Boro procurement far from target (Daily Star)

Daily Star (Bangladesh) reported on how the government has been able to buy a very insignificant quantity against its target this year, raising concerns that efforts to provide food to the poor amid the COVID-19 crisis might suffer a setback without adequate stock. The government plan had been to buy much more. Country Representative and Senior Research Fellow Akhter Ahmed said, “Because of the COVID-19 crisis, maintenance of a good stock is vital this year compared to the past years as distribution has to increase to ensure food to the poor, including those who lost their livelihoods due to COVID-19. Without a good stock, food-based safety operations would be affected. Besides, we saw in 2008 that private sector hiked prices of rice, taking advantage of low stocks at public go-downs.”