Disruption in farming activities and supply chain of agricultural inputs due to continuous blockade and rampant violent activities is posing a serious threat to the country's food security. Spiralling prices of goods and essential commodities amid the current political unrest are also causing immense suffering to the commoners.
Very often communication on the roads and highways is being snapped due to frequent barricades put up by the agitating parties. The economy faces a major setback and the people are suffering terribly as the transportation of goods across the country, including that of export-import items, is being hampered seriously due to frequent blockades and hartals.
Cargo movement to and from Chittagong port and inter-district transport of goods, including food items, fish, vegetables and other perishable items, are being seriously hampered due to disruption in road communication as trucks, lorries and buses go off the street under duress during hartals and blockades. The disruption in goods movement causes sharp rise in prices of essentials, hitting hard the common people. The fate of the farmers also hangs in the balance for shortage of fertiliser, fuel, pesticides and seeds.
Price of Aman paddy registered a drastic fall on the market due to repeated blockades. Farmers are counting huge losses for not getting fair price of their produce amid the disruption in the transport system. Experts fear that the country is likely to face a serious food shortage if the situation does not improve soon. They also said the success of Bangladesh in food security is being blurred due to continuous political turmoil.
In recent days, Bangladesh achieved remarkable success in food security despite its fast-shrinking agricultural lands due to overpopulation. The United Nations (UN) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) reportedly said the example of Bangaldesh can be followed by others. But it is going to be marred by the current agitation programmes, according to some agricultural experts.
Farmers are facing tough times as they cannot sell green vegetables and other perishable items while fertiliser, seeds and pesticides cannot be sent to the local markets due to disruption in transportation. According to sources, bean was selling at Tk 5.0 per kg, brinjal at Tk 10, radish at Tk 3.0 and carrot at Tk 25 at various places in the countryside. Farmers are unable to recover even the carrying cost, let alone the production expenditure, by selling vegetables at such low prices. Besides, the fishery owners are also counting losses as they cannot catch fishes and send those to marketplaces due to blockades.
The ongoing hartals and blockades have also made a severe impact on the urban people. The prices of daily essentials have reached an abnormally high level. From potato, onion and fruits to milk and fish, price of every commodity has increased abnormally. Every commodity is being sold in the capital at prices four to seven times higher than their prices in rural markets. Prices of essentials are skyrocketing as the countrywide distribution system has virtually collapsed due to the prolonged blockade.
Nearly 60 per cent out of the country's total rice production comes from boro paddy cultivation. A bumper production is possible if supply of fertiliser and timely irrigation are ensured. The farmers are now concerned over the timely supply of fertiliser. Although the stock is adequate, fertilisers cannot be sent to the interior areas due to repeated hartals and blockades. Meantime, a section of unscrupulous traders are allegedly creating artificial crisis of fertiliser and diesel in northern region and other parts of the country taking the advantage of blockades.
Despite many gains in aggregate food production, an unacceptably high proportion of Bangladeshis still remains food insecure. Hunger, malnutrition, and poverty persist and remain widespread, affecting millions of people. According to the latest estimate, around 40 per cent of the 160 million people of Bangladesh still live below the poverty line, and the poorest 12 per cent are recognised as being ultra food-deficient.
Poor people's entitlements to food are considerably constrained by political, social, economic and environmental forces that tend to operate against them. Therefore, in a food-deficit and land-scarce country like Bangladesh, where agricultural productivity still remains relatively low and unabated environmental degradation continues, technical solutions to increase production can certainly help, but these need to be environment friendly, with no significant adverse effects on the natural resource base.
In neighbouring India, which transformed itself from a food-deficit to a food-surplus country, a sizeable portion of its population is still deprived of three decent meals a day. This means that food insecurity is not just a function of domestic production, rather it is strongly linked to entitlement to food. A country may produce and make enough food available in aggregate terms by increasing commercial imports, but a significant portion of its citizens may remain food insecure due to inadequate purchasing power.
A considerable portion of the hardcore poor in Bangladesh is unable to participate in economic activities. Therefore, market interventions aimed at increasing access to food are unlikely to benefit them significantly. They depend on others for maintaining livelihoods and live on transfer incomes. The government operates safety-net programmes for the hardcore poor. However, there is evidence of considerable leakages from safety-net programmes, and ample scope exists for improving targeting in terms of geographical areas as well as beneficiaries.
Increasing agricultural production through higher investment should be a top priority for Bangladesh. Appropriate steps should be taken to increase productivity in the agricultural sector. Investment in infrastructure should be priotised and institutional reforms should be undertaken to enhance agricultural production and distribution.
By and large, greater investment in rural human capital to improve labour productivity and mobility; more diversified and higher valued rural economies that provide the commodities needed by modern supply chains and domestic super-markets, and more efficient rural financial markets, etc. should constitute a package to deal with the much contemplated food security.
szkhan@dhaka.net
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