Ensuring access to food
Saturday, 24 November 2007
THE launching of a special Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme in the cyclone-hit coastal districts of the country is a piece of welcome news. The operational aspects of this VGF programme should be meticulously dealt with so that its coverage does effectively reach the intended target groups. The distressed people in the cyclone-affected areas will need steady supplies of food grains for a considerable period of time because of serious dislocations to their livelihoods. In the event of failure to reach them food, the situation there will aggravate and starvation deaths will then be difficult to avert. The media, both electronic and print, have brought to our attention the pitiful conditions of life and living in the affected coastal areas in the aftermath of 'Sidr'.
In this backdrop, the decision of the government to operationalise a special VGF programme in the cyclone-hit districts from December 01, 2007 is well-purported. According to reports, a total of 2.59 million people in 12 Sidr-affected districts will receiver 15 kilograms (kgs) of rice per month until March 2008 under this extended VGF programme. The concerned authorities should now take immediate steps to properly expand the coverage of this VGF programme encompassing the distressed people and, thus, ensuring their access to food.
Meanwhile, the government and the private sector should properly assess the impact of the Sidr on the domestic supply situation relating to food grains. Immediate steps should be taken to arrange import of food grains to the extent considered necessary in the light of this assessment. The donor community should also be apprised of our need, considering the fact that supply and price situations in the international food grain market, are otherwise not normal this year.
Mehtab Uddin
Hatirpool, Dhaka.
In this backdrop, the decision of the government to operationalise a special VGF programme in the cyclone-hit districts from December 01, 2007 is well-purported. According to reports, a total of 2.59 million people in 12 Sidr-affected districts will receiver 15 kilograms (kgs) of rice per month until March 2008 under this extended VGF programme. The concerned authorities should now take immediate steps to properly expand the coverage of this VGF programme encompassing the distressed people and, thus, ensuring their access to food.
Meanwhile, the government and the private sector should properly assess the impact of the Sidr on the domestic supply situation relating to food grains. Immediate steps should be taken to arrange import of food grains to the extent considered necessary in the light of this assessment. The donor community should also be apprised of our need, considering the fact that supply and price situations in the international food grain market, are otherwise not normal this year.
Mehtab Uddin
Hatirpool, Dhaka.