Bangladesh among countries viewed as "success-story" in terms of food security
Mar 2, 2011
The nation of Bangladesh was singled out by the NGO Action Against Hunger (ACF) report as a "success story" in its efforts to help children receive the proper amount of nutrition over the past 15 years. Other countries featured in the report included Brazil, Malawi, Mozambique and Peru, reports IRIN News.
The figures in the report, which were gleaned from government surveys, are encouraging - between 1996 and 2009, the study suggests that the percentage of children who were classified as underweight for their age decreased from 56 to 43 percent.
The ACF also commended Bangladesh’s government for creating national programs such as floating gardens, which helped the nation cope with extreme weather seen over the past two years.
However, there is still work to be done. “A big obstacle ...is the lack of coordination [among] government ministries, NGOs and other stakeholders,” Flavio Salio, head of Medecins Sans Frontieres, told the news source. “There is also a lack of clear nutritional guidelines, and a lack of human resources and health facilities, especially in rural areas.”
The majority of Bangladesh’s citizens live in rural areas, as only 28 percent of the population lives in urban locales, according to The CIA World Factbook.