Speakers at a regional conference in Rajshahi on Monday called for integrated efforts to protect the right to food in the north-western region, warning that climate stress, shrinking farmland and poor water management were pushing farmers and marginalised communities towards a deepening crisis.
They said that the right to food was not limited to freedom from hunger but also included access to safe, nutritious and quality food.
The conference was organised by development organisations Khaddo Nirapotta Network鈥擪HANI and Paribartan in association with Bangladesh Mohila Parishad, Jatiya Adivasi Parishad and Women Entrepreneurs鈥� Association of Bangladesh at a restaurant in the city.
Rajshahi district senior assistant commissioner for land SM Rokibul Hasan attended the programme as chief guest with Bangladesh Mohila Parishad Rajshahi district unit president Kalpana Roy in chair.
Rajshahi University economics professor ANK Noman said at the conference that while the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognised food as a basic right, Bangladesh still lacked a clear legal framework.
鈥楾he constitution mentions food, nutrition and public health as state responsibilities under Articles 15(a) and 18(1), but no binding law exists,鈥� he said.
Citing Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data, Ahmed Shafi Uddin, Rajshahi district unit president of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik, said that Rangpur division was facing the worst food insecurity with nearly 20 per cent of families being at risk.
In Rajshahi division, more than 25 per cent people were facing some level of food insecurity, he also said.
He warned that frequent droughts, depleting groundwater and rapid loss of farmland to urbanisation, industry and housing projects were eroding agriculture and livelihoods in the Barind tract.
鈥楨ach year about .5 per cent of cultivable land disappears in Rajshahi, forcing farmers to migrate to towns, fuelling seasonal unemployment, poverty and social unrest,鈥� he said.
Rajshahi district Krishak Dal president Shafiqul Alam Samapto said that farmers were increasingly trapped in informal debt.
鈥楳any borrow at high interest from moneylenders,鈥� he said, adding that when crop failed due to natural or other causes the farmers faced extreme financial pressure.
He also said that extreme level of desperation pushed some farmers even towards committing suicide, referring to the recent incidents of suicide in two farmer families due reportedly to severe want for a long period.
Development activist Everest Hembrom said that national minority communities remained particularly vulnerable as their participation in social safety net was very limited.
The speakers urged urgent measures to improve water management, boost agricultural production, expand social protection and build sustainable farming systems in the region to avert looming food shortages and rising poverty.
Among others, agriculture officer Tasnia Haque and Paribartan director Rashed Ripon also spoke at the programme.
