Bangladesh's 45 pct people food-insecure: WFP
16/10/2008 16:16
Some 45 percent or 65.3 million of Bangladesh's 145 million population is
now food-insecure, leading daily The Financial Express reported today quoting a
World Food Program (WFP) report.
The WFP report said the number of such
people mounted after 7.5 million people were added recently largely because of
the impact of higher food prices.
WFP Bangladesh Representative John Aylieff
told the newspaper, 65 million people each consume less than 2,112 kilo calorie
(kcal) per day, 6.9 million more people are severely food insecure who consume
less than 1,800 kcal.
Quoting a recent WFP survey report he said during
April-May, 74 percent of households reduced the size of their meals and 62
percent cut the number of meals per day and 15 percent of households skipped
food for entire day.
Aylieff suggested that all food assistance to the
vulnerable group of people should include food of those types that are fortified
with micro-nutrients.
Food security of the country has been significantly and
adversely affected by rising food prices in the international market.
The
suffering of the people was compounded by widespread monsoon floods, followed by
a severe cyclone resulting in the loss of an estimated 1.4 million tons of rice
in 2007.
Xinhua
|
