Biography

Professor Dr. S. M. Imamul Huq

(BAAS President: 2007 - till present)

 

Professor Dr. S. M. Imamul Huq was born on 5th January 1950 in Faridpur, Bangladesh. He obtained B.Sc. (Hons.) and M.Sc. in Soil Science from Dhaka University in 1970 and 1971 respectively and received D.Engg. from the University of Nancy I, France in 1984.
Professor Huq started his career as a Lecturer in Soil Science Department of Dhaka University in 1973 and became Professor in the Department of Soil, Water and Environment in 1992. He was the Chairman of Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) from 2009-11. His fields of specialization are soil chemistry, soil fertility and plant nutrition. He is the founder director of the Bangladesh-Australia Centre for Environmental Research at the University of Dhaka.
Professor Huq is the President of the Soil Science Society of Bangladesh (SSSB). He was the recipient of the prestigious Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Gold Medal, Bangladesh University Grants Commission Award, Bangabandhu Krishi Padak and Bangabandhu Swadhinata Padak.

 

Presidential Address

18 February 2009

Science for Food Security

 

There has been a global scandal with food supply in the recent past from which Bangladesh was not an exception. Food riots and street demonstrations have been witnessed in many parts of the globe. For obvious reasons, this did not occur in Bangladesh, however, the person responsible for the food ministry at that time recognized that there is a state of hidden hunger prevailing in the country. Why did such a situation occur? Were we not having enough food stock (particularly rice-as this is our staple food) or were there existed an anarchical situation that made the food dear to the common people? Such a situation demands an insight into the food security.
What is meant by food security and how science can help in this phenomenon? Food security refers to the availability of food and one`s access to it. A household is considered food secure when it`s occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation.
Food security exists when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food references for an active and healthy life (FAO).
Food security for a household means access by all members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum (1) the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and (2) an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (that is, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies), (USDA).

 
Alternatively, food insecurity has been described as “a condition in which people lack basic food intake to provide them with the energy and nutrients for fully productive lives.” Food insecurity ranges from food secure situations to full-scale famine. “Famine and hunger are both rooted in food insecurity. Food insecurity can be categorized as either chronic or transitory. Chronic food insecurity translates into a high degree of vulnerability to famine and hunger; ensuring food security presupposes elimination of that vulnerability. [chronic] hunger is not famine. It is similar to undernourishment and is related to poverty, existing mainly in poor countries.” Households that are more likely to experience food insecurity are female-headed with children, those with incomes below the poverty line, and those that reside either in principal cities of within rural areas.
Worldwide around 852 million people are chronically hungry due to extreme poverty, while up to 2 billion people lack food security intermittently due to varying degrees of poverty. As of late 2007, increased farming for use in bio-fuels, word oil price rises barrel, global population growth, climate change, loss of agricultural land to residential and industrial development, and growing consumer demand all over the world, particularly in populous countries like in China and India have pushed up the price of grain.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain food security in a world beset by a confluence of “peak” phenomena, namely peak oil, peak water, “peak grain” and “peak fish.” More than half of the planet‟s population, numbering approximately 3.3 billion people, lives in urban areas as of November 2007. Any disruption to farm supplies may precipitate a uniquely urban food crisis in a relatively short time. The ongoing global credit crisis has affected farm credits, despite a boom in commodity prices. Food security is a complex topic, standing at the intersection of many disciplines.
In developing countries, often 70% or more of the population lives in rural areas. In that context, agricultural development among
small holder farmers and landless people provides a livelihood for people allowing them the opportunity to stay in their communities. In many areas of the world, land ownership is not available, thus, people who want or need to farm to make a living have little incentive to improve the land. Such a situation is very prominent in Bangladesh.
A perpetual food shortages and distribution problems result in chronic and often widespread hunger amongst significant numbers of people. Human populations respond to chronic hunger and malnutrition by decreasing body size or stunted growth ultimately giving a malnourished population incapable of active participation in nation building.
Some of the reasons for prevailing food shortage have been related to (1) Global water crisis, (2) Land degradation, (3) Climate change, (4) political corruption including dictatorship and kleptocracy.

