OneWorld.net (U.S.)

Dhaka, Bangladesh: Rich nations must increase aid to Bangladesh as the impoverished country struggles to cope with sky-rocketing prices of food, a senior United Nations official said.

"The real issue is protecting the vulnerable from these shocks," said Kemal Dervis, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) administrator and the third highest ranking official in the UN, said after a three-day visit to Bangladesh.

"The international community cannot leave these huge world events unattended," he said, adding the world "including the oil-rich countries, should increase support to Bangladesh."

Rising food prices have become a big concern for most people in Bangladesh, where about 40% of the population lives below the poverty line, and poor households spend nearly 70% of their income on food items.

In December, annual food inflation in Bangladesh reached 16%, and prices of rice has doubled in the past year, according to the government's Food Planning and Monitoring Unit.

The situation in impoverished Bangladesh, where rice is a staple food for the 144 million population, has been exacerbated by food shortages resulting from the devastating floods in July and August and Cyclone Sidr in November last year.

The government said the country would need to import more than three million tonnes in the current financial year ending June due to crop damages by the twin natural disasters.

Recently, a former minister of the caretaker government and an ex-finance secretary Akbar Ali Khan said a "silent famine" is going on in the country due to rocketing food prices.

Source: AFP