That almost 3/4th of all Bangladeshis are unable to afford a healthy diet is a startling statistic.
While the government has, in the recent past, committed to prioritizing the food industry to scale up production to meet growing demands, it has done little to address the fact that a balanced, healthy diet still remains outside the reach of the average citizen.
In a recent report published jointly by Food and Agriculture Organization, Unicef, World Food Program, and others, it was found that 41.1% of all people in South Asia, on average, are unable to afford healthy food.
Of course, the numbers in the report reflect the current state of inflation in consumer food prices resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and supply chain issues exacerbated by world events, issues such as food insecurity and adulteration have long been issues for Bangladeshis.
But that is not to say that matters are getting worse, in fact our country is making slow progress towards ensuring the democratization of a healthy diet -- in 2017, the percentage of people not being able to afford healthy food was 77.4% in Bangladesh; in 2022, the number has been reduced to 73%.
While economic opportunities are ever more difficult with a possible inflation in the offing -- not to mention the long shadow of Covid-19 that still looms large -- the very least that can be done for all of those living in poverty is to ensure that they get all the essential nutrients they need.