By The Numbers
Regional food security
The soaring price of food grains appears to have emerged as a problem of serious concern for Bangladesh. The experts are of the opinion that the country is under imminent threat of food crisis and price hike of food grains might turn into a regular phenomenon.
High prices of food grains in the international market and domestic drawbacks in food production, due to recurring floods, are the reasons for the looming crisis. The recent floods damaged crops of some 819,985 acres of land, according to a preliminary estimates by the Department of Agricultural Extension.
Prices of rice and wheat in the international market have increased significantly. The price of best quality of rice was $260 per metric ton in 2005; it hit $320 in 2006, and soared to $340 in 2007. The price of wheat was $160 per metric ton in 2005; it increased to $210 in 2006 and now has reached $245 in 2007.
"Livelihood and food security, in future, will face enormous challenges. We, the developing nations, are more vulnerable to it, as we do not have adequate knowledge base to face those," said Dr. C.S. Karim, the adviser for agriculture and environment, at a seminar held recently in the city.
The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a research body funded by UN agencies, suggests that Bangladesh is likely to be one of the hardest-hit countries in respect of its agricultural; due to global climate change and its rice production may be dropped by 10 per cent and wheat by one-third.
Bangladesh attained self-sufficiency in food production in 1999-2000 when the country's gross production in rice and wheat reached at 2.49 crore metric tons. But increasing trend of food production could not be sustained. The country is now required to import nearly 20 lakh tons of food grain each year.
The government had to beef up its stock of rice as it failed to procure the targeted 12 lakh tons of rice during the recent procurement drive. As a result, country's food reserves dropped much below the prescribed food security level of 10 lakh tons.
Rice plays a very important role in food security in Asia, as it is the major cereal crop here. With an annual world production of about 576 million tons, rice feeds more than half of the world's population. But the stock of rice with major exporters worldwide is on the decline.
The UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has recently warned that South Asian countries may face a food crisis due to untimely floods. Further liberalisation of global agricultural trade will make food grains costlier for net importing countries like Bangladesh and will worsen its food security, warned the economists of the country.
Jacques Diouf, the Director General of FAO said, very recently, in an interview with the Financial Times, a leading business daily in Rome that increases in the prices of basic food products could spark social tension in developing countries. "If we continue to see an increase in their food prices and in their import bill for food, there is a serious political situation," said Diouf.
According to the FAO chief, a variety of factors are contributing to the increase in food prices. These are, rising demands from the developing countries, rising populations across the world, frequent floods and droughts and increasing demand for grains from the bio-fuel industries. The bio-fuel industry is a new factor creating demand for grains for a non-food use.
The pre-summit meeting of the Saarc Council of Ministers, held on April 2 in New Delhi, signed the deal to finalise the establishment of the Saarc Food Bank; to meet the growing challenge of food security of more than 1.5 billion people of the South Asian region. The summit also adopted a declaration for establishing the Saarc Food Bank. But steps are yet to be taken for establishment of the food bank and to commence its functions.
The establishment of Saarc Food Bank was aimed to come in aid to its member countries; to meet the emergency food crisis due to destruction of crops by natural calamites or any other reasons. The Saarc Food Bank was likely to start functioning, initially, with 241,580 tons of food grain, which would be increased gradually.
According to the proposal, Bangladesh and Pakistan were to contribute 40,000 tons of food grain each, while Sri Lanka and Nepal were to contribute 4,000 tons each. Maldives was to contribute 200 tons and Bhutan 180 tons. India was to contribute the highest quantity of 153,200 tons of food grain.
The proposal for establishment of a regional food bank was first broached at the third summit held in Kathmandu in 1987, in a different form. An agreement was then signed for establishment of Saarc Food Security Reserve (SFSR). The agreement, which came into force on August 12, 1988, provided a reserve of food grains for meeting emergency situation during food shortages in the member countries.
The concept paper of the Saarc Food Bank was prepared during the 12th summit in Islamabad, held in January 2004. It was formalised in the 13th summit, held in Dhaka. The heads of state or government noted the proposal for establishment of the regional food bank proposed by India and agreed to examine the proposal.
UN agency, FAO, is helping many countries for promoting regional food security. Regional Programs for Food Security (RPFS) is boosting regional integration among the neighbouring developing countries to enable the countries to successfully confront the challenges of globalisation and solve regional problems through collective action. FAO works directly with regional economic organisations to achieve these goals.
The devastating flood that had hit Zambia, Angola, Mozambique, and other African counties, posed a challenge to food security in the region. The regional body, Southern African Development Community (SADC), successfully faced that unexpected shortage of food.
Floods and droughts are major causes of food shortage in South Asia. About 300 million people in the region who are chronically hungry badly need food security. A firm pledge by the Saarc leaderships, backed by pragmatic policies and appropriate plans, is needed for establishing the food bank to provide regional food security.
There is a great need for regional cooperation for long-term forecasting, including early warning and vulnerability assessment for food security. Bangladesh should play a central role in formalising regional food security and seeking better ways to spearhead regional food security programs.
A. N. M. Nurul Haque is a columnist of The Daily Star.
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