‘Immediate interventions needed to lower food prices’ (Dhaka Tribune)  

The Dhaka Tribune published a review and comments from a roundtable on “Food Security for Sustainable Development” held in Bangladesh. Participants agreed that the double shocks of the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine crisis have drastically increased food prices, and immediate policy interventions are needed to keep food items affordable for people of lower income brackets. According to speakers, Bangladesh needs to prioritize its range of imported items based on importance, such as food grains, fertilizers, and other farm sector inputs. IFPRI (IFPRI-Bangladesh) Country head Akhter Ahmed explained that the recent downtrend in fuel prices in the international market should encourage the government to reduce diesel prices or it might harm Boro production. He added that the Boro season is the main rice season in Bangladesh when farmers invest more than a fifth of their production cost for irrigating the cropland. Ahmed recommended reducing the rice import tariff to zero and building a good food reserve. He also suggested that the government procure a sufficient amount of paddy directly from the farmers for them to be able to benefit from the sales.