The Daily Star

Friday, January 20, 2012

Food security plays an important role in social and political stability of a country. But sustaining agricultural growth and food security is a challenge for the present day world, especially for developing countries. Climate change and disasters aggravate the risk further. International organisations are warning about hunger and food insecurity risks in many countries. In this context, the Bangladesh government is considering the issue with utmost priority because Bangladesh is one of the most disaster prone countries of the world. The disaster-hit people need emergency food assistance, as their capacity to access to markets falls drastically. Increasing population, poverty (31.5% of the population is still poor), decreasing availability of land resources and seasonal unemployment in agriculture sector compound the problems. Thus, ensuring food security and effective disaster management are the two enormous challenges for the government.