Published in The Daily Star on Wednesday 16 October 2019
1 in 7 Bangladeshis undernourished
Country ranks 88th on 2019 Global Hunger Index
The hunger situation in Bangladesh continues to remain “serious”, with one in every seven persons suffering from undernourishment, according to the 2019 Global Hunger Index (GHI) released yesterday.
The GHI, published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, showed that Bangladesh has made strides in fighting hunger and undernourishment since 2000 due to steady economic growth.
Yet, hunger and undernourishment situation in the country remains troubling.
The country scored 25.8 on a 100-point scale — where 0 reflects no hunger — in the 2019 GHI, down from a score of 36 in 2000, which was considered alarming.
This year, the GHI ranked Bangladesh 88th out of 117 countries. The country falls behind Sri Lanka and Nepal in fighting hunger but stays well above Pakistan, India and Afghanistan in South Asia.
The report said Bangladesh has made significant advances in child nutrition. Citing a study, it said stunted growth dropped from 58.5 percent in 1997 to 40.2 percent in 2011. It was 36.2 percent in 2018, according to the GHI.
“The study attributed the decrease primarily to rising household wealth associated with pro-poor economic growth and gains in parental education, as well as health, sanitation, and demographic factors reflecting decreased fertility rates,” said the report.
The proportion of undernourished population dropped to 14.7 percent in 2018 from 16.9 percent in 2011. But prevalence of wasting — or acute malnutrition — among children under five years rose to 15.7 percent in 2012 from 12.5 percent in 2002. It decreased to 14.4 percent last year, according to the GHI.
Mostafa Amir Sabbih, senior research associate of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said Bangladesh was able to make notable improvement in reducing hunger during the last two decades by successfully reducing the prevalence of stunted growth by nearly half and child mortality rate by nearly three times.
Yet, challenges still remain with regard to reducing the proportion of undernourishment and prevalence of wasting among children under five years of age, he said.
The 2018 GHI said Bangladeshis consume a diet that centres on rice, from which they receive about two-thirds of their calories. It said besides rice, vegetables and fish are important components of the diet for some people, yet for many others, dietary diversity is low and micronutrient deficiencies are widespread.
Muhammad Shahadat Hossain Siddiquee, a professor of economics at Dhaka University, said women and children in the vulnerable segment of the population are mostly affected by malnutrition and undernutrition.
“Hunger still persists at a high level. Micronutrient deficiencies in Bangladesh lead to hidden-hunger, which requires special attention for the fulfilment of vitamin and mineral needs,” he said.
Anwar Faruque, former agriculture secretary, said agriculture is the main livelihood in rural areas but farmers are not making profit from crops. As a result, farmers cannot spend enough for buying diverse foods, he said.
“Nutrition situation in rural areas will not improve unless agriculture brings profit,” he said, adding that the poor in urban areas have to spend more on non-food items such as housing and education.