Tag: Food Security

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-Top News Bangladesh India News

Bangladesh Needs Indian Help For Food Security

Anti-India sentiments can only take them to the Pakistan way, where inflation hovered between 11% and 38% between April 2021 and July 2024, writes Abdulrahman Kareem

Bangladesh is dogged by sustained double-digit food inflation. The inflation is following a rising trend since May 2022 in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Bangladesh is not alone. Geopolitical contest, sporadic wars and trade wars are have added to the price volatility across the world. USA suffered higher food inflation than Bangladesh during October 2021 and March 2023 period.

As a large and resourceful economy, it is easier for USA to neutralise the impacts. They can import food and subsidise it for common people. But, Bangladesh doesn’t have that liberty. They have nearly half of the US population to feed, without access to as much of agriculture land. From food to energy and raw material for their sole RMG export; Bangladesh has disproportionate import dependence. A slowdown in global trade saw their foreign currency reserves dwindling and food prices rising.

For solution, Dhaka should learn from India’s agriculture-market operations, pace up creation of transport infrastructure for easy and cheap transfer of goods between the two nations and, most critical of all, they must strengthen bilateral cooperation. Anti-India sentiments can only take them to the Pakistan way, where inflation hovered between 11% and 38% between April 2021 and July 2024. It was down to 9.6% in August.

India’s Jaishankar meets Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain

Efficient marketing

Common Bangladeshis feel excited to see that food items are is sold in lowest minimum quantities in India. In Bangladesh they are forced to buy a whole fish, a minimum of one kilogram of apple or curd. Eggs are sold in a minimum of four pieces. On the other hand, in India, you can buy parts of a large Rohu fish or one piece of apple, banana or egg. Curd comes in different containers, weighing 100 grams and above.

This is sachet marketing technique. It widens the customer base and ensures faster and bigger sales. Faster movement off the shelves reduces the financial and storage costs of the food marketing channel. The benefit comes through competitive pricing. Buying in smaller quantities reduces the capital block and potential wastages at the consumer-end. Even the poor enjoys wide food options. This is a highly efficient marketing system.

The bigger benefit comes through stabilisation of demand and supply. In Bangladesh, people buy food items in very large quantities and store it for weeks or months in electricity-guzzling freezers. This system is prone to suffer from demand spikes. Effective demand may often surpass the effective supply. Trade may find it difficult to bridge the gap and prices may suffer artificial escalation. Larger part of the food platter remains inaccessible to the poor. In contrast, the Indian system is more equitable.

Supply side management

Demand side management cannot be successful without matching supply. India was food deficient when born. Today it is ranked 7th or 8th in list of top food exporters. Over the last three years, food inflation remains lower than Bangladesh. And, whatever volatility it had witnessed in the recent past was due to vegetables, which are extremely perishable in nature and are susceptible to weather risks. Prices of staples, fish, egg, fruits, sugar, oil mostly remain stable.

The reason behind this stability lies in meticulous planning. India is not self-sufficient on edible oil. So, it goes for long term import contracts. It had also built huge infrastructure to create buffer stocks. India is a leading force in space technology, weather prediction and biotechnology. Space and weather prediction are related. They help India in monitoring and predicting domestic and global agri-production. Based on the outcome,Delhi gets into import and export operations. Biotechnological prowess offers access to high-yielding and weather resistant varieties.

It is impossible for Dhaka to replicate India’s success story in food, at least not in the foreseeable future. But population growth ensures that Bangladesh’s demand for food will keep rising. Importing food is costly due to high shipping charge. It had become costlier and more time-consuming in the days of Houthi, Israel-Hamas, Ukraine-Russia etc. Myanmar was a food exporter but the political turmoil had hit it hard. Bangladesh has no option but depending on next door neighbour India.

Geopolitics and food

Noticeably, food has become a part of the global geopolitical contest, and India is in the most advantageous situation. In 2022, United Arab Emirates (UAE) entered a food security deal with India. UAE is India’s third largest trade partner. India needs Abu Dhabi for sourcing energy. UAE’s dependence on food is acting as a counter-balance. The relationship is now strategic and, stronger than ever.

