Food security investment plan on table, govt looks to dev partners' funding
Friday, 28 May 2010
FE Report
The government is going to formulate a comprehensive food security investment plan to place before the development partners to get assistance to implement it, said food and disaster minister Abdur Razzak Thursday.
"Food security is extremely important for a country like Bangladesh and it needs to invest huge amounts of money to ensure that," he said at a press conference after the concluding session of the two-day programme on Bangladesh Food Security Investment Forum.
The government needs funding to ensure food security for poor people in the country's south-western part, the hilly areas and other underdeveloped areas, he said adding, "Utilisation of surface water for agriculture also needs huge investment."
Marketing is another aspect, where the country lacks sufficient investment, he said.
"This year potato farmers did not get the fair price and now milk farmers are in crisis as they are not getting the price due to distribution problem," he said.
The developed world has pledged $20 billion for food security investment and Bangladesh is likely to get a good share of the fund.
"The investment plan will be placed at the G-8 meeting in Canada where all the recipient countries will get the pie of the fund," the minister said.
The US government has pledged $3.5 billion investment in food security and selected 10 countries including Bangladesh as the focal point and the rich country will spend the amount in three and half years, he said.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) will organise another meeting in Asia, where the same investment plan will be placed to get necessary funding to implement the massive plan, he added.
The investment plan is likely be prepared by next week.
The minister said increased population, improper land management and climate changes are the biggest challenges for food security and the government is trying to face the problems.
Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said the investment plan should be broken into micro projects, so that it can be easily implemented.
The government is going to formulate a five-year agriculture plan in which rural development, water management, poultry and fisheries will be included, he said.
It is difficult to ensure food security in Bangladesh as the country has only 15 million hectares of land to feed over 150 million people, he added.
"We need to diversify our crop production," the minister said.
Farmers in the south-western part of the country are facing problems due to climate impacts, but the problems can be solved, he added.
"We need to invest a huge amount of money in research and development," Mr Muhith said.
The government is going to formulate a comprehensive food security investment plan to place before the development partners to get assistance to implement it, said food and disaster minister Abdur Razzak Thursday.
"Food security is extremely important for a country like Bangladesh and it needs to invest huge amounts of money to ensure that," he said at a press conference after the concluding session of the two-day programme on Bangladesh Food Security Investment Forum.
The government needs funding to ensure food security for poor people in the country's south-western part, the hilly areas and other underdeveloped areas, he said adding, "Utilisation of surface water for agriculture also needs huge investment."
Marketing is another aspect, where the country lacks sufficient investment, he said.
"This year potato farmers did not get the fair price and now milk farmers are in crisis as they are not getting the price due to distribution problem," he said.
The developed world has pledged $20 billion for food security investment and Bangladesh is likely to get a good share of the fund.
"The investment plan will be placed at the G-8 meeting in Canada where all the recipient countries will get the pie of the fund," the minister said.
The US government has pledged $3.5 billion investment in food security and selected 10 countries including Bangladesh as the focal point and the rich country will spend the amount in three and half years, he said.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) will organise another meeting in Asia, where the same investment plan will be placed to get necessary funding to implement the massive plan, he added.
The investment plan is likely be prepared by next week.
The minister said increased population, improper land management and climate changes are the biggest challenges for food security and the government is trying to face the problems.
Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said the investment plan should be broken into micro projects, so that it can be easily implemented.
The government is going to formulate a five-year agriculture plan in which rural development, water management, poultry and fisheries will be included, he said.
It is difficult to ensure food security in Bangladesh as the country has only 15 million hectares of land to feed over 150 million people, he added.
"We need to diversify our crop production," the minister said.
Farmers in the south-western part of the country are facing problems due to climate impacts, but the problems can be solved, he added.
"We need to invest a huge amount of money in research and development," Mr Muhith said.