The European Commission has decided to substitute food aid by cash assistance as per its plan to put more thrust on 'food security’ than on ’food aid' for developing countries including Bangladesh.

Disclosing this at a roundtable discussion in the city yesterday. World Food Programme (WFP) representative Werner Kiene said food donors are changing their stance on food-supported programmes to target 30 million ultra poor in Bangladesh.

Kiene said Europeans will go for cash assistance instead of food aid soon. But there will be no budget-cut in aid, no matter whether the assistance comes in terms of cash or food.

The beneficiaries sell up to 25 per cent of the food in local markets to get cash for meeting other needs. The European donors decided in Brussels that

cash aid would well substitute the food aid", Kiene said.

He emphasised "a good combination of cash benefit and food benefit for the ultra poor, who constitute one fourth of Bangladesh’s population".

Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP), an NGO, organized the discussion on "Food Aid in." Bangladesh for Development of Ultra Poor: New Approaches" at its office . Some experts and government officials also took part in the discussion, presided over by the BUP chairman Dr Qazi Kholiquzzamana.

However. Food Ministry officials told The Daily Star later that the government was always in favour of food aid. There are other donors who also have given us signals that they would continue food aid", said a high official. Depicting a radically changed global food aid scenario', the WFP representative said, currently over 70 per cent of food aid is used for meeting emergencies like the one in East Timor and the remaining 30 per cent for development purposes. Few years back, the ratio was otherwise.

Increasing numbers of food-assisted programmes have to be borne by the country Instead of depending on food slid from outside. Kiene said.

Kiene and some other discussants pointed out that NGOs had developed the tendency of working with the 'relatively better off poor' while the poorest of the poor continued to languish.

They emphasized the need for creating income-generating avenues for the 30 million ultra poor in the country.

"If one has to stand up in the queue again and again for jobs under Food-for-Work programmes. it has to be understood that the person was no better off after being covered by food aided programmes", Kiene said.

So. our thrust is now on programmes for human capacity development than on infrastructure development, he said.

Among others, the Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council DR Z Karim. Director General of Food Directorate AKM Nurul Afsar. former secretary Nurunnabi Chowdhury. Mohiuddin Ahmad of Community Development Library and Mujahidul Islam Selim of Communist Party of Bnagladesh also took part In the discussion.