UAE is not alone. India is offering assurance of food supply in lieu of energy or technology to several countries around the world. A memorandum of understanding was also signed with Sheikh Hasina government in Dhaka in 2022. It is the job of the Muhammad Yunus administration to take it forward. But that would not happen at Dhaka’s terms. India would demand strategic advantages from Dhaka for solving its long-term concern.

Categories
-Top News ASEAN News

ASEAN Vows To Boost Food Security

The minister said the comprehensive discussion on LRBFR will be held at the 45th ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) Meeting in October 2023…reports Asian Lite News

The leaders of the Association of South East Asian (ASEAN) countries have united in commitment to enhance food and nutrition security in the region as an effort to proactively address potential crises.

“This declaration focuses on two strategies to handle the food crisis. The first strategy is ASEAN’s quick action in dealing with the food and nutrition crisis,” Indonesian Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo noted in an official statement on Wednesday.

The second strategy is increasing ASEAN’s preparation to anticipate future food crises by strengthening the resilience and sustainability of the agriculture and food system, he remarked.

According to Limpo, the declaration was a proposal from the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF). In AMAF, the ASEAN agriculture ministers see the need to respond to global challenges ranging from rapid population growth, recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to geopolitical tensions and increasing the intensity of climate change.

Strategies in realizing food security and nutrition in responding to the crisis will be carried out through several steps, including encouraging each ASEAN member country to strengthen local resource-based food reserves (LRBFR) as a foundation to build joint food reserves in ASEAN dedicated to emergency preparedness and response, he noted.

The minister said the comprehensive discussion on LRBFR will be held at the 45th ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) Meeting in October 2023.

“We need an increase in food supply to ensure the availability of adequate, affordable, and nutritious food, especially for the most vulnerable groups of people in ASEAN,” he remarked.

In addition, the minister stated that ASEAN ministers will strengthen the emergency food assistance program and the mechanism for releasing emergency rice reserves under the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserves (APTERR) framework.

Moreover, AMAF members have agreed to develop an action plan for the ASEAN Regional Guideline on Sustainable Agriculture as a guideline for implementing sustainable agriculture guidelines in each ASEAN country, he revealed.

“Facilitation of access to finance for small-scale farmers, adequate supply of fertilizers, and investments to realize resilience to the impacts of climate change and sustainable agriculture will also continue to be improved,” he remarked.

Programs to address food loss and waste (FLW), such as Food Rescue, Save Food, and Food Bank, will also continue to be promoted intensively, Limpo noted.

ALSO READ-‘ASEAN Integral to India’s Indo-Pacific Strategy’

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-Top News Arab News Saudi Arabia

Saudi’s strategic steps to safeguard pilgrims’ food security

Doha hosts talks on Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation

Products from 1,294 food factories in Saudi Arabia will secure more than 120 million meals for at least 2 million pilgrims in six days under the supervision of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah…reports Asian Lite News

Saudi Arabia has successfully managed to achieve an excellent status in the framework of realizing self-sufficiency for several necessary food products before taking up the task of securing food for millions of visiting pilgrims coming from different countries of the world. According to the head of catering in Mecca, products from 1,294 food factories in Saudi Arabia will secure more than 120 million meals for at least 2 million pilgrims in six days under the supervision of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

Investment in food manufacturing amounts to about 7 per cent of the total investments made in the Saudi industrial sector, and thus pumping more than 94 billion riyals to operate 11.35 per cent of the total number of factories in the Kingdom, according to official data.

Saudi Arabia has been running a megaproject to increase its vegetation cover, which has effectively contributed to achieving self-sufficiency in agricultural products such as dates with a sufficiency rate of 125 per cent, and vegetables whose rates reached 87 per cent, in addition to possessing the Middle East’s largest wheat and flour storage capacity with a daily milling capacity of 3.3 million tons.