 
Global water crisis: Water deficits, have already spurring heavy grain imports in numerous smaller countries, and may soon do the same in larger countries like China or India. The water tables are falling ion scores of countries due to widespread over pumping using powerful diesel and electric pumps. Bangladesh ranks 12th with 1211 km3/yr among the top 15 countries of the world with fresh water resources, but ranks 8th in terms of fresh water withdrawal at the rate of 79.4 km3/yr of which 96% is used for agriculture. The over pumping will eventually lead to water scarcity and cutbacks in grain harvest. Even with the over pumping of its aquifers, China is developing a grain deficit. When this happens, it will almost certainly drive grain prices upward. Most of the 3 billion people projected to be added worldwide by mid- century will be born in countries already experiencing water shortages. With expanding population in many countries including Bangladesh, it is obvious that many countries will soon turn to the world market for food grain. Science should come forward in devising efficient use of water to produce more food to maintain a

status quo in food supply. In Bangladesh, the water use in our rice production could be lowed to up to 30% of the present use without having any effects on yield.
Land degradation: Intensive farming often leads to a vicious cycle of exhaustion of soil fertility and decline of agricultural yields. This phenomenon is very prominent in Bangladesh. Our soils are severely degraded. Of the total arable land, less than only about 2% land is of very good quality while about 60% of the land is in the moderate quality. There are both physical degradation (in the hilly areas) as well as chemical degradation (in the plains). Nutrient deficiency is very common in most of our soils. Annual depletion of nutrients has been estimated to be 180-250 kg/ha/yr. This has necessitated import of huge amount of synthetic fertilizers over the years. There has been a steady increase in the fertilizer use in the country. An increase of more than 12% in the fertilizer use in the country has been noticed during the last decade. Approximately 40% of the world`s agricultural land is seriously degraded. It is predicted that if current trends of soil degradation continue, the African continent might be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025. The way forward for food security for the next generation will necessitate updating of current knowledge and data on soil productivity and integration of different disciplines of science in this respect.

 

Climate change: Climate change and agriculture are interrelated processes, both of which take place on a global scale. Global warming is projected to have significant impacts on conditions affecting agriculture, including temperature, precipitation and glacial run-off. These conditions determine the carrying capacity of the biosphere to produce enough food for the human population and domesticated animals. Rising carbon dioxide levels would also have effects, both detrimental and beneficial, on crop yields. The overall effect of climate change on agriculture will depend on the balance of these effects. Assessment of the effects of global climate changes on agriculture might help to properly anticipate
and adapt farming to maximize agricultural production. According to a UN climate report , the Himalayan glaciers that are the principal dry-season water sources of Asia`s biggest rivers- Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween and yellow-could disappear by 2035 as temperatures rise. Approximately 2.4 billion people live in the drainage basin of the Himalayan Rivers. India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar could experience  floods followed by severe droughts in coming decades. Glaciers are not the only worry that the developing nations have, sea level is also reported to rise as climate changes progresses, reducing the  amount of land available for agriculture. It is predicted that due to sea level rise, Bangladesh is going to be one of the most hard-hit countries. Scientists of all domain need to strive forward to find ways and means to cope with the problems that will arise from possible climate change and ultimately pose threat to food production and hence to food security. In other parts of the world a big effect will be low yields of grain according to the World Food Trade Model, specifically in the low latitude regions where much of the developing world is located. From this the price of grain will rise, along with the developing nations trying to grow the grain. Due to this, every 2-2.5% price hike will increase the number of hungry people by 1%. The timing and length of the growing seasons, when farmers plants their crops, are going to be changed dramatically, per the USDA, due to unknown changes in soil temperature and moisture conditions. Dramatic climate change will also have impacts on the incidence of diseases and pest and cause crop failures thus adding more agony to food security.
Political corruption including dictatorship and kleptocracy: The Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen has observed that “there is no such thing as an apolitical food problem.” While drought and other naturally occurring events may trigger famine conditions, it is government action or inaction that determines its severity, and often even whether of not a famine will occur. The

