Ensuring that the people of this country have food security should be of the utmost importance.
This is especially true when it comes to children, where even a single child left hungry should be seen as a tragedy of the highest order.
Bangladesh has had issues with food security in the past -- for example, a significant portion of the population suffers from Vitamin A deficiency, leading, tragically, to the death of 3,000 children every day.
That is not a number to be taken lightly and, last year, with the Covid-19 pandemic having left many amongst us without a source of income, more and more children will be at risk of malnutrition.
This is reflected in a recent study conducted by Unicef, which predicts that over 10 million children will most likely suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021 -- a horrifying number, especially when one considers the fact that this will affect the most vulnerable members of our society.
It is to be noted that the aforementioned number refers to five nations only, and while the current government has done a tremendous job of ensuring food security for more and more people every year, we must remain committed to ensuring that food insecurity is completely eliminated, and becomes a thing of the past.
Severe acute malnutrition affects children in unfathomable ways, leading to very low bodyweight and muscle wasting, and is seen to be a major cause of death in children under the age of five and, as such, should not be taken lightly by any means.
To protect our children and, by extension, our future, must be a priority. We need to do a lot better than we are doing right now.