Preparing to face the looming food crisis
Monday, 22 November 2010
There is a pressing need on the part of a country like Bangladesh which depends to some extent on imported food grains and a great deal on imported cooking oil, pulses, spices and dairy products, about both the soaring prices and scarcity of these commodities in international market places. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has issued a warning recently that the bill for global food imports will top $1,000 billion this year for the second time ever putting the world dangerously close to a new food crisis. The scenario projected in the FAO’s twice-yearly Food Outlook released last week warned that the world should be prepared for even higher prices for these products in the year 2011 if domestic food productions in importing countries do not increase substantially. A similar food crisis was witnessed from under-production worldwide in 2007-8 when the bill for imported food soared to $ 1,031 billion. But ten years before that crisis, the global bill for food imports averaged less than $ 500 billion a year.
Prices of agricultural commodities have surged following top producers of wheat for exports, Russia and Ukraine, declaring a ban on their exports. In this backdrop, the two most populous countries, China and India, have met setbacks in their food production. For Bangladesh, this is a particularly worrying news as it could import food grains conveniently and at most competitive prices from next-door India. Although the Indian government declared a relaxation of their ban on food grain export in relation to Bangladesh, it remains to be seen how far the offer can materialize in the tight situation faced by India itself. Thus, there are all the reasons for policy planners in Bangladesh to be extremely proactive in securing the import requirements of these agricultural products. Not only the maximum efficiency and timeliness must be attained in importing food grains and other kitchen items, the same sort of agility and competence need to be there in importing raw cotton for the country’s textile industries because cotton availability has also slumped from under-production worldwide.
Under the current volatile international market conditions, government in Bangladesh should make urgent policies and implement them neatly to keep the supply lines of these imported products smooth and the prices as stable as possible. Constant contacts with the sellers and building up of market intelligence, plus forward buying at stable prices under longer-term contracted arrangements, could be the answer to protect the country considerably from the shocks of fast rising import prices of agricultural commodities.
Internally, the greatest stress will have to be put on increasing overall production of food grains. It appears that climate played a part in reducing the last harvest of Aman rice. The preparations are underway to raise the next Boro crop during the coming winter months. Every effort will have to be pushed to the maximum with timely supply of all sorts of inputs, including irrigation water, to farmers at reasonable prices. Truly incentive prices will also need to be declared to motivate farmers so that the surplus Boro rice can be successfully purchased from them for stocking up adequately in government-operated silos. This would reduce the need for import and build up greater basic food security. It is also imperative to adopt a plan and execute it with the greatest efficiency to much increase the cultivation of non-cereal crops such as oilseeds, spices, pulses and cotton within the country.
Prices of agricultural commodities have surged following top producers of wheat for exports, Russia and Ukraine, declaring a ban on their exports. In this backdrop, the two most populous countries, China and India, have met setbacks in their food production. For Bangladesh, this is a particularly worrying news as it could import food grains conveniently and at most competitive prices from next-door India. Although the Indian government declared a relaxation of their ban on food grain export in relation to Bangladesh, it remains to be seen how far the offer can materialize in the tight situation faced by India itself. Thus, there are all the reasons for policy planners in Bangladesh to be extremely proactive in securing the import requirements of these agricultural products. Not only the maximum efficiency and timeliness must be attained in importing food grains and other kitchen items, the same sort of agility and competence need to be there in importing raw cotton for the country’s textile industries because cotton availability has also slumped from under-production worldwide.
Under the current volatile international market conditions, government in Bangladesh should make urgent policies and implement them neatly to keep the supply lines of these imported products smooth and the prices as stable as possible. Constant contacts with the sellers and building up of market intelligence, plus forward buying at stable prices under longer-term contracted arrangements, could be the answer to protect the country considerably from the shocks of fast rising import prices of agricultural commodities.
Internally, the greatest stress will have to be put on increasing overall production of food grains. It appears that climate played a part in reducing the last harvest of Aman rice. The preparations are underway to raise the next Boro crop during the coming winter months. Every effort will have to be pushed to the maximum with timely supply of all sorts of inputs, including irrigation water, to farmers at reasonable prices. Truly incentive prices will also need to be declared to motivate farmers so that the surplus Boro rice can be successfully purchased from them for stocking up adequately in government-operated silos. This would reduce the need for import and build up greater basic food security. It is also imperative to adopt a plan and execute it with the greatest efficiency to much increase the cultivation of non-cereal crops such as oilseeds, spices, pulses and cotton within the country.