Children living in the coastal and wetland (haor) regions of Bangladesh are 1.5 times more likely to be stunted, according to a study.
The study report was disseminated during a seminar titled ‘Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in Bangladesh’ organised by the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) and Brac at the Brac Centre on Monday, said a press release.
The study identified haor and coastal belt in Bangladesh, which are geographically distinct from other parts (waterlogged and salinity-affected areas respectively), as pockets of under-nutrition where malnutrition is higher and households in these areas have 16 percent less income.
According to the study, overall prevalence of stunting ranged from 46.6 percent in the haor basin to 30.9 percent in other parts of Bangladesh, whereas the prevalence of underweight ranged from 44.5 percent in the haor basin to 34.1 percent in other areas.
The number of people with malnutrition will decrease if production of diet-diverse and nutrition-rich food items is increased, said the report focusing on agricultural innovations to fight malnutrition in the country.
At the seminar, the discussants also emphasised on the need to increase public awareness on these issues and called the government to take up more initiatives to encourage farmers to cultivate diverse crops in order to increase nutritional outcomes.
Speaking at the programme as the chief guest, Fazle W Khondaker, Additional Secretary (Research) to Agriculture Ministry, identified agriculture as the most important tool to achieve the targets of SDGs and overall development.
But right now, agriculture in the country is facing major challenges with adverse effects of climate change, non-availability of labour, floods and flash floods, severe storms, tidal surges, and other natural disasters, he said urging all sectors to work in close collaboration with each other.
Dr Samir Kanti Sarker, Director of the Institute of Public Health and Nutrition (IPHN), said there is a need for health education alongside regular education to ensure nutrition outcomes.
Dr Imran Matin, Executive Director of BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, mentioned that to achieve better nutrition, three things should be focused on among others: the role of access to information, the role of agriculture incentives and the role of food consumption behaviour. It is time to go for interventions and identify cost-effective approaches to address malnutrition through agriculture.
At the seminar, Dr Lalita Bhattacharjee, Senior Nutritionist of FAO, Prof Abdul Bayes, former Director of Research and Team Lead of LANSA-BRAC also spoke on the occasion.
The seminar discussed different approaches to combat malnutrition for the poor, school nutrition and feeding programme, encouraging more consumption of milk, increased food storage and processing capacity etc.
The discussants also recommended that special programmes should be adopted in response to the special needs of geographically fragile and vulnerable areas of the country.
