Food first

Citation

(2009), "Food first", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 58 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2009.07958cab.002

Food first

Article Type: News From: International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Volume 58, Issue 3

Recent food price inflation has created enormous hardship for the poor families in the South Asia region.

Afghanistan and Bangladesh, net food importers, have suffered the most from the food price crisis which makes it harder for South Asian countries to attain the Millennium Development Goals. The experience suggests the urgency with which longer-term issues of food security need to be addressed in South Asia.

To facilitate a debate and discussion on the longer-term food security issues, the South Asia Region of the World Bank, the World Bank Institute, and the Power and Participation Research Center (PPRC) recently organized a two day long conference: “South Asia Regional Conference on Managing Food Price Inflation”.

International and local experts and policy makers from six South Asian countries-Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – exchanged experiences and discussed the mix of policy options and programs available to governments to manage food price inflation in the short, medium and longer term.

Although farmers benefit from higher food prices, on a net basis food price inflation has contributed adversely to the poverty level in South Asia. This is because of the high share of food expenditure in the consumption basket of the poor and also because there are many more poor households who are net buyers of staple food than net sellers. A World Bank survey found that nearly 8 percent of the surveyed households in Bangladesh pulled their children out of schools to get jobs to assist their families cope with the crisis.

Attention will now focus to the long-term challenge of raising agricultural productivity in order to achieve food security. The productivity levels for rice and wheat in South Asia are significantly lower than levels found in Europe, North America and East Asia.