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PM outlines ways to ensure food security

Calls world leaders for fair, equitable food governance

UNB, New York
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called for introducing fair and equitable "food governance" at both national and international levels to ensure easy access of vulnerable and marginalised groups to requisite quantum of food.
The PM informed the world leaders that her present government wants to achieve food self-sufficiency again by 2012. However, food production is not enough.
Hasina made the remarks while addressing
a meeting on 'Partnering for Food Security.'
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton organised the meet at 4:00pm (local time) Saturday at Waldorf Astoria Hotel, on the sidelines of the ongoing UNGA session.
"Accessibility to food, particularly by vulnerable and marginalised groups, is important. Therefore, a fair and equitable food-governance system at national level, but more importantly at international level, is essential,” she said.
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As a developing country, food security is of paramount importance to Bangladesh for the national development and for attainment of the UN-designated MDGs.
"Ensuring food security is also critical for eradicating hunger and poverty from the planet, a goal we are all committed to," Hasinaobserved.
"Therefore. Bangladesh attaches high priority to ensuring food security for the people. In our previous term of government. Bangladesh attained food self-sufficiency for which the FAO presented us with the prestigious Ceres Award," she told her audience.
The PM further called for investment in Bangladesh's homespun development programs.
"It is critical to our efforts for food security ensuring national ownership. The programs we adopt must be driven by specific concerns of relevant countries," she said.
Hasina said there is no disagreement that sustained agricultural production is essential for ensuring food security. The 2008 food crisis revealed the importance of food security, particularly for the LDCs.
Bangladesh has, therefore, adopted National Food Policy to ensure sustained food security for all in the country.
Hasina said for affordable food prices to all, her government has initiated programs for increasing domestic food production, reduced prices of fuels and fertilisers used in irrigation, and ensured supply of other farm inputs.
"Our initiatives have resulted in enhancing productivity and income of farmers, and bringing down food prices at affordable level for the commoners."
The PM said Bangladesh is looking forward to the World Food Summit on 'Food Security' in Rome in November this year.
The summit would hopefully facilitate global agreement and support for devel-opmeTTt’nf agriculture, and attainment of food autarky in the developing countries, particularly in LDCs like Bangladesh.
"We will need to agree on and implement sustainable agricultural policies, transfer of technology and equitable and fair trade rules for food and agricultural products with special and preferential treatment for LDCs."
The Bangladesh prime minister then expressed deep concern over the catastrophic climate change, saying that it is also important to address climate issues to ensure food production.
Bangladesh is facing erratic patterns of floods, droughts and cyclones, direct offshoots of climate change. This is affecting sustained agricultural production, and thus food security, she told the function.
Hasina continued by saying that the demands for facing the challenges of climate change is diverting funds allocated for sensitive social sectors as health, education, etc.
In agriculture and food, paucity of funds has brought research to a standstill.
Therefore, no further breakthrough on high-
yielding rice or agro based products, developed decades earlier, could be possible, though a growing need for varieties resistant to salinity, drought, and water submergence has appeared.
The PM informed the world leaders that her government has thus not only made plans for enhancing agricultural research but also for facilitating small holders' access to sustainable agriculture technologies, promoting social entrepreneurship, enabling access of the poor to financial services.
Strengthening social protection system, ensuring public food-distribution mechanism, enhancing women and other vulnerable groups' ability to withstand unexpected shocks, strengthening disaster preparedness and riskreduction capacity and investing in adaptation and mitigation measures in response to climate change are also part of the government plans to facilitate the small holders.
The premier said her government has already adopted climate-change strategic Action Plan-2009 with 44 programs for implementation within a decade to develop capacity for meeting the impacts of climate change of the next 25 years.
With this purpose, a Multi-Donor Trust Fund has been formed to attract the support of the developed countries.
"I urge, therefore, the international community, especially our development partners and donors, to cooperate in making this Trust Fund successful in fulfilling the multi-faced demands emerging due to climate change, " she said.
Hasina hoped that the Copenhagen Conference on climate-change outcome this December would include assured, adequate and easily accessible funding for adaptation and affordable eco-friendly technology transfer to LDCs, which are critical for ensuring food security.
She also proposed that all root causes of food crises be identified and addressed in a holistic manner for ensuring food security.
Hasina said a substantial fund would be needed for the purpose, which the developed countries would need to contribute, more so, "now that we are badly hit by current global financial crisis."
Indeed, if only the developed countries now fulfil their ODA commitment of 0.7 percent of their gross national income to developing countries, and 0.2 percent to the LDCs, by 2010, as affirmed in the Brussels Program of Action, much of the problems, including those challenging food security, would be resolved, she said..
"I believe international financial institutions (IFIS) as World Bank and IMF in recent times have received enhanced resources to mitigate the impact of the financial and economic crisis.
"It is imperative for developing and LDCs to get access to these funds quickly and predictably. IFIS also need to provide more concession during funding for the sustainable development needs of the LDCs," Hasina added.