Analysis of Food Security and Possibilities for Improvement

This study examines the food security situation of Bangladesh through secondary data. The overall food grains production growth rate is higher than population growth rate from 1971/72 to 2004/05. The long term (1971/72-2004/05) growth in food grain production was 2.8%, to which 79% was contributed by yield growth. The overall growth rate of area under food grain was 0.4 in 1971/72-2004/05 which was a little. Meat, fish milk and egg production has also increased significantly over the 34 years, but their demand has been growing fast, and therefore, the shortage is still high. The per capita availability of food grain in Bangladesh shows considerable improvement during the recent years. The per capita availability of other crops, fruits, fish and animal product increased slowly. The results indicate that despite the improvement of the food security situation at the national level through the improvement of access to and utilization, still Bangladesh is not food secure in the sense of share of the total energy coming from protein and fat. This study should be useful to researchers, professionals and students in the field of agricultural economics.