Nutritious food will remain a luxury for the people unless the skyrocketing prices of commodities are brought under control, said speakers during a virtual discussion.
The constant price hike in the kitchen markets has made it impossible for people to purchase nutritious food, they said during the virtual consultation with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on Tuesday.
The multi-stakeholder session was organised prior to the 36th Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to be hosted by Bangladesh from March 8 to March 11.
“Right now, the growth rate of food production exceeds the overall population growth of Bangladesh. However, as Bangladesh aspires to be a high-income country by 2041, we need to do more. The population fell below the poverty line by nearly 4 per cent from 2015 to 2019,” he said.
“Every year we see food being wasted in the rural areas where farmers do not get fair prices for their crops. On the other hand, people in urban areas like Dhaka are not able to manage the most basic commodities,” said Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Country Director Rubaba Khandaker.
“If people don’t have money, nutritious food is a luxury,” she added.
Rubaba Khandaker called for controlling the ongoing price hike that is preventing the urban poor in the metropolitan cities from buying food for their families, eventually leading to the malnutrition of children.
According to FAO Market and Trade system advisor FAO Dr Monirul Hasan, an analysis by FAO in 2020 noted a decline in the prevalence of undernourishment from 20.8% in 1999-2001 to 13% in 2017-19.
It also showed that the country was self-sufficient in fish production as it ranked 3rd in inland open water capture production of fish and 5th in world aquaculture production.
Despite being a nation dominated by agriculture, where around 40 per cent of the population are engaged in the sector, Bangladesh has one of the lowest per capita investments in agriculture in the world, which is about 16.4 percent.
“Currently, the growth rate of food production exceeds the overall population growth of Bangladesh,” said Monirul Hasan.
“However, as Bangladesh aspires to be a high-income country by 2041, we need to do more. The population fell below the poverty line by nearly 4 per cent from 2015 to 2019,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shushilan, a Satkhira-based development organisation, has emphasized a scaling up of investment in innovation and technology in order for farmers to be empowered.
It noted that if farmers were not happy with the achievements in food security, they would be at risk. The agriculture profession needed to be made a respected and lucrative one to draw the younger generation to it.
According to Shushilan, while production in Bangladesh had increased, the use of technology was far below standard than in our neighbouring countries.
According to a World Bank 2018 report, both investment and value-added income in Bangladesh in the agriculture sector are lower than the average of South Asian countries.
Moreover, slow business is having a dire impact on the nutrition situation. In fact, the FAO Report on State of Food and Agriculture (SOFI) 2021 states that in Bangladesh, 73% of the population is not able to afford a healthy diet.
The FAO report states that the country has a severe deficiency in protein and micronutrient intake, as the people’s daily intake of dairy and dairy products, pulses, meat and eggs is way below the standard requirement.
The statistics for vegetable intake is the worst. Where the recommended intake is 300 gm per day for a person, in Bangladesh the average intake is only 167.39 grams per day.
The lack of proper nutrients leads to children suffering from severe micronutrient deficiency as per the National Strategy on Prevention and Control of Micronutrient Deficiencies, Bangladesh (2015-2024) which showed children aged 6-59 months suffering from a lack of zinc, Vitamin D and calcium.
The 36th regional conference for Asia and the Pacific has four thematic areas to ponder upon, which are the impact of Covid-19 on food security, state of agriculture, natural resource management and food security and nutrition.
Ministers and more than 400 delegates, including from the private sector, civil society and academia and technical experts in the food and agriculture sectors from 46 member countries across the Asia-Pacific region will take part in the event.
