The concept of hunger has evolved from just focusing on eating enough to fill empty stomach to overcoming micronutrient deficiencies. 2 billion people in the globe are suffering from the micronutrient deficiencies. The economic cost of malnutrition at the global level is unacceptably high.
Professor Jomo Kwame Sundaram, a leading economist and expert on the political economy, Member, Council of Eminent Persons, Malaysia and Former Assistant Secretary General, United Nations, made these observations while delivering the CPD Anniversary Lecture 2018. This was the fourth CPD anniversary lecture held on 8 September 2018 at the Lakeshore Hotel, Dhaka. Professor Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, CPD, chaired the session. The title of the lecture was, “Assessing the Challenges of SDG Implementation: Food, energy and inequality”.
The First, Second and Third CPD Anniversary Lectures were delivered by Dr Louka Katseli, Professor of Economics at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece; Mr Simon Maxwell, CBE, Executive Chair, Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), Chair, European Think-Tanks Group and former Director, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), London, United Kingdom; and Professor Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee for Development Policy, respectively.
Professor Sundaram said that there is a lack of global political will to use renewable energy even though the cost of solar and wind energy has come down. He suggested Bangladesh produce the solar panel for domestic use and export.
In his lecture, he also spoke of the inequality that persists globally. Professor Sundaram stated how the $1.1 trillion fund raised for the least developed countries for the energy transition and food security ended up mostly to bail out European economy from the crisis of 2008.
In the context of Bangladesh, the proportion of hungry people has increased. The speaker suggested Bangladesh to involve all the concerned ministries of the country to tackle the crisis of health and nutrition, as he sees it to be a multidimensional problem. He also stressed the lesser use of processed food and the increasing need to ensure access to modern and affordable energy.
Professor Sobhan, in the concluding speech, appreciated Professor Sundaram’s suggestions and also called for a strong Asian community to ensure equality for the South countries.
The attendees at the lecture were an enlightened group of people comprising of policymakers, experts, academics, diplomats, representatives of the business community, media, civil society organisation, NGO and development partner representatives.
