Article 15 of the Bangladeshi constitution enshrines the right to food as a core policy principle of the government, underscoring the importance of “food security” for all citizens. Bangladesh has achieved self-sufficiency in food production, but it still relies on imports of staple foods to meet the nation’s demand. Throughout the past few years, there have been repeated warnings from international organisations about food crisis that appears to be endangering global food security due to some recent events.
The percentage of the world’s population who do not receive adequate nutrition has climbed from 8.4% to 9.9% in a year, endangering the accomplishment of Sustainable Development Goal 2 that is ‘Zero Hunger by 2030’. Almost 660 million people will still be hungry in 2030 if current trends continue.
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As a response to the looming crisis, Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been constantly acknowledging the need for increasing production since last year. She has urged the people of Bangladesh to give greater consideration to food security by utilising the uncultivated lands for increased productions. In order to combat the famine from grappling our country, the government has been giving efforts to raise food production under the directives of HPM Sheikh Hasina. The authorities have been identifying uncultivated lands and are currently preparing for cultivating many of the lands already.
A WORLD HUNGRIER THAN EVER!
Ukraine-Russia war, post-pandemic disruptions, overall economic shocks, climate extremes, and skyrocketing fertiliser prices are combining to create a food crisis on a historic scale.
Ukraine-Russia war, post-pandemic disruptions, overall economic shocks, climate extremes, and skyrocketing fertiliser prices are combining to create a food crisis on a historic scale. More than twice as many people as in 2020 are likely to be food insecure, bringing the total number of hungry people around the world to 345.2 million. This is a startling increase of 200 million individuals over pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
Food prices worldwide have skyrocketed due to the supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and increased consumer demand, further worsening the challenges faced by the 811 million people who go to bed hungry every night. The pandemic’s devastating impact on global hunger and poverty has been particularly acute in the most vulnerable and impoverished communities. The war in Ukraine has worsened the COVID-19-induced food security issue, disrupting markets for about a third of the world’s wheat, which is a key export for Russia and Ukraine. These countries export over 20% and 10% of the world’s wheat, respectively, and many nations in Africa and the Middle East rely on imports from them as wheat is a traditional staple. The limited food exports due to the war have caused supply shortages and a global increase in food prices, which have risen by approximately 20% annually.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a rise in trade restrictions imposed by many nations. The global food crisis has been exacerbated by nations’ food trade restrictions to boost domestic production and lower costs. By December of 2022, 19 countries had banned food exports entirely, while another 8 had restricted exports in other ways.
Globally, food price inflation continues to be significant. Food price inflation data for the most recent month, between October 2022 and January 2023 show that almost all low-income and middle-income countries have high inflation. Inflation is above 5% in 83.3% of low-income countries, 90.2% of lower-middle-income countries, and 91% of upper-middle-income countries, and many of these countries have double-digit inflation. In approximately 85.5% of high-income countries, food price inflation is high. Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia are the most adversely affected regions. Since natural gas is essential to the manufacturing process for nitrogen-based fertilisers, its price increase and disruption due to the conflict in Ukraine have also affected worldwide fertiliser production.
According to the Agricultural Market Information System’s (AMIS) February 2023 Update, fertiliser prices have gone down by 40% since they hit record nominal highs last spring. This is largely due to recent drops in natural gas prices and the reopening of fertiliser plants in Europe. Despite this decline, prices are roughly double than what they were two years earlier. Climate shocks, such as heat-waves, excessive rainfall, and droughts, have had a direct impact on food systems across the globe, exacerbating the problem. The Horn of Africa (HoA) is currently facing its worst drought in forty years, putting millions of people at risk of hunger. Protracted droughts, intense heat, and rising food costs have created challenges for people to cultivate crops, raise cattle, and purchase food. The United Nations (UN) estimates that approximately seven million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished in the HoA.
