According to the survey of World Food Organisation, 37 per cent of the people's income going down and 88 per cent of the people's expenses going up are indeed signs of food insecurity.
Before everything else, people need food to survive. It is not difficult to guess how terrifying the situation can be if people's income decreases down alongside the price hike of food items.
World Food Programme (WFP) published a report titled 'Bangladesh: Food Security and Vulnerability Monitoring' on 22 November.
It was stated that 37 per cent of people’s income has decreased in September.
Reasons behind the income reduction are that some have lost their jobs, some are not finding work every day, and some have lost their income for the price of goods going up and for getting less aid than before.
Mainly the reason behind 88 per cent of people's expenses going up is the rise of food prices. Then there is the increase in fuel prices and transportation costs, the cost of illness and treatment as well. Studies show that during such financial crisis, people lean towards buying comparatively cheaper foods, cutting down on the purchase of nutritious food.
These foods are usually low in nutrients but high in carbohydrates, which obstruct a person's healthy growth. WFP has been publishing this report every month since July. The report was prepared after interviewing 1,220 people over telephone.
In that case, people who are out of the telephone service coverage have naturally been excluded from the survey. Some of the positive aspects of the report are that the rate of people remaining under moderate to deadly food insecurity has decreased. The rate which was 29 per cent in July has reduced down to 17 per cent in September.
Even the rate of people, forced to take measures such as borrowing money to buy food or not going to see a doctor has decreased a bit as well. The rate of people forced to take such actions coming under pressure or falling in crisis stood at 34 per cent in September. The rate was 48 per cent in July.
Data analysis showed that, among these three months, the highest number of people’s income reduced in August and it was 43 per cent. The situation improved a little (37 per cent) in September, but still it did not rise up to the level of July.
The picture of division-wise food security, depicted in this survey is quite worrying. The survey showed that, cent per cent people in Sylhet division are under the risk of food insecurity (partial, medium and deadly).
The percentage of people remaining under medium and deadly food insecurity in Barishal division is 26 per cent with 22 per cent in Khulna 18 per cent in Chattogram, 17 per cent in Rangpur, 13 per cent in Dhaka, 12 per cent in Rajshahi and 9 per cent in Mymensingh.
On average 17 per cent people remain under medium and deadly food insecurity nationally.
According to WFP, 42 per cent of the people needs food assistant, 26 per cent needs medical assistance, 17 per cent needs educational assistance and 9 per cent needs housing support. But in actuality, only 10 per cent of the people are receiving this assistance.
In this situation, the government has to amplify food assistance in the areas where people are under food insecurity. There’s no scope of self-satisfaction assuming that people aren’t dying of hunger. What foods people are eating and whether those foods are fulfilling their nutritional requirements or not, have to be seriously considered.