Rangpur tops food insecurity index, Sylhet follows

Although Rangpur has seen a decline in the number of people living in poverty, food insecurity remains a significant challenge. Nearly 30% of the population faces moderate or severe food insecurity, compared to the national average of just over 21%, according to a new survey.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on Sunday released the findings of the survey titled "Food Security Statistics 2023" conducted on over 29,000 households in eight divisions.

According to the survey, 21.91% of people are suffering from moderate or severe food insecurity. Severe insecurity accounts for 0.83%.

And according to the BBS Household Income Expenditure Survey data, the overall poverty rate in the country is currently 18.7%, compared to 24.3% six years ago in 2016.

Rangpur has the highest number of people with moderate or severe food insecurity at 29.98%, followed by Sylhet at 26.48%. Additionally, the percentages of people with food insecurity in other divisions are as follows: 26% in Mymensingh, 25.01% in Rajshahi, 22.83% in Barishal, 22.07% in Khulna, 19.66% in Chattogram, and 16.40% in Dhaka.

However, according to the final report of the BBS Household Income Expenditure Survey 2022, Barishal division has the highest level of poverty at 26.9%. In contrast, Rangpur had the highest poverty rate of 47% in 2016, which has since decreased to 24.8%.

In other words, although the poverty rate has decreased in Rangpur, food insecurity has not decreased in this region.

Agricultural economist Jahangir Alam Khan told The Business Standard, "It is normal for poor people to experience food insecurity. However, beyond poverty, many others may also be food insecure. Hence, it is not unusual for the number of people with food insecurity to be higher than the poverty rate."

"Many people can experience food insecurity without being reflected in poverty statistics in two respects. A lack of food availability, reduced access to a particular food, or a lack of access can also play a role. For example, if the price of goods suddenly increases in the market, it reduces the access of people," he added. 

Meanwhile, the BBS states that through a total of eight questions, including those related to income, food stock, purchasing power, food intake rate, and the amount of nutritious food intake, an idea of people who are food insecure has emerged in this survey. However, no information was gathered on how many times a day a family was consuming food or could not.

Shahnaz Arefin, secretary at the Statistics and Information Division, said this survey was conducted with three objectives: gaining an understanding of the food security situation, creating a food balance sheet, and determining whether calorie or protein intake is increasing or decreasing at both the micro and macro levels.

By doing this, it will be possible to keep these statistics in mind while formulating policies or undertaking any work related to food. According to BBS survey data, there is a notable difference in the prevalence rate of food security in rural, urban, and city corporation areas. The acute food insecurity rate in rural areas of the country is 0.95%, while it is 0.67% in urban areas and 0.41% in city corporation areas.

According to the food balance sheet, the total per capita daily food supply in the country is increasing, calculated from the caloric intake rate. The total food supply per capita per day was 2461 kilocalories in 2016, and it has increased to 2516 kilocalories in 2021.

The survey also indicates that the amount of rice stored in each household can meet up to 51 days of household needs, with rural areas having 63 days of food stock, urban areas having 35 days, and city corporations having 11 days. Additionally, wheat can be used for up to 9 days.