The International Food and Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) identified eight key issues for continued global food security: historically high commodity prices, constrained staple food markets, the effect of the Ukraine conflict on spring planting, volatile fertiliser markets, unfavourable weather circumstances, global economic slowdowns, high food price inflation, and macroeconomic trends.
IS BANGLADESH APPROACHING A FOOD CRISIS?
Even though the situation has not yet been termed as a food crisis, Bangladesh is prone to food scarcity much like other countries. Around 30% of Bangladesh’s population faces food insecurity. According to the FAO, Bangladesh is one of the 45 nations that will experience a food shortage. A UN research indicates that Bangladesh is one of the countries that requires external assistance to feed its people. Apparently, these nations do not have what it takes to produce enough food for their own people. In Bangladesh, wheat, edible oil, sugar, and other critical food staples have nearly skyrocketed in price due to the shortage, making them out of reach for the common people. In addition, it is anticipated that this year’s production of rice, wheat, and corn could fall by 0.4% compared to last year. According to a poll performed by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), approximately 6% of the population cannot afford to purchase food.
The estimation for 2021 was 5%. After achieving independence, Bangladesh’s agricultural sector has expanded significantly. The country has become self-sufficient due to the increase in cereal crop yield and output. Despite a growing population and a shrinking amount of land, food accessibility has increased on average. The nutritional status of the Bangladeshis has improved as a result of a diet rich in protein and vegetables, and stunting, underweight, and wasting have decreased. According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2019 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and UNICEF, chronic malnutrition, as indicated by stunting levels, decreased from 42% in 2013 to 28% in 2019. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic having a substantial influence on the global agricultural supply chain, increasing food insecurity, and driving up food prices worldwide, Bangladesh has demonstrated some resilience. Beginning in 2020, mild food insecurity increased among rural households, but by the end of 2021, the scenario had returned to pre-pandemic levels.
The conflict in the Ukraine has exacerbated food shortages around the world, including in Bangladesh. In the middle of the global financial crisis, the Bangladeshi government has reduced import tariffs and value-added taxes and initiated many steps to regulate the domestic food market in order to preserve low import food prices. In addition, food availability has increased as a result of the decade-long Green Revolution that the country witnessed. Government measures regarding the agricultural sector have contributed to this revolution. Consequently, starvation and famine could be avoided in Bangladesh. The government has already begun establishing plans and programs to finance the adoption of more sophisticated farming practices and technologies.
SHEIKH HASINA’S VISIONARY STEPS TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY
Under the keen leadership of HPM Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s agriculture has been digitalised along with many other industries. Food security for all is a top concern for the Awami League government. The 2019 manifesto and program agenda of the Awami League effectively addressed measures and tactics to ensure everyone’s food and nutrition security. Consequently, the government led by HPM Sheikh Hasina has made attempts and is implementing numerous policies pertaining to the improvement of social safety net programs and agricultural practices.
Efforts are underway to establish a sustainable food security system in order to meet the needs of a growing population, combat the rise in food costs on the global market, and address other food security related issues. In this regard, the nation is reported to be constructing a market for agricultural service providers, producing digital apps to connect smallholders with agricultural service providers, and exploring the possibilities of practice.
“BOOST FOOD PRODUCTION, LEAVE NO LAND UNCULTIVATED”
HPM Sheikh Hasina has repeated that Bangladesh must cultivate food on every square inch of land, save money, and practice austerity in order to avoid the famine that international organizations fear would grab the entire world in 2023. She said,
“Utilise every inch of land for food production, we have to go for savings and practice austerity. I hope that all will maintain that course”
She urged everyone to be alert, since international organisations anticipate that 2023 will be the year of global famine. “But Bangladesh must not fall victim of that famine. For that, we have to produce foods in our own lands,” she stated.
In the past few months, HPM Sheikh Hasina herself has spoken openly about the effects of the global economic crisis on the economy and has frequently urged the citizens to increase food production. The HPM stated that her government’s objective was to utilise every inch of unused land for agricultural production. She also strongly opposed those who believed that Bangladesh will suffer the same fate as Sri Lanka.
