A RECENT study conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) stated that eight per cent of the households in the low-income urban communities still go to sleep with empty stomachs, though the country achieved food security and improved access to food. The Urban Socioeconomic Assessment Survey also found around 12 per cent of the poor urban households had no food in their house and over 21 per cent of the households could not eat what they preferred. The survey does not reflect the impact of the pandemic, and thereby raises more concerns over the country’s food security because the coronavirus restrictions have definitely worsened the situation.
Food production in Bangladesh has kept its pace with its population growth. Currently, the country produces 3.51 crore tonnes of food grains — rice and wheat in the 2019-20 fiscal year for its 16.76 crore people against 2.36 crore tonnes annual demand. Many low-income people saw their income fall drastically while others became unemployed and with no stock of food during a 66-day countrywide shutdown that started on March 26. Another survey found that 14 percent of the country’s low-income group does not have any food at home. The situation is grimmer in Dhaka and Chattogram where 9.23 per cent of the surveyed households went to bed hungry against 4.84 per cent households in other cities. The households tend to adopt negative coping mechanisms to adapt to challenging circumstances, which compromised food security and nutrition.
Urban households spend 51 per cent of their total expenditure on food, followed by rent and healthcare costs which account for over 26 per cent. Given the context, it is not difficult to understand why a shock such as the one caused by Covid-19 would affect urban households so hard. Nearly 75 per cent of the poor households are likely to have suffered an immediate income shock due to the lockdown as households dependent on wage employment, business and self-employment had no protection. The worsened situation demands immediate food relief to the urban poor households from the government agencies, international donors and development partners. If we fail to provide food aid and livelihood support, the food insecurity and nutrition intake would bring sufferings to the nation.
