Saarc Food Bank to help check food price volatility
The Saarc Food Bank Board is considering the bank's use during volatility of food prices, aiming to stabilise the South Asian region's food market.
“Such a move could help stabilise the food market in the region,” said Bangladesh Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque yesterday.
No South Asian nation is able to ensure food security by itself, so cooperation among the nations is imperative to tackle food shortages at times of disasters and to stabilise volatility of food prices, he added.
He was addressing as the chief guest the inaugural session of the fifth special meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Food Bank Board held at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital ahead of the Saarc's ministerial level meeting in July.
“We discussed on the issue and will take a decision soon after analysing detailed data on food production, consumption and import and export of the Saarc countries,” Elahi Dad Khan, director of the Bangladesh Directorate of Food, told The Daily Star.
Saarc Food Bank, formed in 2007, now has a food stock of 4.86 lakh tonnes with contributions from the Saarc member countries.
Bangladesh Food Secretary Barun Dev Mitra chaired the meeting that was attended by the officials from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan.
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