Saudi Arabia’s strategy to achieve food security involves 11 programs, including the Saudi Agricultural Investment Abroad Program, with the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) completing a 4.65-billion-riyal acquisition of 35.43 per cent of the Singaporean Olam Agri company in December 2022, in addition to the acquisition of two meat processing factories in Australia.

Furthermore, water security also occupies a place on the strategic agenda of the Kingdom, who currently engages in massive seawater desalination projects and the operation and management of 563 dams, while it plans to build 1,000 new dams to enhance the utilization of rainwater.

The strategy of proactive planning allowed Saudi Arabia to avoid food supply shortages throughout its history, despite some of the harshest times witnessed by the region, such as the second Gulf War in 1990, the food price crisis in 2008, and the deterioration of food supply chains in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

ALSO READ-Crown Prince Salman boosts Saudi bid to host Expo 2030

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UAE News

UAE leads in sustainable solutions with food security vision

Chandra Dake, CEO, Dake Rechsand. Image Courtesy: Dake Rechsand

Dake Rechsand has emerged at the forefront of regional sustainability efforts through demonstrated impact in terms of desert farming, water conservation, and stormwater management…reports Asian Lite News

Dake Rechsand, the Dubai-based company specializing in sustainability solutions for desert farming and water conservation, lauded the government’s food security vision, which led to a special session recently. Attended by H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, and Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, the high-level session echoed the need for innovative technologies and impactful initiatives to turn the vision into reality. 

“The specialized meeting on food security is commendable for two foremost reasons: Getting the priorities straight and timing. The UAE is emphasizing sustainable food security at the right time when the supply-chain lessons from the pandemic needed to be acted upon. Additionally, the intent to harness technologies to drive the food security vision is as pragmatic as it is promising,” opined Marwan Al Sarkal, Strategic Advisor, Dake Rechsand.

In recent years, Dake Rechsand has emerged at the forefront of regional sustainability efforts through demonstrated impact in terms of desert farming, water conservation, and stormwater management. Its proprietary, the UN-applauded solution Breathable Sand — a water-retentive and air-permeable medium that leads to optimal crop yield with 80% less water input — has found application in turning deserts into arable lands. So, in the UAE, where deserts constitute nearly 80% of the total land and water scarcity is a pressing issue, Breathable Sand makes a compelling case within the food-security framework. 

In the recently held meeting, policymakers announced the goal to make local farms account for 50% of the government’s food purchases by 2023 — which calls for solutions that can increase “arable” lands. As per the latest World Bank data, only 0.7% of the total land area in the UAE can be considered “arable”. Modern techniques such as vertical farming and aquaponics are feasible but not at scale. 

“The UAE is 80% desert, where agriculture is traditionally deemed unsuitable. If those expansive areas can be made ‘arable’, we can turn the tables on food scarcity. We need such a paradigm shift — something with macroeconomic implications for the country. At the same time, the solutions must also reconcile with other national priorities such as water security, sustainability, and net-zero emission,” explained Chandra Dake, CEO of Dake Rechsand. 

https://twitter.com/UAEBusinesscom/status/1444055265062625283

Chandra’s call for a multi-dimensional analysis of food and water scarcity complements UAE’s broader goals, such as Net-Zero 2050. Carbon control will require stakeholders to reduce the load on desalination plants, which currently supply most of the water needed for agriculture. By reducing irrigation requirements by nearly 80%, Breathable Sand can help decrease the load on carbon-intensive desalination plants while enabling optimal agricultural yield.

“We are committed to the government’s vision of driving food security while reconciling with multiple priorities,” Marwan Al Sarkal continued, “it was H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s vision that birthed this bustling nation. He envisioned the transformation of the deserts into forests. We hope to continue his legacy, technologically and meaningfully.”

ALSO READ-Food security, Palestine set to dominate Arab League Summit

READ MORE-UAE Tops MENA in Food Security Index

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Community Food UK News

Why is a rich country like the UK facing food insecurity?

