Excessive food prices weighing about the vulnerable: FAO
High rates of rice and other important foods, including soybean oil and loose palm oil, have severely constrained the getting power for a huge section of the vulnerable population over the poverty line on Bangladesh, said the FAO.
"The food security circumstances for a large number of folks is of concern, regardless of the government's expansion of social cover," said the meals and Agriculture Business (FAO) in its quick on Bangladesh on Thursday.
The UN agency said prices of rice in the Dhaka market increased steadily throughout 2020, reflecting tight market availabilities, exacerbated by an increase in domestic demand because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It said overall rates of rice were more than 35 % above their year-earlier ideals and at their highest level since October 2017.
Once a month prices data of Dhaka city published by the FAO showed that prices of coarse rice soared 38 per cent year-on-year to Tk 44.4 per kilogramme found in January this year, the highest since September 2017.
Medium grains rose 39 % year-on-year to Tk 50.81 each kg, data showed.
The UN agency said prices of mostly imported wheat flour reduced in the first part of 2020, reflecting satisfactory market supplies from the bumper output harvested in April and above-average imports.
Beginning with August, prices have already been generally increasing, backed by styles in the international markets. Overall, prices in January 2021 had been somewhat above their year-earlier amounts, it said.
The FAO said losses in income and remittances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and its own containment measures resulted in an increase in poverty.
Citing the official estimate, the organization said 29.5 % of the total people was poor as of June 2020, up from 20.5 per cent in June 2019.
The FAO said Bangladesh hosts about 8,60,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, almost all of whom were residing in the Cox's Bazar district.
The agency report published in November 2020 said living conditions of the refugees and sponsor communities have deteriorated in comparison to that in the pre-Covid-19 pandemic period.
The assessment implies that the percentage of refugee households with a poor consumption score jumped to 15 % from 5 per cent in the pre-Covid-19 period, while for the sponsor communities the score increased from 3 to 8 per cent, it added.
The FAO said output from two rice crops -- Boro and Aus - had been good as a result of generally favourable climate in 2020.
However, production of Aman crop, harvested by simply the end of this past year, was approximated to be at its lowest level in three years, because of flash floods between July and August, stated the UN organisation.
Aman rice crop accounts for about 40 % of the total annual output.
Total, the 2020 aggregate paddy creation is estimated to be at 5.48 crore tonnes, up marginally from 5.47 crore tonnes the prior year, explained the FAO.
Citing planting of Boro rice crop, which makes up about 55 per cent of the annual result, the UN human body said favourable weather conditions since the beginning of November 2020, strong domestic rates and sufficient supplies of irrigation water, above-average June to October monsoon rains and helps for planting actions benefitted crop germination.
The FAO said wheat crops were growing under favourable climate. The area planted is approximated to be near the five-year common, while the increased make use of high-yielding seed varieties has given a increase to yield leads, it said.
