Severe localised food insecurity is expected to hit Bangladesh due to economic constraints, high inflation and weather extremes, leaving the country in need of external food assistance, according to a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
The Crop Prospects and Food Situation Triannual Global Report released on Friday assessed that 45 countries, including 33 in Africa, nine in Asia, two in Latin America and the Caribbean and one in Europe, were in need of external assistance for food.
The report mentioned that these countries had been facing crises related to food availability, widespread lack of access to food or severe but localised problems.
The FAO said that nine countries in Asia, including South Korea, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan required external assistance for food and were expected to lack the resources to address critical problems of food insecurity.
Of the nine countries, South Korea, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen have been facing widespread lack of access to food while Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan are likely to face severe localised food insecurity, the report said.
鈥楩ood insecurity in Bangladesh is expected to remain fragile due to ongoing economic constraints, high inflation and potential weather extremes like floods and cyclones during the June to October 2024 monsoon season,鈥� the report said.
According to the latest integrated food security phase classification analysis of FAO, about 16.5 million people in Bangladesh are estimated to face high levels of acute food insecurity from April to October 2024, an increase from the 14.6 million estimated for February to March 2024.
About 15.7 million people are projected to be in crisis, and approximately 8,00,000 people in emergency, with the majority of the emergency population being forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals and residents of Sunamganj and Kurigram.
The food insecurity of about 1 million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals, who reside in Bangladesh, is likely to worsen if funding shortfalls lead to decreased levels of humanitarian food assistance, given their high dependence on aid, the report observed.
The report said that despite record cereal harvests in 2022 and 2023, concerns about access to food persist due to high food inflation that reduced the purchasing power of vulnerable聽households.
Food inflation has remained high since August 2022 and was estimated at 10.42 per cent in June 2024.
The report, however, forecasted that cereal production in Asia (rice in paddy terms) would reach to 1,539 million tonnes in 2024, a 4-per cent above the preceding five-year average.
Despite the overall conducive weather, socioeconomic challenges, conflicts and high inflation rates are limiting farmers鈥� access to agricultural inputs, curbing crop productivity in several countries of Near East Asia, the report said.
The FAO report forecasted cereal production in Bangladesh would increase by 1.6 per cent to 65.4 million tonnes in 2024 compared with that of 64.3 million tonnes in 2023.
Of which, production of rice forecasted at 59.3 million tonnes, wheat at 1.2 million tonnes and coarse grains at 4.9 million tonnes.聽
The report forecasted that in the 2024-25 marketing year, cereal import requirements in the Far East countries would be above average at 176 million tonnes.
Coarse grain imports, driven by strong demand from the feed industry, are projected at 95.6 million tonnes while wheat imports are expected to be 62.3 million tonnes, with significant demand from key importers, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The report projected rice imports in Far East at 17.4 million tonnes, while aggregate rice exports are forecasted at 43.2 million tonnes.