C T Online Desk: The World Food Day is being observed in Bangladesh as elsewhere in the world today amid high prices of most of the food products and uncertainty regarding their availability caused by unscrupulous traders’ market manipulation against a tumultuous geopolitical backdrop.
The Russia-Ukraine war – which broke out last year, when the world was recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic – has pushed the entire world into a food crisis.
Moreover, many countries have failed to produce an adequate amount of food due to erratic weather conditions including extreme heat waves this year.
To secure their domestic demand, many countries have imposed export restrictions including licensing requirements, excessive taxes and complete bans over a variety of food products, which have been affecting developing countries like Bangladesh.
The theme of the World Food Day – which is observed on 16 October – this year is “Water is life, water is food – Leave No One Behind”.
Agro-economist and researcher Dr Jahangir Alam Khan told the Daily Sun that water and food are physically interlinked. “We need enough water to grow food for an increasing number of people in the country, but the price of water has increased as the price of electricity and fuel increased,” he said.
Besides, the prices of most of the essentials are much higher at the consumer’s level as the market is under the control of a syndicate. The middlemen are playing a role in increasing prices, said the economist, adding that the government needs to develop all the market management systems.
Dr Jahangir Alam Khan also said food inflation has increased in the country at a higher rate than that in the international market and it has not been decreasing.
Higher food prices created frustration among the consumers and a crisis of malnutrition for the poor people, he said, adding that if the government expands the food assistance programme, then the crisis will not intensify further.
Food prices rise sharply
The prices of potato, egg, lentil, onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, tomato, carrot and other vegetables have soared much higher this year compared to the previous year in the country.
The price of lentil (big grain) increased by 10%, potatoes by 67.31%, local onion by 105%, local garlic by 150%, cumin by 127%, rohu fish by 33%, egg by 12% and sugar by 43% in a year, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
