1.19cr people faced acute food insecurity in May-Sep: FAO

About 1.19 crore people in Bangladesh experienced high levels of acute food insecurity from May to September this year despite record cereal harvests in 2022 and 2023, said the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in a report on Friday.

This was up 34 percent from 89 lakh in March–April, according to the Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture Country Brief of the UN agency.

Acute food insecurity is a situation when a person's inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger.

The higher food insecurity came although cereal production in the country stood at a four-year average of 6.09 crore tonnes in 2022 and 2023.

Bangladesh bagged 6.34 crore tonnes of cereal, including the staple rice, last year. And it is forecast to produce 6.42 crore tonnes of grains in 2023, registering a 1.2 percent increase over the previous year, thanks to higher production of rice and maize.

Paddy production is forecast to rise to 5.85 crore tonnes, a record, in 2023. The amount of production would be 1.2 percent higher year-on-year.

The FAO report said higher yields have improved food availability but "concerns about access to food remain" due to persistent high food inflation that diminished the purchasing power of vulnerable households.

Food inflation has gradually strengthened since August 2022. It eased in September before surging to 12.56 percent in October, the highest since 2012-13, data from the Bangladesh Bank and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics showed.

In June, the average retail price of coarse rice, the benchmark, stood at Tk 50 a kilogramme in Dhaka, the highest on record. The price dropped marginally in July, figures from the FAO showed.

Food prices, however, went up in the last one month.

Yesterday, consumers in Dhaka had to pay an average Tk 50 to purchase one kg of coarse grain. The price was 2 percent higher than a month ago, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

"The high food inflation rate is attributed to the high costs of production and transport that makes domestically grown cereals expensive," the FAO report said.

"Reduced cereal imports, especially of wheat, a key staple in the country, coupled with the significant depreciation of the local currency resulted in strong price increases, contributing to the inflationary pressure."

Between January 2022 and September 2023, the taka has lost its value by about 30 percent against the US dollar.

The FAO said about 10 lakh Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are residing in the country, mostly in the Cox's Bazar, and rely entirely on humanitarian aid.

The UN agency said Bangladesh's cereal imports consist mostly of wheat and the country relies on the external market to meet more than 80 percent of its demand. It also imports some rice and maize.

In the 2022-23 marketing year ending in June, Bangladesh's total cereal imports were below 80 lakh tonnes, lower than the four-year average of 86 lakh tonnes.

The report said cereal imports were constrained by the country's low import capacity due to the dwindling foreign currency reserves and the significant depreciation of the taka.

"As the national currency continues to weaken and the foreign currency reserves are low, the country is likely to face challenges to fully cover the import requirements in 2023-24."

The FAO forecasts that Bangladesh's annual cereal import requirement to drop slightly below the average.

Imports of rice in 2024 are forecast at a reduced level of 2.5 lakh tonnes and wheat imports at the near average of 61 lakh tonnes.

In the case of maize, the FAO predicted the import of the grain to be above average of 21 lakh tonnes, driven by the steady demand for feed by livestock and fish industries.

Foodgrain production

The harvesting of the 2023 Aman paddy crop, which accounts for 35 percent of the annual output, is underway and will continue until January 2024.

Production is forecast at an above average level due mostly to anticipated high yields although localised losses of crops occurred in the Chattogram Division because of heavy rains and floods last August, according to the FAO report.

The harvesting of Boro and Aus crops, representing 55 and 10 percent of the national paddy output, was completed for the year.

The Boro paddy production was estimated at a record level at 3.11 crore tonnes, reflecting some area expansions and bumper yields. The output of the Aus crop is estimated to be at a below-average level.

The FAO said the 2023 maize production is estimated at record 47 lakh tonnes, mostly attributed to large sowings driven by robust demand and elevated prices during planting operations.

"Favourable weather conditions and the widespread use of high-yielding seed varieties supported above-average yields."

The production of wheat, harvested in April, is officially estimated at near average 1.1 million tonnes.