Rizq Rasan
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Why Rizq Rasan exists

Waste and hunger, side by side

Good food is wasted in Pakistan while many families go without. These are the figures, with their sources, and what we plan to do about it.

Pakistan ranks 106th of 123 countries on the 2025 Global Hunger Index. One in four households went without enough food in 2024-25, and 40% of children are stunted. Meanwhile an estimated 19.6 million tonnes of food is lost or wasted every year.

The figures

Hunger and waste, by the numbers

Every figure is footnoted with its source and year.

106th of 123

Pakistan's rank on the 2025 Global Hunger Index, a level rated "serious"1

1 in 4

households were moderately or severely food insecure in 2024-25, up from about 1 in 6 in 2018-192

40%

of children in Pakistan are stunted3

19.6M tonnes

of food is estimated to be lost or wasted in Pakistan every year, about a quarter of what the country produces4

1.05B tonnes

of food was wasted worldwide in 20225
  1. Global Hunger Index 2025, 2025
  2. Household Integrated Economic Survey 2024-25, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (reported by Business Recorder), 2025. 24.35% of households, up from 15.92%
  3. WFP Pakistan Country Brief, June 2025, 2025
  4. Ministry of National Food Security figure, reported by ProPakistani, 2023
  5. UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024, 2024

The paradox

Surplus and need in Islamabad

At closing time

Picture a tandoor in G-9 with 40 naan left at 10 pm, or a bakery in F-7 Markaz with trays of bread and mithai that won't sell tomorrow. The food is good, but the day is over.

Some of it goes to staff or is sold off cheaply. What's left can end up in the bin, because there's no quick, trusted way to get it to someone who needs it before its time runs out.

Across the city

NGOs, community kitchens, shelters and iftar dastarkhwans feed people every day. Good food at half of retail or less would stretch what they can do.

But surplus appears late and lasts only hours, and there's no easy way to find it, check that it's safe, or be sure it will still be there when they arrive.

The gap isn't the food. It's time, trust and coordination. Much of the surplus appears late in the evening and stays safe for only a few hours. And there's no Good Samaritan law in Pakistan to protect a business that hands food on, so whoever passes it on carries the risk.

What we'll do about it

What Rizq Rasan will do

Rizq Rasan will connect verified businesses that have surplus food with verified NGOs nearby, starting in Islamabad on 22 March 2027.

  • Businesses list what's left, with a photo, a pickup window and a safe-until time.
  • NGOs nearby claim it, and pay no more than half of what it sells for in the shop.
  • Every business and every NGO is checked before they can list or claim.
  • Each kind of food has a time limit, and cooked food opens only after the pilot's first 4 weeks pass with no food incident.
  • Food is handed over only for the right 4-digit pickup code.
  • Vendors recover part of their cost, which gives them a reason to list again tomorrow.
  • Every completed pickup adds to public totals, with the method on our Impact page.

How it works

Every step from listing to payout.

For businesses

Recover part of your cost on food you'd otherwise throw away.

For NGOs

Good food near you, at no more than half of retail.

How we check these figures

Each figure on this page is footnoted with its source and year. We recheck every one on its source page before launch, and update them when newer figures come out.

Where sources disagree, we leave the figure out. That's why you won't find a food-waste-per-person figure here: published estimates for Pakistan differ too widely. If you spot a figure that's out of date, tell us and we'll check it.

Good food deserves a second chance.

Rizq Rasan launches across Islamabad on 22 March 2027. Register your interest and we'll invite you as soon as there's a place.

I have surplus food I feed people