Regional meet discusses food security
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
FE Report
Both public and private sectors should increase their investments in the agriculture sector to avert recurrence of another food crisis in Asia and the Pacific regions, speakers from the region said Monday.
They made the call at a meeting titled 'Promoting Food Security through Sustainable Agriculture' on the sidelines of the three-day high-level Asia-pacific Policy Dialogue on Brussels Programme of Action for LDCs', which opened in the capital earlier in the day.
Mashiur Rahman, economic adviser to the prime minister, moderated the session, while Tin Htut of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Kazi Shahabuddin spoke.
Representatives from Bangladesh, Lao PDR and Afghanistan made presentations on food security issue from both regional and national points of view.
Lao PDR representative Saleumxay Kommasith said agriculture remains crucial to addressing food insecurity and malnutrition in the region. "We have to increase growth in agriculture to ensure food security."
Kazi Shahabuddin said sustainable agriculture is one of the key areas of food security in the region. "The issues of environment degradation and climate change should have to be dealt with in a proper manner to ensure food security."
Tin Htut said under-investment is one of the major aspects vis-a-vis food security.
"Poor farmers cannot invest more in agriculture and agriculture inputs although they know the investment will give more yields. Credit is another important issue here," he added.
He held public, private and multinational agencies responsible for the 2008 food crisis as they largely neglected the agriculture sector as a destination for investment for two decades.
Mr Tin noted: "Farmers increased investment after the post-food crisis period in the hope of better returns. But their hopes were dashed as the consequent economic crisis brought down the global food prices."
"Farmers are indebted now. Who will bail them out?" He posed the question.
Mr Tin said, "drought and impacts of climate change have become serious problems for the farmers. All this will negatively affect food security."
He said for ensuring food security, transfer of technology to the farmers is not enough. "The knowledge has also to be transferred to the farmers."
Mashiur Rahman said agricultural inputs should be made more easily available for the cash-starved farmers so that they can increase their production, which will be helpful for society.
Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan of Bangladesh government's Economic Relations Division said food security is a persistent problem in Asia and the Pacific.
"If the challenges of water and energy security, climate change, trade and transport and provision of adequate social protection were not addressed the situation may even worsen," he said.
Mr Bhuiyan said food security requires collective approaches and resources at regional and international level. "The valuable networks like SAARC and ASEAN can be effectively utilised for supplementing facilities for attaining food security."
Both public and private sectors should increase their investments in the agriculture sector to avert recurrence of another food crisis in Asia and the Pacific regions, speakers from the region said Monday.
They made the call at a meeting titled 'Promoting Food Security through Sustainable Agriculture' on the sidelines of the three-day high-level Asia-pacific Policy Dialogue on Brussels Programme of Action for LDCs', which opened in the capital earlier in the day.
Mashiur Rahman, economic adviser to the prime minister, moderated the session, while Tin Htut of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Kazi Shahabuddin spoke.
Representatives from Bangladesh, Lao PDR and Afghanistan made presentations on food security issue from both regional and national points of view.
Lao PDR representative Saleumxay Kommasith said agriculture remains crucial to addressing food insecurity and malnutrition in the region. "We have to increase growth in agriculture to ensure food security."
Kazi Shahabuddin said sustainable agriculture is one of the key areas of food security in the region. "The issues of environment degradation and climate change should have to be dealt with in a proper manner to ensure food security."
Tin Htut said under-investment is one of the major aspects vis-a-vis food security.
"Poor farmers cannot invest more in agriculture and agriculture inputs although they know the investment will give more yields. Credit is another important issue here," he added.
He held public, private and multinational agencies responsible for the 2008 food crisis as they largely neglected the agriculture sector as a destination for investment for two decades.
Mr Tin noted: "Farmers increased investment after the post-food crisis period in the hope of better returns. But their hopes were dashed as the consequent economic crisis brought down the global food prices."
"Farmers are indebted now. Who will bail them out?" He posed the question.
Mr Tin said, "drought and impacts of climate change have become serious problems for the farmers. All this will negatively affect food security."
He said for ensuring food security, transfer of technology to the farmers is not enough. "The knowledge has also to be transferred to the farmers."
Mashiur Rahman said agricultural inputs should be made more easily available for the cash-starved farmers so that they can increase their production, which will be helpful for society.
Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan of Bangladesh government's Economic Relations Division said food security is a persistent problem in Asia and the Pacific.
"If the challenges of water and energy security, climate change, trade and transport and provision of adequate social protection were not addressed the situation may even worsen," he said.
Mr Bhuiyan said food security requires collective approaches and resources at regional and international level. "The valuable networks like SAARC and ASEAN can be effectively utilised for supplementing facilities for attaining food security."