ZCZC
BSS-35
FOOD-COVID-19
No one will face food crisis amid COVID-19
By Syed Shukur Ali Shuvo
DHAKA, May 24, 2021 (BSS) – As per the government various steps to ensure food security in the country, it was revealed that not a single person will face food crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have attached top most priority to increasing food production and import of foodstuffs aimed at ensuring food security for all,” said an official of the agriculture ministry.
The official said that the boro production on each hectare of land on an average rose to 4.17 MT this season, which was 3.97 MT last season.
The ministry has a target to have 2.5 crore MT of boro rice this year, which was 1.96 MT last year.
“Everything has been possible due to visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina because she has been giving instruction to all concerned for ensuring food security in the country,” the official said.
Recently, Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzak in a media briefing said that the country will have an additional production of at least 10 lakh MT of boro this year compared to that of the last year.
He said the government has taken initiatives to increase the ongoing aush production and the target to cultivate aush paddy on 13.30 lakh hectares of land with a production target of 34.85 lakh MT.
Under the initiatives, the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ensured all agricultural inputs such as quality seeds and fertilizer free of cost for farmers across the country, he added.
Following the footprints of Father of the Nation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government also attached priority to agriculture to increase food production considering food security.
There was food deficiency of 24 lakh metric tons when the Awami League came to power in 1996, but the country witnessed a surplus food production of 26 lakh metric tons when it completed its five-year tenure.
Presently the country has enough stock of food-grains. Till May 19, 2021, the country has a stock of 07.01 lakh MT food-grains stock was, of which rice was 04.13 lakh MT and wheat was 2.28 lakh MT, according to the ministry data.
Boro paddy and rice procurement activities for 2021 were conducted from 28 April and 7 May 2021 across the country. In the current boro season 25,263 MT of boro paddy, 78.316 MT of boiled rice and 40,439 MT of wheat were collected till May 19.
Bangladesh is very small in terms of its land size while current population is 165 million or around 17 crore. The most important thing is to ensure food security for such a huge population.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has been working to build a developed and prosperous country free from hunger and poverty envisioned by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Besides, on May 5, UN-partnered flagship report said at least 155 million people faced crisis levels of food insecurity in 2020 because of conflict, extreme weather events and economic shocks linked in part to COVID-19.
Considering COVID-19 and other hardships Bangladesh’s government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Thailand to import up to 10 lakh metric tons of rice each year till 2026 under government-to-government (G2G) level, according to ministry official.
It’s been five years since hunger levels were this bad across 55 countries under review, according to the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), which noted that 20 million more people went hungry last year than in 2019.
“Conflict and hunger are mutually reinforcing. We need to tackle hunger and conflict together to solve either…We must do everything we can to end this vicious cycle. Addressing hunger is a foundation for stability and peace”, said UN Secretary-General Ant>nio Guterres, writing in the report.
The authors of the report – the United Nations, the European Union as well as government and non-government agencies – also noted that 39 countries and territories had experienced food crises in the last five years.
In these countries and territories, the population affected by high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC3 or worse) increased from 94 to 147 million people, between 2016 and 2020, the global network said.
It added that in the 55 food-crisis countries and territories covered by the report, more than 75 million children under five were stunted and at least 15 million showed signs of wasting in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the fragility of the global food system and the need for more equitable, sustainable and resilient systems to nutritiously and consistently feed 8.5 billion people by 2030.
Besides, many organizations, especially the ruling party and its associate bodies, have been distributing foodstuffs among distressed, helpless and jobless people across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her party men provided foods and Eid gifts to common people of the country to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr and face the corona pandemic.
BSS/SPL/SAS/MMA/1859HRS