As the country continues to get assaulted by hartals and blockades, our food sector is paying a steep price.
Poultry producers are estimated to have faced a loss of Tk4,000 crore in the last three months because of hartals and blockades. Huge losses have been incurred due to the disruption affecting vehicles carrying chickens, eggs or poultry feed. Breeders who have been unable to transport poultry feed to their chickens have been forced to kill 3 million day-old chicks because they cannot be fed.
Bangladesh’s frozen food exporters have also incurred losses of a staggering Tk180 crore during the October-December period because of their failure to ship products due to the uncertain political climate. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), exports of frozen food fell in the July-November period to $325m from $544m in the last fiscal year.
Over 10,000 tonnes of frozen shrimps and fish, valued at over Tk1,000 crore, have had to be stored in warehouses because they could not be shipped. Shrimp exporters have been forced to sell at lower prices due to being unable to ship their wares to buyers before Christmas.
Our food supply is being decimated as farms are being shut down and millions are finding themselves on the verge of unemployment. Action must be taken immediately to stop these senseless losses.