Bangladesh a model for reducing hunger: UN study

One of the leading newspapers of the United States, the Christian Science Monitor, in a recent issue highlighted Bangladesh’s great success in becoming a country lagged with chronic food shortages to a food surplus country, reports BSS.
The report “From famine to food basket: how Bangladesh became a model for reducing hunger” was based on a recent UN study on global hunger.
It said, four decades ago, the newly formed and desperately poor South Asian nation of Bangladesh saw its already-high levels of extreme poverty and chronic hunger skyrocket with floods, leading to acute food shortages.
Farmers and farmland were swallowed up in rampaging waters, distribution of the imported food supplies that the country depended on became impossible.  The country - which former Beatle George Harrison raised money and awareness for in the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh - became associated for the long term with hunger and malnutrition.
Today, the onetime food basket case has transformed into something of a food basket - and a model for hunger reduction for the rest of the world.
A recent United Nations report on global hunger highlights Bangladesh for having cut chronic hunger by more than half since 2000. The generally upbeat report, which finds that the number of hungry people worldwide has fallen to 795 million from 1 billion in 1990, cites Bangladesh as one of a number of bright spots in a global effort to eradicate hunger by 2030.
“Bangladesh is one of three success stories of the last 10 to 15 years - Ethiopia and Nepal are the other two - that give us some hope on this goal” of eliminating hunger, says Glenn Denning, a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York and a noted expert in development and nutrition.
“These kinds of successes have demonstrated that if you bring certain things together” - he lists economic growth, improved agricultural productivity, a focus on farmers’ market
accessibility, and social safety nets for the most vulnerable - “you can bring hunger down.”
In Bangladesh’s case, a revolution in rice production beginning in the 1980s has helped turn a country that was dependent to some degree on food imports into a self-sufficient producer. Small-farm mechanization, irrigation, and particular attention to boosting women’s participation in the economy, along with girls’ education, have combined to erase the old image of Bangladesh as a hunger hot spot.
 “I would list three drivers of poverty reduction and hunger reduction, and all those things are happening in Bangladesh today,” says Akhter Ahmed, chief of strategy support at the Dhaka, Bangladesh, office of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
He lists regular economic growth; “human development,” which he defines as a focus on education, health, and nutrition; and a “safety net” that provides cash transfers and other assistance to that part of the population that can’t participate in the “growth process” as the “essentials” that have worked together to bring down high poverty and hunger rates.
“I do believe Bangladesh can serve as a model,” Dr Ahmed says, “particularly to other countries in South Asia that haven’t done so well.”
One standout poor performer in the neighborhood is India, which, despite its regularly higher economic growth rates, has been a laggard in hunger reduction.
The UN report places India atop the world hunger list with 195 million chronically hungry people - or about a quarter of the world’s underfed total of 795 million.
But another big neighbor, China, accounted for two thirds of the global reduction in hunger since 1990.
India’s stubbornly high hunger numbers amid impressive economic growth have led to what Columbia’s Dr Denning says is widely referred to as the “Indian enigma.” But underneath the head-scratching, he says, is a web of “complex issues,” ranging from stalled rural development (particularly roads to get food production to market) to cultural factors.
Not the least of those cultural factors, for example, is rural Indians’ preference for what is delicately referred to as “open defecation.” That practice leads to sanitation and public health problems, which are linked to high rates of malnutrition and hunger.
In contrast to India, Ahmed notes, Bangladesh in its four decades of independence from Pakistan has been open to deep cultural change - like a generalized participation of women in the economy, notably in the garment industry - and to a significant role for nongovernmental organizations. Those are both identified as important factors in Bangladesh’s reduction of hunger.
Bangladesh is the birthplace of what has become a global movement for microfinance, by which very small loans enable small-business creation that in turn boosts economic development.

Bangladesh a model for reducing hunger: UN study

One of the leading newspapers of the United States, the Christian Science Monitor, in a recent issue highlighted Bangladeshs great success in becoming a country lagged with chronic food shortages to a food surplus country, reports BSS. The report From famine to food basket: how Bangladesh became a model for reducing hunger was based on a recent UN study on global hunger. It said, four decades ago, the newly formed and desperately poor South Asian nation of Bangladesh saw its already-high levels of extreme poverty and chronic hunger skyrocket with floods, leading to acute food shortages. Farmers and farmland were swallowed up in rampaging waters, distribution of the imported food supplies that the country depended on became impossible. The country - which former Beatle George Harrison raised money and awareness for in the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh - became associated for the long term with hunger and malnutrition. Today, the onetime food basket case has transformed into something of a food basket - and a model for hunger reduction for the rest of the world. A recent United Nations report on global hunger highlights Bangladesh for having cut chronic hunger by more than half since 2000. The generally upbeat report, which finds that the number of hungry people worldwide has fallen to 795 million from 1 billion in 1990, cites Bangladesh as one of a number of bright spots in a global effort to eradicate hunger by 2030. Bangladesh is one of three success stories of the last 10 to 15 years - Ethiopia and Nepal are the other two - that give us some hope on this goal of eliminating hunger, says Glenn Denning, a professor at Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs in New York and a noted expert in development and nutrition. These kinds of successes have demonstrated that if you bring certain things together - he lists economic growth, improved agricultural productivity, a focus on farmers market accessibility, and social safety nets for the most vulnerable - you can bring hunger down. In Bangladeshs case, a revolution in rice production beginning in the 1980s has helped turn a country that was dependent to some degree on food imports into a self-sufficient producer. Small-farm mechanization, irrigation, and particular attention to boosting womens participation in the economy, along with girls education, have combined to erase the old image of Bangladesh as a hunger hot spot. I would list three drivers of poverty reduction and hunger reduction, and all those things are happening in Bangladesh today, says Akhter Ahmed, chief of strategy support at the Dhaka, Bangladesh, office of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). He lists regular economic growth; human development, which he defines as a focus on education, health, and nutrition; and a safety net that provides cash transfers and other assistance to that part of the population that cant participate in the growth process as the essentials that have worked together to bring down high poverty and hunger rates. I do believe Bangladesh can serve as a model, Dr Ahmed says, particularly to other countries in South Asia that havent done so well. One standout poor performer in the neighborhood is India, which, despite its regularly higher economic growth rates, has been a laggard in hunger reduction. The UN report places India atop the world hunger list with 195 million chronically hungry people - or about a quarter of the worlds underfed total of 795 million. But another big neighbor, China, accounted for two thirds of the global reduction in hunger since 1990. Indias stubbornly high hunger numbers amid impressive economic growth have led to what Columbias Dr Denning says is widely referred to as the Indian enigma. But underneath the head-scratching, he says, is a web of complex issues, ranging from stalled rural development (particularly roads to get food production to market) to cultural factors. Not the least of those cultural factors, for example, is rural Indians preference for what is delicately referred to as open defecation. That practice leads to sanitation and public health problems, which are linked to high rates of malnutrition and hunger. In contrast to India, Ahmed notes, Bangladesh in its four decades of independence from Pakistan has been open to deep cultural change - like a generalized participation of women in the economy, notably in the garment industry - and to a significant role for nongovernmental organizations. Those are both identified as important factors in Bangladeshs reduction of hunger. Bangladesh is the birthplace of what has become a global movement for microfinance, by which very small loans enable small-business creation that in turn boosts economic development.