July 3, 2025, 11:39 pm

Rice Price Surge Deepens Food Security and Inflation Crisis in Bangladesh

 Sarakhon Report
  • Update Time : Thursday, July 3, 2025

Three civil-society groups—the Bangladesh Food Security Network (KHANI), Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Chattogram, and ISDE Bangladesh—have sounded the alarm over an abnormal spike in rice prices that is fuelling overall inflation. On 23 July 2025 they formed a human chain outside Chattogram Press Club under the slogan “Restore Relief to the Rice Plate,” urging swift government intervention.

Who Joined the Protest

Participants included CAB Central Vice-President & ISDE Executive Director S M Nazer, former CUJ president M Nasirul Hoque, former ADAB president Jesmin Sultana Paru, Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation general secretary Adv. Zia Habib Ahsan, BNP Women Front city vice-president Farhana Akhter, and representatives from farmers’, exporters’, and youth groups—signalling broad-based concern.

Rice Drives Almost 40 % of Food Inflation

Updated Planning Commission figures for June 2025 show that rice alone accounted for nearly 40 percent of May’s food-price inflation. Despite a healthy Boro harvest, consumers have not felt relief. Analysts blame higher milling costs, volatile paddy prices, illegal hoarding, and weak market oversight. Farmers still receive low farm-gate prices while retail rice remains expensive.

Shrinking Diets, Rising Malnutrition

KHANI General Secretary Nurul Alam Masud warned that low- and middle-income families are dropping nutrient-rich foods—fish, meat, lentils, vegetables—and surviving mainly on rice. The result is worsening malnutrition, psychological stress, and heightened health risks for children and the elderly.

Hard Numbers on Food Insecurity

According to the UN Food & Agriculture Organization, roughly one in five Bangladeshis faces food insecurity, and three out of ten cannot guarantee enough daily meals. World Food Programme data from late 2024 put the minimum monthly cost of a basic nutritious diet at BDT 3,051—already 69.5 percent above the national food-poverty line, while wages have stagnated.

Protesters’ Five Key Demands

  1. Buy Directly from Farmers: Expand government rice procurement at fair prices.
  2. Launch Rationing: Provide subsidised rice to poor and vulnerable households.
  3. Protect Small Farmers: Improve market access, price setting, and purchasing power at the farm level.
  4. Boost Safety-Net Sales: Widen TCB truck sales and OMS outlets for targeted support.
  5. Clamp Down on Syndicates: Enforce strict, transparent monitoring to curb hoarding and stabilise prices.

What’s at Stake

Without decisive action, speakers warned, the rice market will continue to erode household purchasing power, deepen malnutrition, and aggravate social unrest. They called on policymakers to treat the price surge as a national emergency and implement the proposed measures immediately.

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