Building adequate food stock for emergency

Though it is the peak harvesting season of rice, the price of this vital staple diet of the Bangalee people, rather than declining, is on the rise.  As usual, explanations range from market manipulation by corporate traders and millers, middlemen, high import price as US dollar is costlier against taka, increasing food price in the international market, higher production cost and so on and so forth. Also, authorised foodstuff traders are said to be at fault, as they have delayed import despite the reduction of import duty with the result that so far only 15,000 tonnes of rice, which is only 10 per cent of what they were originally permitted to ship in, could be imported.  But without just blaming, the government would do well to investigate the matter and address issues like bureaucratic hassles and the prevailing system of permit and replace it with open import provision to incentivise the private food importers. That apart, what still intrigues many is why the government itself did not decide to import rice much earlier when the international food market was yet to be so volatile.  Unsurprisingly, the net result of all these failures is that the price of rice is so stubbornly high even in the middle of Aman harvesting season.    

Obviously, this is bad news for the people in the low income bracket who have long been reeling from the impact of unrelenting price hike of rice and other essential commodities. To help this section of the population make ends meet, the government is, thankfully, selling rice and some other essential commodities at a lower than market prices through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB). Also, the government has to provide rice and other essentials at a lower price for those employed in the uniformed government services. These government measures are necessarily reducing its stockpile of rice. Until the price of, especially rice, comes down to a comfortable level, the government will be required to continue these measures. So, the question is if the government is alert to the possibility of any shortage of its food stock when such disturbing trend of rising food price is being reported. Notably, the development is indeed concerning because in its latest update on food stock as of last Sunday, November 25, the food ministry reportedly informed that rice stock in the government silos has come down to around 0.77 million tonnes. This marks about a 47 per cent fall in the government's food stock in three months since August 28 when the quantity of food stock was more than 1.45 million tonnes.

Though officials concerned are trying to assure the public saying that very soon the government procurement of Aman rice will start, one wonders, how far that would help build the food stock to a comfortable level. That is more so given the fact the state's food stock is chiefly dependent on internal procurement. Against this backdrop, alongside the Aman procurement drive, it is time the government took urgent steps to import adequate quantity of rice to replenish the stock so that it can meet any emergency in the future. In this connection, the food ministry might well take note of the home ministry's warning that the country could face food shortage due to the developments taking place in this regard both in the domestic and the international market.

At the same time, strict monitoring of production and supply of rice at the millers' end as well as to the local markets should be put in place to prevent hoarding and creation of artificial supply crisis.