Bangladesh ranks among lowest in South Asia in consumption of fruits and vegetables

Bangladesh ranks among the lowest in South Asia regarding the consumption of fruits and vegetables, resulting in poor nutrition for its 170 million people.

Avinash Kishore, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), shared the findings yesterday at an event in Kathmandu.

The research organisation hosted the two-day event to unveil its "Global Food Policy Report 2024."

Bangladeshis consume only 155 grammes of fruits and vegetables per day, far below the global recommendation of 400 grams, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Of the amount, only 29 grammes come from fruits and 126 grammes from vegetables.

"The malnutrition rates remain high, and non-communicable diseases are rising in South Asia, where poor diet quality is a major contributor to poor nutrition outcomes," Kishore said.

He identified four key factors: poor crop diversity, low affordability due to the high cost of nutrient-dense foods, inefficiencies in market value chains, and easy access to highly processed foods.

Six out of eight South Asian countries do not meet the recommended 400 grams.

Pakistan ranked lowest with only 128 grammes, while the Maldives achieved top position.

"Nearly half of the more than 2 billion people worldwide who cannot afford a healthy diet live in South Asia," Kishore said, quoting data from the FAO's Food System Dashboard as of August 2024.

In another presentation, Purnima Menon, senior director of food and nutrition policy at IFPRI, noted that low incomes and high costs of safe and diverse food, especially fruits and vegetables, make healthy diets unaffordable for at least 2 billion people worldwide.

She added that the dual burden of malnutrition and climate change has brought global attention to the urgent need to transform food systems to support sustainable, healthy diets.

Malay Kanti Mridha of BRAC University highlighted the need for more research across life cycles as food choices change at different life stages.

"There is a need for focused interventions to improve diets in urban areas, as the proportion of the urban population is increasing," he said.

Speaking at the event, Shahidur Rashid, director for South Asia at IFPRI, emphasised that achieving sustainable healthy diets will require substantial investment in high-impact food systems action.

"Global commitments to nutrition are strong, but the world is not moving fast enough to finance and implement effective strategies to meet our nutrition and sustainability goals," he said.

He also stressed the importance of integrating economic growth with diet and nutrition improvements.

Other speakers at the event included Johan Swinnen, director general of IFPRI, Zaidi Sattar, chairman of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, Pradip Poudel, Health and Population Minister of Nepal, and others.