Bangladesh emphasizes need for collective approach to tackle global food insecurity

Aug 04, 2023

Dhaka [Bangladesh], August 4 : Bangladesh has emphasized the need for a collective approach instead of a fragmented approach to address the conflict-induced global food insecurity, reported Dhaka Tribune. 
A permanent representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, while addressing the Security Council's open debate on Famine and Conflict-induced Global Food Insecurity on Thursday, said, "In the face of conflict-induced global food insecurity, a fragmented approach will not suffice. We must come together in a collective endeavour to address this crisis."
Ambassador Muhith stated the devastating impact of the ongoing conflicts and climate change on global food security and highlighted the various measures taken by the Bangladesh government to address food insecurity at both national and international levels, Dhaka Tribune reported. 
Moreover, he added that the Bangladesh government has taken various fiscal and policy measures to tackle the conflict-driven global food crisis. He also said that the government has also prioritized investments in agri-food systems. 
Adding to that, he said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also urged all the citizens to actively participate in homegrown food production practices and cultivate unused lands in every household. 
Furthermore, he mentioned that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon all the citizens to actively participate in homegrown food production practices and cultivate unused lands in every household.
Muhith further stressed the need of addressing underlying factors that affect food prices and access to food during conflicts, according to Dhaka Tribune. 
To improve the food supply, he moreover, pledged full support for the secretary general's call to keep markets open, remove unnecessary export restrictions, and release food reserves. 
He also shed light on the urgency of renewing the “Black Sea Grain Initiative” to ensure stable food supplies. 
Furthermore, he emphasized the need for increased international cooperation, climate financing, technology transfer, and South-South cooperation to support vulnerable countries like Bangladesh in mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change on food security.
India's permanent representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj also said that India supports the efforts made by the UN Secretary-General in continuing the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
"We must work together to find common solutions through dialogue and diplomacy. Choosing peace, cooperation and multilateralism is essential for building our collective future. Strengthening the international architecture and governance systems to protect the global order. Global laws and global values must therefore be a shared responsibility," Kamboj suggested.
Kamboj also recalled how even in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, India provided food aid in the form of thousands of metric tons of wheat, rice, pulses and lentils to several countries, including in our neighbourhood and Africa, to strengthen food security."
In view of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, india commenced the donation of 50,000 metric tons of wheat to the people of Afghanistan," she said.