New platform launches battle against hunger

With the aim to end hunger and ensure nutrition rights by 2025, an umbrella network of about 824 government and non-government organisations, NGO networks, educational institutions, and civil society members started its journey yesterday.

The platform, Right to Food Bangladesh (RFB), was launched through a news conference at the capital's Jatiya Press Club where it stated the background to its creation and the issues it intends to work on.

"Our main objective is inclusive development. We have to focus on education and employment generation. People will access food either through production or employment," said economist Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, the platform's chairman.

The platform's creation is based on the Dhaka Declaration of "South Asia Right to Food Conference" held in the capital in May-June to strengthen a coalition among south Asian nations in facing the multi-dimensional challenges of food and nutrition. 

RFB will also work on the enactment and implementation of a "Right to Food Act" to ensure availability, accessibility, and sufficiency of nutritious food.

"A deprived person can take protection of this law and question the state why it failed to take up policies to ensure his employment, which will facilitate his access to food," explained Mohsin Ali, executive director of Wave Foundation, a member of RFB.

The platform's charter said safety net programmes should be transformed and linked with the law on right to food.

The umbrella vowed to work in areas to improve access to agricultural ingredients such as seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, expanding the irrigation system and making it affordable, crop preservation, increasing agricultural loan and ensuring its availability, ensuring the fair price of agricultural produce, giving subsidy to small farmers directly, and recognising the contribution of women in this sector.

The charter paper, read by Mohsin Ali, noted that women's accessibility to assets related to food production must be ensured, including land ownership, access to finance, education, training, social opportunities, employment, and fair and equal wages in workplace.

FRB will also work to mitigate the disaster risks of locals and increase their capacity to fight climate change challenges.

The network said laws and policies related to land, fishery, animal resources development, water and forests must also be in tune with the right to food.

Finally, it will work with government to make the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation's (Saarc's) food bank effective and create a Saarc seed bank.

Dhaka University, National Human Rights Commission, Manusher Jonno Foundation, Steps Towards Development, CARE Bangladesh, and Nari Maitree are some members of the network.