the country. Sugar, or sucrose, most commonly known as “table sugar” is used as a sweetener worldwide, to enhance flavor, it is also added to processed foods usually with the purpose to increase shelf life. The Essential Commodity Act in 1957 termed “Sugar” as a “basic commodity.” Due to sugar being an essential commodity and the importance of sugar in daily life, its demand is inelastic, since it has a very few alternatives. The table sugar is a composed of a combination of Glucose and Fructose, both retaining a percentage of 50. Sugar is obtained and extracted from two crops, sugar cane and sugar beet. The Sugarcane crop accounts for around 86 percent of the sugar crop while Sugar beet makes up for the remainder of the quantity. (FAO, fao.org, 2019) Approximately 75 percent of the sugarcane produced globally is consumed by the food processing (manufacturing) and household industries, even the remainder used to produce biofuel.