 
20th century is full of examples of governments undermining the food security of their own nations- sometimes intentionally.
When governments come to power by force or rigged elections, and not by way of fair and open elections, their base of support is often narrow and built upon cronyism and patronage. This been the situation in Bangladesh during the recent past. Under such conditions “the distribution of food within a country is a political issue. Governments in most countries give priority to urban areas, since that is where the most influential and power full families and enterprises are usually located. The government often neglects subsistence farmers and rural areas in general. The more remote and underdeveloped the area the less likely the government will be to effectively meet its needs. Many agrarian policies, especially the pricing of agricultural commodities, discriminate against rural areas. Governments often keep prices of basic grains at such artificially low levels that subsistence producers cannot accumulate enough capital to make investments to improve their production. Thus, they are effectively prevented from getting out of their precarious situation”.
Further dictators and warlords have used food as a political weapon, rewarding their supporters while denying food supplies to areas that oppose their rule. Under such conditions food becomes a currency with which to buy support and famine becomes an effective weapon to be used against the opposition. We have not seen any exception to this in our country.
Governments with strong tendencies toward kleptocracy can undermine food security even when harvests are good. When government monopolizes trade, farmers may find that they are free to grow cash crops for export, but under penalty of law only able to sell their crops to government buyers at prices far below the world market price. The government then is free to sell their crop on the world market at full price, pocketing the difference. This creates an artificial „poverty trap‟ from which even the most hard working and motivated farmers may not escape. During the previous regime, Bangladesh has witnessed severe kleptocracy and
the effects of such a governance on a nation are typically adverse in regards to the faring of the state‟s economy, political affairs and civil rights – all of which were absent in the recent past.
When the rule of law is absent, or private property is non-existent, farmers have little incentive to improve their productivity. If a farm becomes noticeably more productive than neighboring farms, it may become the target of individuals well connected to the government. Rather than risk being noticed and possibly losing their land, farmers may be content with the perceived safety of mediocrity.
William Bernstein, a US financial theorist has pointed in his book The Birth of Plenty that: „Individuals without property are susceptible to starvation, and it is much easier to bend the fearful and hungry to the will of the state. If a [farmer‟s] property can be arbitrarily threatened by the state, that power will inevitably be employed to intimidate those with divergent political and religious opinions.”

 
How to ensure food security? Conventional thinking in westernized countries is that maximizing the farmers profit is the surest way of maximizing agricultural production; the higher a farmer‟s profit, the greater the effort that will be forthcoming, and the greater the risk the farmer is willing to take. This view holds that it is the government‟s job to place into the hands of farmers the largest number and highest quality tools possible. The tools refer to improved production techniques, improved seeds, secure land tenure, accurate weather forecasts, etc. In many of these tools, the contribution of science is imperative. However, it is left to the individual farmer to pick and choose which tools to use, and how to use them, as farmers have intimate knowledge of their own land and local conditions.
As with other businesses, a percentage of the profits are normally reinvested into the business in the hopes of increasing production, and hence increase future profits, normally higher profits translate into higher spending on technologies designed to boost production,

 

such as drip irrigation systems, agriculture education, and greenhouses. An increased profit also increases the farmer‟s incentive to engage in double-cropping, triple-cropping, crop diversification, soil improvement programs, and expanding usable area.
An alternative view takes a collective approach to achieve food security. It notes that globally enough food is produced to feed the entire world population at a level adequate to ensure that everyone can be free of hunger and fear of starvation. That no one should live without enough food because of economic constraints or social inequalities is the basic goal. This approach is often referred to as food justice and views food security as a basic human right. It advocates fairer distribution of food, particularly grain crops, as a means of ending chronic hunger and malnutrition. The core of the Food Justice movement is the belief that what is lacking is not food, but the political will to fairly distribute food regardless of  the recipient‟s ability to pay. The Awami League government, through its election manifesto is pledge bound in this issue, and I am very much hopeful that Food justice will be the main approach of this government to ensure food security in the country.
Achieving food security: The Rome Declaration of 1996 calls for the members of the United Nations to work to halve the number of chronically undernourished people on the Earth by the year 2015. The Plan of Action sets a number of targets for government and non-governmental organizations for achieving food security, at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels. The number of people without enough food to eat on a regular basis remains stubbornly high, at over 800 million, and is not falling significantly. Over 60% of the world‟s undernourished people live in Asia, and a quarter in Africa. The proportion of people who are hungry, however, is greater in Africa (33%) than Asia (16%).
According to FAO, addressing agriculture and population growth is vital to achieving food security. USAID proposes several key steps to increasing agricultural productivity which is in
turn key to increasing rural income and reducing food insecurity. They include:
⦁ Boosting agricultural science and technology. Current agricultural yields are insufficient to feed the growing populations. Eventually, the rising agricultural productivity drives economic growth.- almost all branches of science have to have their contribution towards these ends.
⦁ Securing property rights and access to finance.
⦁ Enhancing human capital through education and improved health.
⦁ Conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms and democracy and governance based on principles of accountability and transparency in public institutions and the rule of law are basic to reducing vulnerable members of society.

