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Aziz rules out poverty rise on price hike

Star Business Report
Finance and Planning Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam ruled out yesterday that the food price hike contributed to a rise in poverty, and blamed the media for misinterpreting a World Bank study.
The local media, referring to a WB study, have reported on Wednesday that the food price hike has pushed 3 percent more people under poverty level. The adviser said the media have misunderstood the WB report.
"The World Bank did not say poverty increased by 3 percent. It said poverty was meant to come down by 5 percent. But it declined only by 2 percent and the food price effect did not let poverty decline further," said the adviser at a seminar on 'Climate Change: Food Security inBangladesh' in Dhaka.
At the function, organised by Bangladesh Agricultural Economists Association, Aziz also said percentage of poverty is decreasing.
Saying that last year's two spells of natural disaster have caused a massive damage to crops and food grains, he urged the agriculture researchers to develop disaster resistant varieties to face such situation.
He said Bangladesh faces a massive challenge from cli-
mate change, and the government has undertaken measures to face it.
Aziz told the function that the government allocated a Tk 350 crore research fund and also raised a Tk 300 crore climate fund in cooperation with the UK.
Bangladesh will organise a seminar in London on climate change on September 10, he added.
Terming the use of arable land for industrialisation and housing purpose a big threat to food production, the adviser said the country is losing agricultural land every year at the rate of 1.4 percent when its population is increasing by 20 lakh a year.
"We will have to increase productivity of our agricultural land," Aziz said.
Prof M Rezaul Karim Talukder of Bangladesh Agriculture University said Bangladesh made a remarkable progress in domestic food production over the past three decades.
Food grain production increased from less than 10 million tonnes in the early 1970s to more than 28 million tonnes in 2006-07, he said.
M Shahadat Hossain, former director general of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, chaired the seminar.