Environmentalists on Monday urged the government to save the environment from all kinds of degradation and pollution to ensure food safety.
At present one in every seven people sleeps without having any food and more than 20,000 children (under 5) die every day in the world for want of food, said experts at a discussion.
Save the Environment Movement organised the discussion on ‘Environment and Food security’ at National Press Club to mark World Environment Day 2013.
Former additional director general of the Department of Environment Md Abdus Sobhan presented the paper ‘Environment and Food Security’ in which he said in the world every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food go to waste.
One-third of the total food production is wasted when people are fighting in some other places for production of food.
Sobhan said currently 27 per cent people of this country are suffering for malnutrition but the problem would be solved if the existing agricultural lands and wetlands could be saved from pollution.
Because of unplanned urbanisation, biodiversity is decreasing and poor people are being its main victim as they face problem to continue tree plantation, fishing and agriculture, he said.
Sobhan said for food production safe environment is a must.
He said in the country due to environment pollution food production is going to be threatened, so the government needs to take immediate steps to save the main components of the environment — air, water, soil and existing wetlands.
Bangladesh Law Commission acting chairman M Shah Alam said the Law Commission and National Human Rights Commission would make a draft Right to Food Act where issues related to protecting the environment would get priorities.
He called for stronger movement to save the environment from all types of degradation and pollution.
Shah Alam said food crisis is not the only obstacle to ensuring food rights, there are many other factors — agricultural land crisis, wetland degradation and encroachment, unplanned urbanisation, overuse of water in irrigation, ground-water level fall.
The Law Commission acting chairman said safe food, food security, wetland, agricultural land, water use and environment — all these factors are interlinked.
Save the Environment Movement joint general secretary Hafizur Rahman Moyna and general secretary Kamal Pasha Chowdhury also spoke at the discussion.
-With New Age input