 
The UN Millennium Development Goals are one of the initiatives aimed at achieving food security in the world. In its list of goals, the first Millennium Development Goal states that the UN “is to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty”, and that “agricultural productivity is likely to play a key role in this if it is to be reached on time”.
“Of the eight Millennium Development Goals, eradicating extreme hunger and poverty depends on agriculture the most. (MDG 1 calls for halving hunger and poverty by 2015 in relation to 1990.)
Notably, the gathering of wild food plants appears to be an efficient alternative method of subsistence in tropical countries, which may play a role in poverty alleviation.
There are strong, direct relationships between agricultural productivity, hunger, and poverty. Three-quarters of the world‟s poor live in rural areas and make their living from agriculture. Hunger and child malnutrition are greater in these areas than in

 

urban areas. Moreover, the higher the proportion of the rural population that obtains its income solely from subsistence farming (without the benefit of pro-poor technologies and access to markets), the higher the incidence of malnutrition. Therefore, improvements in agricultural productivity aimed at small-scale farmers will benefit the rural poor first.
Increased agricultural productivity enables farmers to grow more food, which translates into better diets and, under market conditions that offer a level playing field, into higher farm incomes. With more money, farmers are more likely to diversify production and grow higher-value crops, benefiting not only themselves but the economy as a whole.
Introduction of genetically improved varieties of crop with high yielding capacity, resistance to adverse situations like drought, flooding, high or low temperature, insect-pest resistance etc. are imminent. Biotechnology comes into picture for such an effort to materialize. Introducing GM crops complying with the bio-safety and ethical rules is the call of the day. Scientists should come forward to develop our own hybrid varieties of crop that can withstand our soil and climatic conditions. Innovative technologies are essential to improve the age-old farming system. More environment friendly techniques are to be devised for increased food production. Conservation and multiplication of germplasm and phytosanitation are to be addressed with utmost priority.

 
Food security and environment: While agricultural output increased as a result of the Green Revolution, the energy input into the process (that is, the energy that must be expended to produce a crop) has also increased at a greater rate, so that the ratio of crops produced to energy input has decreased over time. Green Revolution techniques also heavily on chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, some of which must be developed from fossil fuel, making agriculture increasingly reliant on petroleum products. Between 1950 and 1984 as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, world grain production
increased by 250%. In Bangladesh too, the cereal production was raised to around 33 m tons from 11 m tons in 1975. The energy for the green Revolution was provided by fossil fuels in the form of fertilizer (natural gas), pesticides (oil), and hydrocarbon fueled irrigation. However, Bangladesh achieved food self-sufficiency in 2000-01 with only a tiny fraction of the USA‟s usage of oil, gas and electricity. The overdependence on fossil fuel, to many is a big reason for environmental degradation.
Variety replacement, land clearing, overexploitation of species, population pressure, environmental degradation, overgrazing, policy and changing agricultural systems to increase food production have become the cause for genetic erosion of crops and loss of biodiversity. The main factor, however, is the replacement of local varieties of domestic plants and animals by high yielding or exotic varieties or species. A large number of varieties can also often be dramatically reduced when commercial varieties (including GMOs) are introduced into traditional farming systems. Many researchers believe that the main problem related to agro- ecosystem management is the general tendency towards genetic and ecological uniformity imposed by the development of modern agriculture. In agriculture and animal husbandry, green revolution popularized the use of conventional hybridization to increase yield many folds by creating “high-yielding varieties”. Often the handful of breeds of plants and animals hybridized originated in developed countries and were further hybridized with local varieties, in the rest of the developing world, to create high yield strains resistant to local climate and diseases. Local governments and industry since have been pushing hybridized with such zeal that several of the wild and indigenous breeds evolved locally over thousands of years having high resistance to local extremes in climate and immunity to diseases etc. have already become extinct or are in grave danger of becoming so in the near future. Due to complete disuse because of un-profitability and uncontrolled intentional, compounded with unintentional crosspollination and crossbreeding (genetic pollution) formerly huge gene pools of various wild and indigenous breeds have collapsed causin