Amid a looming food crisis across the world, a debate sparked over severe food scarcity in Bangladesh. The FAO warns that Bangladesh and other 44 nations will suffer from acute food shortage in the coming year. The price of fuel, essential commodities including foods are skyrocketing, leaving millions in Bangladesh tensed. The economically backward and lower income families are reportedly consuming less in comparison to usual days.
The food crisis is global. The war in Ukraine has disrupted the global supply chain, including the food supply chain. After a long lasting deadly pandemic, two spells of rain -- one in April, the other in June -- caused a devastating flood in Bangladesh. As a result, Bangladesh's harvest in the year dropped more than it was expected.
Addressing an assembly on World Food Day on October 17, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged Bangladeshis to work together in growing more food, bringing every inch of land under cultivation to save Bangladesh from the food crisis.
“We all have to be alert from now on as no food deficit is seen in our country -- there are a lot of lands of the government and private organizations. Cultivate whatever food grains you can including vegetables, fruits, and others, utilizing every inch of abandoned lands,” the Prime Minister said on World Food Day.
Nearly 24.69% of the total workforce is engaged in agriculture in the agrarian state. The contribution of the agriculture sector to GDP is 13.29%. The nation is blessed with a highly arable land in the delta and perfect climatic conditions for several nutritious and protein crops.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had given top priority to agriculture. Following the footsteps of the founding father of Bangladesh, Awami League has identified six thematic areas: Agriculture research and development, supplying agricultural inputs, expansion of agriculture, economical use of water in cultivation, facing the climate change effect and enhancing institutional capacity, and human resources development to ensure food and nutrition security. The current government has taken a few special drives for the farmers and agriculture sector. The program of providing food assistance at low costs to nearly 50 lakh poor people of the country is ongoing.
As the foreign reserve of Bangladesh has come down to $36 billion, the Bangladeshi government has already reduced imports in every area. Food is no exception. Although the state is not self-reliant on food grains yet, the state has tasted success in exporting fishes and vegetables.
In recent years, Bangladesh has given attention to diversifying the agriculture sector. Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation has worked well with the high yielding variety seed, following which Bangladesh is experiencing such crop diversity with huge productions. This year Bangladesh is expected to produce 5 crore 64 lakh tons of rice, which was 5 crore 68 lakh tons last year. As a result, the production of rice will decrease by 4 lakh tons this year. Whereas, wheat production will increase to 12 lakh tons. On the other hand, the production of other grains will increase from 4.7 million tons to 4.8 million tons.
The shortage in the production of agricultural products is a matter of concern, but Bangladesh is trying its best to overcome the food crisis in the coming years. The government and the enterprises are taking steps to mitigate the issues. To avert a country wide food crisis, Prime Minister Hasina has urged the farmers and compatriots to be aware of the food crisis.
Increasing indigenous production is the best way for Bangladesh. It is necessary to control the volatility that has already started in the market management due to the increase in the price of diesel. Nearly 20% subsidy is given to farmers for using electricity in irrigation. But there should be subsidies for the farmers who are using diesel as well. Boro is the biggest season of paddy production in the country from which 70% of the total demand of Bangladesh comes. Mostly 70% of this production goes to diesel.
Bangladesh has seen success in per capita income, graduating from LDC status and several other fronts. Import of onions from India was a big challenge for the nation of 180 million. But now Bangladesh is self-reliant in terms of onions and several other vegetables. With a proven record, Bangladesh has the capability to bring its entire population under food security. Empowering the farmers with finance and facilities should be the top priority. It's also high time to build more cold storages across the country.
Ayanangsha Maitra is an Indian journalist and doctoral scholar.
