Matia criticises biofuel production

She slams multinational corporations for their role

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, now in the United States, has criticised the multinational corporations for biofuel production.
“Although Bangladesh receives policy advice and funds from international organisations, but un-helpful policies like production of biofuel sometimes attempted by some countries contradict the overhanging goal of attaining food security for all,” she was quoted as saying by a press release issued by the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington yesterday.
It is felt that the expansion of biofuels has led to massive diversion of maize to ethanol production, reducing the maize supply for consumption as
food, and thus causing maize price to rise rapidly, she added.
The agriculture minister was delivering a keynote statement at the 40th anniversary of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington DC on Wednesday.
Speaking on “Evolution of Food Policy”, the Minister observed sharp increase in land under maize cultivation also results in reduced soybean and wheat cultivation.
“It is quite ironic that biofuels are still promoted by some multinational corporations as an eco-friendly sustainable alternative to fossil fuels when 2,500 litres of water is required to producing a mere one litre of biofuel,” she said.
“Policies that promote biofuels have diverted large quantities of food out of food markets and committed them to the pursuit of relatively small amount of transport fuel,” she told the day-long IFPRI conference.
The government has attached topmost priorities to agriculture, food security and nutrition that led to the self-sufficiency in rice production, feeding a large population with domestic agricultural production, Matia said.
However, Matia said, although Bangladesh has made good progress in agriculture and economic growth, the country is increasingly facing challenges of population growth, climate change impacts and vulnerability to domestic and international price shock.
Government leaders, agriculture scientists and economists from USA, U.K, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, Chile, Brazil, Ethiopia, China, India and Pakistan attended the conference split into different working sessions on food security, agriculture and nutrition, market, trade and macro-policies.

Matia criticises biofuel production

She slams multinational corporations for their role

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, now in the United States, has criticised the multinational corporations for biofuel production. Although Bangladesh receives policy advice and funds from international organisations, but un-helpful policies like production of biofuel sometimes attempted by some countries contradict the overhanging goal of attaining food security for all, she was quoted as saying by a press release issued by the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington yesterday. It is felt that the expansion of biofuels has led to massive diversion of maize to ethanol production, reducing the maize supply for consumption as food, and thus causing maize price to rise rapidly, she added. The agriculture minister was delivering a keynote statement at the 40th anniversary of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington DC on Wednesday. Speaking on Evolution of Food Policy, the Minister observed sharp increase in land under maize cultivation also results in reduced soybean and wheat cultivation. It is quite ironic that biofuels are still promoted by some multinational corporations as an eco-friendly sustainable alternative to fossil fuels when 2,500 litres of water is required to producing a mere one litre of biofuel, she said. Policies that promote biofuels have diverted large quantities of food out of food markets and committed them to the pursuit of relatively small amount of transport fuel, she told the day-long IFPRI conference. The government has attached topmost priorities to agriculture, food security and nutrition that led to the self-sufficiency in rice production, feeding a large population with domestic agricultural production, Matia said. However, Matia said, although Bangladesh has made good progress in agriculture and economic growth, the country is increasingly facing challenges of population growth, climate change impacts and vulnerability to domestic and international price shock. Government leaders, agriculture scientists and economists from USA, U.K, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, Chile, Brazil, Ethiopia, China, India and Pakistan attended the conference split into different working sessions on food security, agriculture and nutrition, market, trade and macro-policies.