Common man's staple food out of reach

For the greater part of this year, people have been hammered by soaring food inflation. This has now become the norm. That a lot of working-class people were going hungry is obvious, particularly in the city where suddenly the number of people asking for handouts has shot up. But none of this could prepare the vast majority of people who depend on coarse rice as their principal staple food because this particular commodity appears to have suddenly been hit by supply crunch.
According to recent media reports, supply of coarse rise has suddenly declined in both the capital city and many other regions of the country. This has resulted in an increase in the prices of coarse rice by Taka 5.0 per kg at the retail level. Traders say the price is unlikely to come down before the Aman harvesting season, which will start soon.
According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) information, the so-called "affordable" rice available today are BR-28 (Tk 58-60 per kg) and 'Swarna' (Tk 55-50 per kg). Reportedly, Naogaon that serves as the largest rice hub also has no supply of coarse rice. If one is to go by these reports, markets were sustained by last year's stocks. The indication is that the next import of rice will not occur before late first quarter of 2024 and harvesting of Aman rice in late November. So, coarse rise crunch will continue till election time.
The medium category of rice that constitutes BR-28 (and two others) are products of the Boro season paddy. In the absence of coarse rice like hybrids, Guti Swarna, etc., BR-28 and similar other rice varieties that sell for substantially more than rice from Aman paddy have become the new rice for common folk. Of course, one can't simply stop eating. So, consumption has reduced and more people are going hungry these days. Because of the supply shortage, rice prices have gone up on an average between Tk 2.0-6.0 for a kilogram at both wholesale and retail markets. As has been highlighted throughout the year, it is not just a simple case of demand and supply, rather greed has become the overwhelming driver for price manipulation.
Any shortage of supply of a particular commodity will cause havoc. There is difference of opinion about why the Aman supply has dried up. While rice mill owners and traders say that stocks have finished, retailers tell a different story. It is their opinion that the manipulation is happening in the upper tiers of the supply chain and "syndicates" are the main culprits for creating an artificial scarcity. Whatever may be the case, it suits millers and traders perfectly. They now have a situation where the food that the bulk of the population eats has registered a price hike. A manipulative means resorted to controlling prices is, however, a crime. But who cares?
The situation brings to the fore precisely what sort of planning the government has done to avert such a crisis. One can understand reluctance on the part of relevant ministries to import such a bulk item, especially at a time when the economy is contracting and foreign exchange is in short supply. But the dual shock of short supply on top of which market-controlling interests are at play, can hardly leave any option other than import. The data on which the government has based its planning comes from the bureau of statistics, which is notorious for getting its facts confused. Perhaps a more reliable agency can take care of data collection for agriculture in the future, but it hardly solves the problem at present.
At the end of the day, what experts say is that production of coarse rice is limited. In the post-production stage, this rice is collected by the government which distributes a part of it through its various social safety net programmes and the rest is sold in the open market. There are imports of the variety but this year, the government had to distribute more food than the preceding years given the overall economic situation in the country. But then it was also unimaginable that unscrupulous business cartels would be so adept at taking undue advantage with every essential food item so ruthlessly.
Since the state apparently is helpless to act against the unholy forces, the only course open to it is to import rice. This must happen sooner than later. Of course, in an age when the largest rice-producing countries are themselves tightening their exports, it will probably cost the country more to procure coarse rice from international markets this year. The government should look into how data is collected on the staple and the agencies involved in data collection need to be brought up to standard. Otherwise, the planning required to avoid situations like this will not materialise and people will continue to go hungry.

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