Home ›› 05 Dec 2021 ›› Editorial
Poverty is steadily but surely becoming a thing of the past in Bangladesh. At the time of its independence in 1971 Bangladesh was an impoverished nation– infamously dubbed as a ‘basket case’ by the then American Foreign Secretary Henry Kissinger– of 75 million people. Now Bangladesh with a population of nearly 170 million people is one of the fastest growing nations in the world and on its way to officially becoming a developing country in just five years from now. In the early 1970s, 75 per cent of Bangladeshis could afford only two meals a day. Now the picture is diametrically opposite. At present 75 per cent of the people are having three square meals a day.
A report published in this newspaper on Saturday quoting Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzak stated that Bangladesh has been self-sufficient in food production since 2015 which indeed is a remarkable achievement for a country with a relatively small land mass and a burgeoning population. As a matter of fact, Bangladesh is currently a food-surplus country. The report said that rice production is 38.7rmillion metric tons in FY21 while the requirement of the staple crop is about 35.3 million metric tons. The report also states that potato production rose almost 13 times while maize 1900 times and wheat 10 times in the last 50 years. Bangladesh ranks second in jackfruit, third in open water fishing and vegetable cultivation, fourth in rice production and Tilapia fish production, fifth in fresh water fish farming, sixth in potato production and eighth in mango and guava production.
While all these are achievements worthy of praise there is hardly any room for complacency. Self-sufficiency in food does not necessarily translate to food security and food availability for all. Despite the giant strides Bangladesh has made in the agricultural sector Bangladesh still ranks 99th among 113 countries in quality and safe food category. And it stands 76th among 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021. These rankings suggest that much more needs to done in ensuring food security for all Bangladeshis. Bangladesh is committed to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030–one of the Sustainable Development Goals. The authorities concerned must take appropriate actions to ensure that Bangladesh remains on track to achieve the goal of Zero Hunger. It must be remembered that while the percentage of poverty-stricken people have fallen sharply since independence, in terms of sheer numbers many people are still impoverished and they do go hungry more often than not. The calorie intake of the majority of the people are still not sufficient. Widespread adulteration and contamination of foodstuff are also cases of serious concern. These issues must be addressed as there must not be any compromise as far as the health of the citizens are concerned.
Bangladesh’s agriculture has reached unprecedented heights. However, the farmers are yet to reap the expected benefits from the revolutionary developments in the sector. They often get a raw deal in terms of fair price for their toils. According to former research director of Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies (BIDS) M Asaduzzaman farmers receive three times less price than that of the market price for their products. There is a high price in the market but low price in the farmers’ end. The price gap is pulling down the affordability of the growers. We should not lose sight of the enormous contributions of the farmers and giving them their due prices must be ensured.
Agriculture is a crucial ingredient to ensure that the economy bounces back from the pandemic-induced recession. Experts believe that there should be higher investment in agriculture, particularly in commercial agriculture through intensified farm mechanisation and technological adoption. Food production has to be coupled with effective policies and strong institutions for procurement, marketing and distribution.
