Researchers have identified a number of bottlenecks for the farmers' reluctance to diversify production of non-rice crops, which include high production cost, market risk, relative price (rice price versus non-rice crop price), poor distribution system and insufficient cold storage facilities. They noted that Bangladesh has been experiencing a significant food system transformation due to rapid urbanization and income growth. Although the country has significant achievement in food production and health index, it still has high rate of malnutrition, obesity and diet-related diabetes.
These were revealed during a press briefing organized by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Bangladesh with support from CGIAR Research Programme on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) and Wageningen University and Research Centre of the Netherlands at a city hotel. IFPRI's Policy Research and Strategy Support Programme (PRSSP), CGIAR and Wageningen University and Research organized a workshop and country consultation in the capital this week with the key government and food system actors to develop a programme on food system research. IFPRI Bangladesh country representative Akhter Ahmed, Wageningen University and Research associate professor Inge D Brouwer and coordinator of food security, value chains and impact analysis Prof Ruerd Ruben and senior manager of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Herbert Smorenburg spoke at the press conference.
The research programme is a six-year one, spanning from January 2017 to 2022. Under it research will be conducted in four countries - Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Nigeria - at a cost of US$25 million. The programme will focus on reversing the traditional approach, starting from consumers to other components in the supply chain system. It will have three major components - agriculture, nutrition and health.
During the workshop the participants noted that Bangladesh is at the threshold of significant dietary transformation. The government agencies concerned, businesses and civil society groups have the opportunity to come together and create a plan to support this changing food system to produce and supply diverse nutritious and safe food for healthy lives.
Akhter Ahmed said dietary diversity is a key for promoting food systems for healthier diets. IFPRI research shows that agricultural diversity and nutrition knowledge improve dietary diversity. He said production cost is higher for non-rice crops, and it is true that high productivity can reduce cost. Vietnam has doubled the yield of rice than that of Bangladesh. Average milk production of a local cow in Bangladesh is 1.0-1.5 litres per day, while it is 10-11 litres in the developed countries. So investment in research is required to increase per acre non-rice crop production, he added. Dissemination of nutrition knowledge is highly expensive in Bangladesh, which should be reduced to improve the country's nutrition situation. Investment was high in research on staple crops in the past. But now the time has come that investment should be made in research on how to produce more non-rice crops, Mr Akhter added.
Ms Brouwer said dietary diversity is a problem in Bangladesh due to over dependence on rice. Adulteration should be controlled and quality of food should be strictly maintained, she added.
This article was originally published in The Financial Express.