ক্ষুধার বিরুদ্ধে প্রতীকী প্রতিবাদস্বরূপ বিশ্বজুড়ে সবাইকে একদিনের অনশন ধর্মঘট পালন করার আহ্বান জানিয়েছে জাতিসংঘের খাদ্য ও কৃষি সংস্থা (এফএও)।
আসন্ন বিশ্ব খাদ্য নিরাপত্তা শীর্ষ সম্মেলনের প্রাক্কালে এফএও মহাপরিচালক জ্যাক দিউফ তার রোমের সদর দপ্তরে এ আহ্বান জানান বলে সংস্থার এক সংবাদ বিজ্ঞপ্তিতে বলা হয়েছে। (বিস্তারিত…)
On the eve of next week’s World Summit on Food Security, FAO has called for a daylong, worldwide hunger strike from Saturday Nov 14 against chronic hunger.
“We are suggesting that everyone in the world who wants to show solidarity with the one hungry billion people on this planet go on hunger strike next Saturday or Sunday,” FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf told a press conference. (বিস্তারিত…)
পর্যাপ্ত খাদ্য মজুদ গড়ে তুলতে দেশের উত্তরাঞ্চলের ৭৬ উপজেলায় ১৩৯টি নতুন খাদ্য গুদাম নির্মাণ করবে সরকার। এরমধ্যে ৮১ টি এক হাজার মেট্রিক টন এবং ৫৮ টি ৫০০ মেট্রিক টন ধারণ ক্ষমতা সম্পন্ন। এ গুদামগুলোতে সবমিলিয়ে এক লাখ ১০ হাজার মেট্রিক টন খাদ্য মজুদ রাখা যাবে। আর এ জন্য মোট ব্যয় হবে ২৪১ কোটি টাকা। সম্পূর্ণ সরকারি অর্থে এসব গুদাম নির্মাণ করা হবে। মঙ্গলবার প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনার (বিস্তারিত…)
The government has ordered to carry out investigation into allegations of irregularities and anomalies in 100-day employment generation scheme implemented during the army-backed caretaker government involving Tk 1200 crore.
Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzak disclosed it in parliament yesterday while replying to a query of Awami League (AL) lawmaker Major General (retd) Abdus Salam.
The government food grains stocks reached 12.64 lakh tonnes, including 11.25 lakh tonnes of rice and 1.39 lakh tonnes of wheat, as of February 12, 2009, which is about 6.33 lakh tonnes higher than the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year (FY).
Observers say a satisfactory level of production and internal procurement may help the government develop sufficient food grain stocks, which will strengthen food security measures to fight probable crisis at any emergency moment. (বিস্তারিত…)
Speakers at a roundtable yesterday said the government needs to play the main role by activating a task force maintained by concerned ministries and departments for achieving food security in the context of global climate change.
They suggested that the task force would monitor and report on food security-related phenomena like price situation of food items, trends of demand and production of import-based products.
The speakers said this at a roundtable on ‘Climate change and food security: Bangladesh perspective’ jointly organised by Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) and Centre for Global Change at the National Press Club in the city.
They said the task force reports would be submitted to the parliamentary committee on food security to take cautionary measures.
Presenting a keynote paper, Executive Director of Centre for Global Change Dr Ahsan Uddin Ahmed said Bangladesh and other least developed countries would face the toughest consequences of climate change.
Agriculture of the drought-prone western area of the country would have a negative impact and the production of wheat and Aus rice would decline, he added.
He further said that the coastal area’s agriculture would also be hampered due to rise of saline water level in the area and the country would see floods too frequently which would effect the agriculture.
Presiding over the programme, Bangladesh Economic Association President Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said the government should play the most vital role in ensuring food security as the people are about to face climate change consequences.
The speakers also said there should be a law to protect the cultivable lands in the country as arable lands are being reduced day by day.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President Hasanul Haque Inu also spoke at the roundtable.
The daily star 04.02.2009
The government is actively considering reintroduction of food rationing system for the low income group of the population, following its imposition of a ban on rice export till May 5 of this year.
The moves were initiated in an effort to increase supply of the nation’s staple to the domestic market, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan, and Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzak told the parliament yesterday in response to lawmakers’ queries.
Contacted by The Daily Star, the food minister said government officials are now working on the reintroduction of the system, while Razzak said, “We’re trying to reintroduce the system as soon as possible.”
The food rationing system was in place earlier to feed the destitute and low income group people.
Razzak also said the government will publish a whitepaper on the corruption in allocating relief materials during the last BNP-led coalition government.
He told the parliament that Awami League-led current government will prepare a list mentioning the amount of relief materials allocated to each lawmaker of the previous parliament, and whether the relief materials were misused.
The commerce minister informed the House about various government measures for reducing prices of rice including increasing rice supply to the market, controlling market prices, and stopping extortion in the transport sector.
The government already directed all district commissioners concerned to monitor markets to observe the grain reserve and public demand ratio, and to send reports on it every week, he added.
He also said steps have already been taken to hold regular meetings with importers, wholesalers, and retailers.
Faruk Khan said a meeting of the authorities concerned will he held in March to fix the rice procurement price of the government during the upcoming boro season, and to set a target.
A high powered committee has also been formed to make Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) more active, he said.
The commerce minister said if any specific allegation is found against any dishonest food grain trader, stringent punitive measures will be taken against the person according to the law.
Similarly if such allegations against any government official or employee are found to be true through investigations, similar tough punitive actions will be taken against them too.
He said in the past, allegations of increasing prices of essentials through syndication were reported against a few unscrupulous entrepreneurs, adding that a few importers remain in a convenient position to manipulate market prices of some essential commodities.
The daily star 04.02.2009
WE will have to … reduce price hike and improve people’s living standard,” said the prime minister at her first news conference after the landslide election victory. Since then, she and her senior ministers have repeatedly stressed that bringing down the prices of essentials within people’s purchasing power is a priority task for the government. This is not surprising given the importance most voters accorded to high prices in the lead up to the election.
The Awami League capitalised on voters’ concerns by pointing to its better record on this issue. Prices of essentials — the proverbial rice, lentil, cooking oil and salt — either remained virtually unchanged or fell between 1996 and 2001, while all prices rose under its rival (Chart 1). To put the price rises in context, a male farm labourer earned an average daily wage of 48 taka in 1996 (with which he could buy 3.1 kg of rice), 67 taka in 2001 (buying 4.3 kg of rice) and 95 taka in 2006 (buying 3.7 kg of rice).
It is no surprise, then, that the voters have overwhelmingly turned to AL for lower prices. But will AL be able to bring prices down, or at least stem the rate at which prices have been rising? And in the longer term, what does the government need to do to achieve food security — defined by the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen as access to food products, particularly by poor people.
There are grounds for optimism as far as the near term outlook for agflation — food price inflation — is concerned. But drivers of agflation and food security are complex and multifaceted. This piece stresses that for food prices to stabilise, if not fall, and for us to achieve food security over the medium term, a lot more than “cracking down unscrupulous business syndicates” will be needed.
Jyoti Rahman is an applied macroeconomist.
The daily star 01.02.2009
মানবতার কান্না 