They said due to the double shocks of a protracted pandemic and ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, food prices have witnessed a huge hike.
Experts have called for increasing production in the agricultural sector to ensure food security in Bangladesh. They claim that the figures for food production shown every year are not correct. As a result, the right actions cannot be taken at the right time. Therefore, they called for accurate statistics, the use of technology and the payment of fair prices to farmers to increase production andensure food security.
Observing the adverse impact of the double shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis on food prices, speakers at a roundtable recommended some immediate policy interventions so that people of lower income brackets can access food at affordable prices.
They said due to the double shocks of a protracted pandemic and ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, food prices have witnessed a huge hike, but the consumers' purchasing power has not increased, nor has their income.
They urged the government to reduce diesel prices so that farmers are not hard-pressed to bear the cost of irrigation in Boro rice. To fend off a looming food crisis, they said the government should lower all input costs so that farmers can grow low-cost food that people in poverty can afford.
Dhaka Tribune, in association with USAID, organized the roundtable on “Food Security for Sustainable Development” on November 27. Dhaka Tribute Executive Editor Reaz Ahmad presented a keynote and moderated the session, held at Krishibid Institute, Bangladesh.
Former agriculture secretary Anowar Faruque, former foreign secretary Md Touhid Hossain, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Bangladesh Country Head Dr Akhter Ahmed, agricultural economist Dr Jahangir Alam, World Food Programme's Head of Research Takahiro Utsumi, FAO Bangladesh official Kristopher Johnson, USAID Senior Advisor Aniruddha Roy, Dhaka University Botany professor and Country Head of South Asia Biosafety Program Dr Rakha Hari Sarker, Feed the Future Bangladesh's Aquaculture Project Chief of Party Dr Manjurul Karim, Chief Executive Officer of Farming Future Bangladesh Arif Hossain and other experts, academics, researchers and journalists took part in the roundtable.
Dhaka Tribune's Reaz Ahmad said Bangladesh had done a commendable job of more than trebling its rice production over the past five decades, but 70% of its arable land has been occupied by one single crop -- the staple rice.
Dr Akhter Ahmed of IFPRI said reducing the rice import tariff to zero and building a good food reserve is vital. He suggested that the government procure a sufficient amount of paddy directly from the farmers so that the farmers benefit from the sales, not the millers.
“The Boro season is the main rice season in Bangladesh when farmers invest more than a fifth of their production cost for irrigating the cropland.”
- Dr. Akhter Ahmed, IFPRI Country Representative for Bangladesh
Noting the recent downtrend in fuel prices in the international market, he urged the government to reduce diesel prices, or it might harm Boro production.
Dr Jahangir Alam, former DG of Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI), thinks Bangladesh is not producing sufficient rice, and the production figures are misleading.
“There is a difference of 2.2 million tons in rice production if we compare the figures provided by the BBS and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE). Yearly, we need more than 30 million tons of rice if we calculate 182kgs of rice per person. But according to BBS, we are producing more than the demand.”
Touhid Hossain, former foreign secretary, focused on awareness building to ensure food security. He said: “Urea fertilizer is overused in Bangladesh. We need publicity to stop its overuse. If we can provide sufficient funds to our scientists, they can bring many positive changes to the agriculture sector.”
Dr Ripan Kumar Mondal, chairman of the Department of Agricultural Economics of Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University, said: “Some 21% of the population is facing food insecurity right now in Bangladesh. Four districts, including Kurigram and Sunamganj, are in a particularly bad situation.”
Former FBCCI vice president said: “Right now, people are not interested in agricultural works. Rather, they are driving three-wheelers and earning TK25,000-30,000 per month. We need to fix how many workers we need to keep our agricultural sector operational.”
Bani Amin, Deputy Chief of Party, Feed The Future Bangladesh Horticulture Project, said: “Although Bangladesh has achieved success in rice production and conservation, the government is not paying proper price to the farmers.
“The price of diesel has increased due to the war. As a result, the cost of transportation has also increased. Even the technology that farmers use to produce crops is mostly diesel-powered.”
Md Nurul Amin Siddiquee said: “Although there is a discussion about the production of other crops, including rice, there is less discussion about meat food. As a result, there is no facility to vaccinate animals in Bangladesh.”
“More investment is needed in agriculture research and development so that more rice could be grown from less land, thereby releasing some land for other important crops to grow. Otherwise, Bangladesh's food import dependency will not reduce.”
This article was originally published in Dhaka Tribune on December 13, 2022.
Photo Credit (feature photo): Ireen Sultana, International Rice Research Institute