“Our economy is still strong enough. Many individuals thought Bangladesh would be Sri Lanka, but ashes fell on their faces,” she said. “We should not remain dependent on others rather we should be self-reliant. So, I’ve been asking everyone not to leave even an inch of land uncultivated,”
HPM Hasina remarked. Moreover, she advised all institutions to pursue food production on any available land. She noted that the developed world is suffering greatly as a result of the conflict in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions. “Bangladesh is also in the same position. That blow is already being felt here. We are trying to control that,” the premier said.
HPM SETS AN EXAMPLE BY HOMESTEAD FARMING AT GANABHABAN
Perhaps there is no greater example of a nation’s leader promoting homestead farming than our dynamic leader HPM Sheikh Hasina. She has not only urged people to cultivate food on every inch of ground to combat the worldwide food problem, but she has also planted crops on unused land at her official residence, Ganabhaban. HPM Sheikh Hasina spends most of her day leading the government, but in her spare time, she looks after the farming and harvesting at her residence. She has planted several types of rice, vegetables, fruits, flowers, honey, onion, mustard, and sesame in the Ganabhaban, demonstrating that the nation can also follow her footsteps and produce foods through homestead farming.
Around 1.84 tonnes of onions cultivated inside Ganabhaban have been harvested. In addition, she maintains a small cow farm, as well as a farm for domestic ducks, Chinese ducks, swans, and pigeons within the Ganabhaban. The premier cultivates a wide range of winter vegetables, including cauliflower, cabbage, red cabbage, spinach, coriander, broccoli, tomato, gourd, and many sorts of beans. Spices like turmeric, pepper, and bay leaves also grow in the Ganabhaban compound, along with a variety of tropical fruits like mango, jackfruit, banana, plum, dragon fruit, and strawberry.
In the pond of Ganabhaban, HPM Hasina farms different kinds of fish, such as rui, catla, tilapia, and chital. Furthermore, she cultivates pearls in the same lake. Also, she enjoys fishing in the lake within the Ganabhaban premises. According to sources, she distributes these necessities to employees at Ganabhaban and people in need, keeping only a little share for herself.
“HPM Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina got this inspiration from her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s call of green revolution of 1974,” the press secretary, Ehsanul Karim informed. In accordance with her repeated urgings to focus on agriculture, she brought every inch of the Ganabhaban compound’s uncultivated area under cultivation and set a remarkable example by making her call to the people a reality.
HPM INSTRUCTS JUBO LEAGUE TO BOOST FOOD PRODUCTION
HPM Sheikh Hasina instructed the leaders and activists of her party’s youth front Jubo League to return to their villages and try to increase agriculture productivity in order to mitigate the effects of a potential food crisis.
She stated, “I would like to ask every activist and leader of Jubo League to go to your village and ensure that no land remains uncultivated.” Awami League leaders and activists from Jubo League and other Awami League affiliate organisations responded to her call by assisting farmers in harvesting their crops even during the COVID-19 outbreak. “Now we’ll have to stand beside the people as well,” she said asking Jubo League members to cultivate own lands and assist others to produce agricultural products in their lands. “You’ll have to serve the country and its people,” The Prime Minister remarked addressing the party members.
To wrap up, the global food crisis has impacted many countries, and the ongoing war and embargoes are expected to worsen the situation. Under the keen leadership and dedication of our honourable Prime Minister, actions have been taken to survive the looming crisis and escape from the imminent famine. However, tackling food insecurity and avoiding hunger and famine not only require government initiatives, but also involve the enthusiasm and responsibility of all citizens during a crisis like this. If the citizens come forward, and utilise their lands to produce foods, the nation can ensure enough food where forthcoming famine can be avoided. If we can follow the footsteps of our visionary leader, and focus on homestead farming like her shown approach, we can also contribute to the food security amid this global crisis. With a surplus in food production, the country can not only meet its own food demands and build resilience against shocks like climate change and economic downturns but also support other countries with famine risks.
