In search of food security

Tasfi Sal-Sabil and M Mizanur Rahman Many nations have been cited as role models for the type of development path Bangladesh should take. We often say that if Bangladesh could develop like Malyasia or if we could have a leader like Mahathir Mohammad and so on. We also draw the examples from the nearby countries like India, China or even Sri Lanka, seeing their progress. But were we to refer Ghana to be taken as an example and follow it's path for our development, most people would be astounded. Among all the policies, food policy has now become crucial not only for development but also for sustenance. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), South Asia has the highest regional 2011 Global Hunger Index (GHI) score. The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale where zero is the best score (no hunger), and 100 is the worst. It is a very comprehensive study done by IFPRI and it aims to trigger actions to reduce global hunger. In this index, the position of Bangladesh is in the 70th place, behind India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. But one of the top ten performers in tackling hunger has been Ghana, which reduced its GHI score by 59 per cent from the 1990 GHI to the 2011 GHI. Ghana's success resulted from a combination of investments in different sectors especially in agriculture. The government provided farmers with information, agricultural inputs such as pesticides and fertiliser, and infrastructure such as roads and storage facilities, according to the IFPRI report. Former President of Ghana John Kufuor explained in his book about their transformation of agriculture. "The farmers' progress did not result merely in increased exports; the government launched an ambitious programme to give all kindergarten and primary school pupils a daily hot and nutritious meal made from locally produced food, which resulted in a monumental increase in school enrolment. The policy provided proper nourishment for the children and also support for the farmers," he noted in the book. For Ghanaians, such an achievement was nothing but a dream before 2001, but by dint of excellent leadership and proper decisions made the change in the country possible. People say that it was not only made possible because of Ghana's economic, agricultural, but its social policies were accompanied by reforms designed to expand democratic freedoms. Some kind of innovation by using own resources properly can often be helpful if it is done with intelligence and foresight. Food security is becoming a matter of great concern for Bangladesh. The population is continuing to increase while the climate change is having an adverse impact on agricultural production and the agricultural input costs are also rising rapidly. There is surplus production of rice but government is importing it from abroad. There remains a huge gap between rural and urban market price. Farmers are not getting the price that covers their production cost and rural people are struggling with high food price. All these things have made the issue more complex and unpredictable. This year too, with the prevailing food price in the market, farmers cannot meet their production cost and have become frustrated. If such a situation prevails, farmers may be discouraged to produce rice, which would have serious impact on the country's food security. But what is the incentive for the poor farmers when their produce fetches only Tk 500-Tk 600 per maund against an investment of Tk 560? Recent reports in some newspapers indicate massive mismanagement and imbalance in the agricultural markets, which harms the country in two ways. It discourages the farmers and, at the same time, it harms the consumers. The recent trend shows that a lion's share of the profit is being taken away by third-parties or brokers who basically hoard and supply the food grains to the market, but producers are being deprived of their just price. The government has a responsibility to contribute to the supply side of the food production cycle, by ensuring farmers get a proper price for their produce. And for this, governments in many countries usually follow any or both policies, i.e. input subsidy or price support. Experts consider input subsidy a less efficient policy for farmers and advocate for providing price support. When the market price of Aman paddy is low, rice procurement by the government can ensure the minimum price that can cover the production cost and the farmers can get some incentive for future production. It will also help stabilise the market. The government has placed special emphasis on the issue and the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will be increasing the coverage of food safety-net programmes. It is too early to comment, but we are still unsure how TCB will achieve this goal. The expanded coverage of social safety-net programmes can never address the high food price for many reasons. On November 20, the prime minister has proposed for giving subsidy on food so that the urban poor can purchase it, but the finance minister opposed the idea. Subsidy on food grains may not also be helpful and it seems to us that we are still fumbling in the dark and not going to the root of the problem. In this regard, taking a sudden and wanton decision will be risky for the country and here some help can be taken from research that will analyse the problem and also suggest some constructive interventions. We need to think out of the box and search for alternative policies or interventions that need to be adopted. Otherwise, in not too distant a future, we may face a scenario where a lot of people will be going hungry due to lack of food availability in the markets. So, it is high time that our policymakers searched for viable alternatives with our own resources to address the long-term food security issue of the country. A research-based decision and sincere initiatives are needed to be taken by the government, to ensure adequate production and proper distribution of food grains, and decreasing the dependency on imported food grain. Tasfi Sal-Sabil is a student of Department of Development Studies in the University of Dhaka and can be reached at email: tasfi.salsabil@yahoo.com. M Mizanur Rahman is a development researcher and a programme officer at Islamic Relief Worldwide. He can be reached at email: mithunmds07@gmail.com