Food Security in Bangladesh
Posted by Unknown in Agriculture and Farming, Bangladesh, Climate Change, Food Security, Problems in Agriculture on Sunday 27 January 2013
Food
security plays an important role in social and political stability of a
country. But sustaining agricultural growth and food security is a
challenge for the present day world, especially for developing
countries.
Climate
change and disasters aggravate the risk further. International
organisations are warning about hunger and food insecurity risks in many
countries. In this context, the Bangladesh government is considering
the issue with utmost priority because Bangladesh is one of the most
disaster prone countries of the world.
The
disaster-hit people need emergency food assistance, as their capacity
to access to markets falls drastically. Increasing population, poverty
(31.5% of the population is still poor), decreasing availability of land
resources and seasonal umemployment in agriculture sector compound the
problems. Thus, ensuring food security and effective disaster management
are the two enormous challenges for the government.
The
country saw unprecedented agricultural growth during the Awami League
government in 1996-2001. This was possible due to pragmatic plans and
effective implementation by the then government of Sheikh Hasina. The
country became cereal surplus for the first time in 1999-2000. Food
grain production rose from 19 million MT in 1996 to 26.9 million MT in
2000-2001.
That,
a rise of about 8 million MT in five years, was almost equal to the
achievements in the previous 25 years (1971-1996). Agricultural growth
was 8.10% and 6.18 % in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 respectively. Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina was awarded the prestigious CERES Award by FAO
for the country’s unprecedented success in agriculture production and
food management.But the growth trend did not sustain during BNP’s regime
in 2001-2006.
They
did not fulfil their commitments to the people and there was severe
mismanagement in procurement and distribution of agricultural inputs
like fertilizers, seeds, diesel etc.
The
average agricultural growth came down below 3.5%. The BNP government
did not buildup sufficient public stock to face any food crisis.
Consequently, the country’s food security fell to an all-time critical
level in 2007 and 2008, compounded by the global food crisis during the
rule of the caretaker government.
International
prices of rice price rose from $301 per MT in 2006-07 to $665 per MT in
2008-09. This, along with other failures, resulted in domestic price
increase of Tk.35-50 per kilogram. Wheat price also increased similarly
during this period. In this situation, the present government took
office on January 9, 2009 with the pledge to bring down the prices to an
acceptable level. Pledge and renewed focus on food securityThe present
government had to start with the residual shocks and impacts of the
2007-08 food crisis.
In
addition to this, cyclone Aila hit south-west Bangladesh on May 25,
2009. It caused huge damage in agriculture production and water
infrastructure along the coastline.
The
government, therefore, opted for augmenting production and took up
massive programmes. It halved the prices of non-urea fertilizers, made
quality seeds available, increased subsidy on inputs including diesel,
and eased the credit provisions.
Thus,
agriculture production growth bounced back from 3.5% to 4.5%. In the
last two years, the growth increased further. The government has also
maintained conducive output prices for the farmers.
Market
monitoring has also been strengthened to procure food grain after
harvest. International support for improving food securityAfter
assumption of office, the present government launched the National Food
Policy Action Plan (2008-2015) and initiated formulation of the Country
Investment Plan for Food Security (2011-2015). This plan consists of 12
programmes for improving availability of, access to, and utilisation of
food with an involvement of $7.8 billion, of which $5 billion need to be
mobilised.
The
Asia-Pacific Food Security Investment Forum held in Manila in July 2010
and the 36th session of the Committee on World Food Security held in
Rome in October 2010 honoured Bangladesh as a “showcase country” for
this unique policy planning framework. This Plan has thus opened the
window for international support for food security in the
country.Initiative for enhancing access to food for the poorDelivering
food to the poor through the Public Food Distribution System (PFDS) is
the main strategy for ensuring food security for the poor.
The
government has taken initiatives to enhance the coverage and
effectiveness of social safety-net programmes. As a result, the overall
distribution under PFDS in 2010-2011 stood at over 2.29 million MT as
compared to 1.25 million MT in 2005-06.
Accordingly, the allocation to safety-net as percent of GDP increased from its earlier 1.6% to 2.5-2.6% in recent years.
Muhammad Abdur Razzaque
