Media urged to help ensure food security for ultra-poor

They called for a stronger collaboration between the media and development partners to improve the policy and programmes to address the chronic food insecurity of the poorest and the most vulnerable.

They also underscored the need for putting the issue higher on the public agenda.

The World Food Programme (WFP), which has been operating various programmes in the country to ensure food security for the ultra-poor, arranged the national media seminar in the city yesterday.

With 30 million hardcore poor, who does not have food security, Bangladesh ranked third in the world just after China and India, said the speakers.

They said advocacy reporting on the problems and their solutions in this sector could help the government and the developmentpartners to tackle food insecurity.

At the seminar, the WFP launched a media award for reporting on food security and hunger.

"We hope the award will encourage the media professionals to capture and echo the sufferings of the 30 million people in the country who cannot afford even two square meals," said WFP Representative Douglas Broderick.

The award will be announced on World Food Day in October every year. Investigative or analytical reports published in the print media or broadcast on electronic media during the period from August 1, 2005 to September 2006 can be submitted as entries for next year's awards.

Manzurul Ahsan Bulbul, executive editor of the daily Sangbad, Usha Mishra, senior advisor of WFP, and Emamul Haque of WFP, presented papers on the 'Media and Food Security'.

Prof Shakhawat Ali Khan of Dhaka University moderated the seminar while Sukanta Gupta Alok, news editor of the daily Bhorer Kagoj, also spoke.