Like most developing countries, Bangladesh too has been
affected by the spiralling of food prices 2004 onwards. The
all-time high price of food grains, especially that of rice, the
staple food of a majority of the population in the country, has
put enormous pressure on the purchasing power of the poor
who spend a substantial part of their income on food. An erosion
of their purchasing power has taken place as there has been no
compensating rise in the wage or other income of the people in
general. The stake for the common people is high as this erosion
has exposed them to a greater risk of hunger and malnutrition.
Indeed, this is threatening to undermine the gains in poverty reduction
that Bangladesh has achieved from the mid-1990s to 2007.
In fact, this may even reverse the trend of poverty reduction unless
effective and coherent actions to assist the vulnerable population
to cope with the drastic hikes in their food bills are implemented
by the government on an urgent footing (Shahbuddin 2008).