The Food Foundations’ September data highlighted that: 9.7 million adults which is 18% of the household including 4 million children suffered from food insecurity.  This translates into one in four households with children being subjected to some form of food insecurity in the UK.  A special report

“There is always a price to pay when you want everything to be quick, cheap and available,” said Baroness Sandip Verma, speaking at a webinar hosted by The Open Forum, a London-based think-tank, titled: Why a rich country like the UK is facing food insecurity?

Former Minister for Energy and Climate Change and International Development, Baroness Verma is presently the Chancellor of Roehampton University and Chairs the UK’s – UN Women’s National Committee.

“Whilst there is an argument and discussion around food insecurity in the UK, I do genuinely believe- the way we utilise our food; the way we source our food; the way we protect our own growers here unable to get the best for their products we need to have a serious discussion,” she added.

The webinar was moderated by Lizzie Cho, CEO of Nova New Charity, providing grassroots support to local communities.

Food Foundation describes food insecurity as, “having smaller meals than usual or skipping meals due to being unable to afford or get access to food, being hungry but not eating because due to being unable to afford or get access to food.”

The foundations’ September data highlighted that: 9.7 million adults which is 18% of the household including 4 million children suffer from food insecurity.

This translates into one in four households with children being subjected to some form of food insecurity in the UK.

“It’s fascinating that we are discussing that in a 5 or 6th largest economy and the second most influential country in the world after the United States,” said Professor Gwynthian Prins, Emeritus Research Professor at The London School of Economics & Political Science, who was speaking at the same webinar.

Taking off the table three reasons for the food insecurity in the UK, ‘Brexit; lack of labour and inefficiency in the food market system,’ Dr. Prins pointed to the UK having “millions more mouths to feed,” since it joined the European Union as his first reason.  Coupled with this, he believes is, “the UK farming sector crippled with over-regulation…prioritisation of land sterilization for renewables… allowing prime agricultural land to be taken out of food production to put up solar farms to produce virtually no useful electricity…massive increases in other obligatory expenditures like on heat, on light and on transport.” In conclusion, he added, the overriding reason for the food insecurity in the UK, “… is not a result of Mr. Putin’s war, no it is not the result of nasty people of the middle east. It is the result, overwhelmingly on the decision to engage in the incursion on so-called renewable energy…”

As a prescription to handling food security by individuals, Dr. Prins pointed to the label on a World War II food tin which read, ‘Food – Buy it with thought. Cook it with care. Use less wheat and meat. Serve just enough. Use what is left.’

 “The idea that food insecurity has happened because of renewable energy or a very welcome reduction of energy consumption in the UK, I wholeheartedly dismiss,” said Tristram Stuart, founder of Toast Ale, a company that makes beer with surplus bread instead of barley.

Considering 25% of people working in the food sector live in food poverty, the author and campaigner, further dismissed the idea that people do not want to work on agricultural land or that supermarkets run an efficient system. If given good wages people would work on the agricultural land, Tristram argued.

 “We have vastly greater food surplus that we have ever had in history,” said Tristram and yet, where does all that food go? “A lot of it goes into the bins,” he added.  

Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), estimated, “annual food waste arisings within UK households, hospitality & food service (HaFS), food manufacture, retail and wholesale sectors in 2018 at around 9.5 million tonnes, 70% of which was intended to be consumed by people (30% being the ‘inedible parts’). This had a value of over £19 billion a year and would be associated with 36 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.”

While household food waste is a “colossal problem,” Tristram argued, “the vast majority of food that is wasted happens well before it gets anywhere near the consumers or the citizens.” A large part of the blame goes to the supermarkets, Tristram pointed out. How round is a potato or how green are the beans leads to a lot of food not being bought by the Supermarkets while, “off-loading the risk within the market on their suppliers,” said Tristram.

He further added, “Supermarkets supply the cosmetic standards when it suits their economic interest.”

According to him, “Food insecurity’s primary cause is poverty, poverty is not a result of solar farms and not even a result of food production and food waste. It is to do with economic structures that successive strictures both in the UK and Internationally have had in place which have resulted in colossal inequality in society. So, the richest people have been getting richer and the poorest people have not been getting richer in the real terms.”