Stunting in slum children drops in three districts
Says WFP study; another study by IFAD, WFP, Helen Keller Int'l, BCAS, Sussex University find climate related disasters to be hampering food, nutrition security of marginalised people
The number of stunted children decreased by 7 percent and emaciated children by 3 percent between 2006 and 2013 in three districts of the country, reveals a study.
The UN World Food Programme conducted the study titled "Food Insecurity and Undernutrition in the Urban Slums of Bangladesh" in Dhaka, Barisal and Sirajganj.
Meanwhile, another study titled "Impact of climate related shocks and stresses on nutrition and food security" says floods, droughts and cyclones result in hiking food prices, causing food insecurity and malnutrition.
International Fund for Agricultural Development, WFP, Helen Keller International, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies and Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University, UK, jointly conducted the survey.
By analysing the effects of six different types of climate-related disasters in Bangladesh, including floods, droughts, cyclones, river bank erosion and salt water intrusion between 1998 and 2006, the study reveals that communities affected by disasters "systematically" face higher food prices than the unaffected people.
“The food inflation can be felt for up to nine months after the devastation has ended. In particular, the prices of oil, rice, potato, lentil, beef and egg,” it says.
The reports of the two studies were launched yesterday at the Jatiya Press Club.
Addressing the launching ceremony, WFP Representative Christa Rader said, "This research [the latter] gives us a new lens for viewing conventional disaster responses and rehabilitation approaches and offers a new perspective for addressing the prolonged effects of climate-related shocks on communities.”
On nutrition, she said poverty and a lack of economic opportunity caused food insecurity in slum areas of the country.