With a comprehensive approach to nutrition sensitive food systems, the government is about to finalise a Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) policy for the country. The policy articulates a multi-billion-dollar portfolio that is consistent with the Seventh Five Year Plan, Vision 2021 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), sources said.
The Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPMU) of the Ministry of Food has been working to prepare a report in this regard in collaboration with 19 partner ministries and divisions, with technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European Union (EU).
The Monitoring Report 2019, which is the first in the annual series that monitors progress against the Country Improvement Plan 2 (CIP2, 2016-2020) results framework shows that food and nutrition security for national well-being is a top priority at the highest level of the government and amongst development partners. Sources said till June 2018 the CIP 2 (CIP 2) budget stood at 14 billion USD, of which 8.9 billion USD was financed. The government and development partners covered 68% (6.1 billion USD) and 32% (2.8 billion USD) of the financed budget, respectively which increased by 3.1 billion USD since June 2016.
Child underweight declined from 41% in 2007 to 22% in 2018. While this improvement is in line with the SDGs and national targets, public health still remains a concern, with slower progress in the reduction of population undernourishment. Households are gradually changing their diets with a larger share of calories coming from vegetables, fruits and animal-products. Complementary feeding is showing improvement, while women’s diets remain inadequate.
Encouraging developments in food production diversification, steady growth in rice production, remarkable progress in aquaculture, and recent progress in livestock production are noted. With a continued decline in poverty, efforts to expand food grain storage capacity are well underway. The Bangladesh Food Safety Authority is actively coordinating the Food Safety Act implementation. Nutrition is being mainstreamed across key sectors and synergy with the National Plan of Action for Nutrition guided by the Bangladesh National Nutrition Council is being established.
FNS lessons from the National Social Protection Strategy implementation are seen to be useful in policy uptake. This report will stimulate informed decision-making and improve the access to and consumption of safe and nutritious diets for better nutrition outcomes in Bangladesh, sources said.