The speakers have urged the government to reduce the prices of diesel and other agricultural inputs so that farmers can grow low-cost food that people in poverty can afford
The double shocks of the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine crisis have drastically increased food prices, and immediate policy interventions are needed to keep food items affordable for people of lower income brackets, speakers at a roundtable have said.
They have urged the government to reduce the prices of diesel and other agricultural inputs so that farmers can grow low-cost food that people in poverty can afford.
The roundtable, titled “Food Security for Sustainable Development”, was organized by Dhaka Tribune in association with USAID at the Krishibid Institute, Bangladesh, on Sunday. Dhaka Tribune Executive Editor Reaz Ahmad presented the keynote paper and moderated the session.
Former agriculture secretary Anowar Faruque, former foreign secretary Md Touhid Hossain, International Food Policy Research Institute's (IFPRI) Bangladesh country head Dr Akhter Ahmed, agricultural economist Dr Jahangir Alam, World Food Program (WFP) 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 Aquaculture Project's 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 discussion.
In his keynote, 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 had been occupied by one single crop – the staple rice. He emphasized more investment in agricultural research and development so that more rice could be grown from less land, thereby releasing some land to grow other important crops.
He said: “It is necessary to diversify food crops or the country's food import dependency will not reduce.”
Anwar Faruque said: “Given the current foreign currency reserve situation, Bangladesh needs to prioritize its range of imported items based on importance, such as foodgrains, fertilizers, and other farm sector inputs.”
Dr Akhter Ahmed said 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”. 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.
The IFPRI country head also recommended reducing the rice import tariff to zero and building a good food reserve. 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.
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 182kg rice per person. But according to BBS, we are producing more than the demand.
“I think we are not properly estimating consumption and production. We are producing fish and meat more than our demand, but the price of meat is higher than in any other country. So, we need to make strong surveillance because the two years of Covid-19 and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war may result in a food crisis in Bangladesh.”
He added that the tariff rate on rice was almost zero in 2017 and 2018, but there was no impact on the market.
Touhid Hossain, former foreign secretary, focused on awareness building to ensure food security, and 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.
“Farmers are getting only 30% of the price when their products come from Narsingdi, which is one and a half hours from Dhaka. The rest of the amount is taken by the middlemen, transport workers, and others.”
Agricultural journalist Rezaul Karim Siddique stressed ensuring security for the farmers, and said: “We need to ensure farmers' security to ensure food security. If we want to make a developed Bangladesh by 2041, we have to transform our farming into smart farming.”
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.”
He focused on diversified foods and said: “Bangladesh is importing wheat every year. What will happen next if we cannot import wheat and if the demand for wheat goes to rice? We need to go for diversified food. We need to invest in research.”
Mohammad Helal Uddin, former vice president of FBCCI, 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.”
As the country's cultivable lands are decreasing, the business leader said: “We should focus on vegetable processing and preservation, as every day around 30% of vegetables are spoiling.”
Fazlul Karim, former dean of Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University, criticized the role of monitoring authorities and said: “If farmers get the fair price, I think they will not need subsidies. Our lands are fragmented, pesticides and fertilizers are adulterated, and no one is there to supervise.
“Once we read more than 85% of the people of Bangladesh were dependent on agriculture, but right now it has decreased to 40%.”
Enamul Haque, former DG of the DAE, said: “The price of corn flakes is Tk500-1,000, but the raw material's price is Tk30 per kg. We should give importance to value-added products and export options.”
Manjurul Karim, chief of party of the Feed the Future Bangladesh Aquaculture Project, said: “Inter-ministerial collaboration is needed to maintain food group awareness and quality.”
Mahadi Faisal, head of business at Shwapno, said: “We are facing an availability crisis in sugar and oil, now we need to think about the price of red meat, which is Tk750 per kg in Bangladesh and Tk250 in India.”
He also focused on processed fish production for exports.
This article was originally published in Dhaka Tribune on November 27, 2022.