It is disturbing to note that over 23 million people in the country has been reported to be helpless victims of food crisis in the country.
A latest report under the banner titled, "Integrated Food Security Phase Classification" - jointly conducted by several international development agencies operating in Bangladesh, including the United Nations (UN)has revealed this alarming fact. It is basedon a survey over the last 20 years.The survey also includes 300,000 Rohingya refugees.
However, this huge number of affected people has been predicted to be in danger till next December. And under such dire circumstances, some 1.6 million people in severe food crises are in need of emergency food support.
Apart from specifying geographical areas of majority number of victims, the report also mentioned that most victims are located in Chattogram, Rangpur, Khulna and Sylhet divisions. That said - farmers have been identified as the worst affected victims.
A spree of natural disasters occurring this year since last May is unquestionably directly linked to our farmers' woe. Moreover, detrimental impacts of climate change, including severe heat waves to have swooped across the country, Cyclone Remal, flash-floods in Haorareas, severe floods in areas near Jamuna River taking place in July and in the South-Western parts of the country in August - all have collectively worsened the reported food crisis.
For a better understanding, one-fourth of the affected victims in the farming sector are poor farm-hands working on a daily wage basis. They were largely unemployed due to recurring disasters and heat waves, and even if there was some work, the wage was much less. Moreover, a large portion of this community is solely dependent on agriculture for living. Approximately 60 - 70 percent of their daily income is spent on food, as a result they were and are being forced to have less food as rice prices spiked.
However, need of the hour demands for the Interim Government is to take urgent measures to curb the ongoing food crisis before it gets bigger.
Reducing price of daily essentials and agriculture equipment must be prioritized. At the same time, right now it is crucial to strengthen social safety nets to protect and supply our vulnerable farmer population with emergency food.
For a long-term solution we call on the Interim Government to chalk out a clear-cut road map by introducing a multifaced approach by improving food availability, food access and promote sustainable agriculture and livestock practices in order to increase our farmers' resilience to climate shocks and environmental changes.
