By Xinhua,
Dhaka : Bangladesh’s undernourished population has increased by 7.3 million, largely because of the damage to country’s main paddy crop in natural disasters and the consequent food price spiral, The Daily Star reported Monday.
A report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said that the number of the country’s undernourished population has increased from 39.6 million to 46.9 million.
The report said as a result of rising food prices and inflation, more than half of the country’s 145 million population is now food insecure and nearly one-third is understood to be severely food insecure.
The special report was prepared by FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh was severely affected by two floods and a devastating cyclone in the second half of 2007, causing a paddy production shortfall of 1.2 million tonnes.