Issues of food security

BANGLADESH was considered to have attained self-sufficiency in food production some years ago. It was judged to be producing all or nearly all of its needs of the main staple, rice, from the year 2000. Food imports declined largely as a result and the food aid also dwindled down adding feathers to the cap of this country with a vast population which it could feed by its own effort.

But this good performance in food production has been changing in recent years. For example, some quantities of foodgrains had to be imported during the last couple of years in the backdrop of gaps between production targets and actual yields. Thus, imports of wheat and rice ranging from ten to twelve lakh tons have been noted for some years. But in the last fiscal year, 2006-7, the food deficit was found to be specially higher. The deficit in Fy 06-07 was to the tune of some 45 lakh tons which is an unprecedented record of sorts pointing to the slipping performance in foodgrains production in the country.

This deficit had to be met with large scale imports and the last boro rice harvest being substantially lower than the targeted output, will mean that the burden of food imports on the higher side will have to be borne also in the present year. Notwithstanding the current impressive position of the foreign currency reserve, this need for foodgrain import on the high side with hard currency will continue to create stresses on the reserve which would be otherwise further boosted without this lingering liability. The spending in foreign currency for food import, if the same could be foregone, then the saved resources could be spent better in importing capital equipment and raw materials for production activities. The same would then add, desirably, to economic growth and would not be wasted on a purely consumptive exercise like importing food with no returns.

The gradual decline in food production and the growing import dependency for basic foods, is indeed, a matter that should cause serious concern among our policy planners. This worsening performance in foodgrains production must be immediately addressed and checked with appropriate policies and their effective implementation. It appears that farmers have been suffering badly in the last couple of years in purchasing and applying basic agri-inputs like fertilisers, seeds, pesticides and diesel. The black marketing of these products made their prices irrationally higher after creating scarcities of the same. Farmers in many cases suffered higher production costs as a result. There were also many cases of farmers engaging in less cultivation or withdrawing from farming activities or shrinking such activities for their inabilities to purchase and use the inputs in time. Thus, it is no wonder that agricultural productivity has been declining as a consequence of lower level of agricultural activities.

This is, no doubt, a very risky trend. Farmers must be motivated enough to keep themselves engaged fully in the farms. The only way of doing that is to create incentives for them by making the costs of their production reasonable . The corruption-riddled system of supplying agri-inputs to them must be thoroughly deep cleansed. A much more improved distribution system should be introduced to ensure the timely availability of all the basic inputs to farmers at fair prices. This is the bare minimum the doing of which is indispensable. Furthermore, government should also support the farmers in every way through advisory services, credits on easier terms and other forms of institutional services which are presently found insufficient or are poorly administered.

A very great need would be absolutely ensuring that subsidies declared for farmers actually reach them. It is complained that subsidies for farmers declared in previous budgets hardly reached them and these were actually monopolised by others. This is a very serious charge that needs a thorough investigation. The investigation should be followed up by the devising of a foolproof system that would make sure that farmers do get fully the benefit of the large amount of subsidies that have been provisioned for them in the current year’s budget. The getting of the benefit of the subsidies can be a big plus factor in motivating the farmers to remain engaged fully in agriculture.