IRIN
BANGLADESH: Cyclone victims face sharply rising food prices
13 December 2007


CHUNAKHALI, 13 December 2007 (IRIN) - Almost a month after Cyclone Sidr 
slammed into Bangladesh's coastal belt, killing over 3,000 and leaving 
millions more homeless, food prices have surged by as much as 50 percent 
in the cyclone affected area - price hikes well beyond the means of most 
cyclone survivors.

"I have never seen food increases like this," Alomgir Hossain, a local 
rice broker who has worked in the local market in cyclone-affected 
Barguna District for the past two years, told IRIN. "Food prices have 
doubled," the 35-year-old said.

Prior to the cyclone, one kilo of rice, sold for around 15 US cents. 
Today it sells for 22 US cents. Other basic staples - grains, pulses, 
vegetables and fruit - are going up sharply, as is poultry.

"Of course food prices are rising. How couldn't they?" Lalmiah Bepari, 
complained bitterly, having lost his own paddy field on 15 November when 
the storm struck.

He said business was bad: "I used to sell around 30 chickens a day. Now 
I barely sell four or five," the 55-year old claimed, citing rising food 
prices, a drop in supply and lower disposable incomes among local 
residents, many of whom are trying to rebuild their cyclone-devastated 
homes.

"Before the cyclone, I was selling about 300-400 kg a day of radishes. 
Now I'm doing about half of that," Badal Miah, 24, said.

Even bananas, which account for nearly 45 percent of the country's total 
fruit production, have tripled in price jumping from six US cents a 
piece before the cyclone to around 12 cents now.

"Sales are down because people have less cash in hand and prices have 
gone up," 22-year old banana vendor Nasir Uddin, concurred.

Crops, livestock farming hit

According to the UN, over 1.6 million hectares of cropland was damaged 
by Sidr - particularly devastating for this year's `Aman' crop, the most 
important rice harvest of the year in this largely agricultural society 
of more than 150 million inhabitants.

Unlike many other regions in Bangladesh, the area has a single 
November-January harvest, making the timing of the cyclone particularly 
harmful. Many crops were just about to be harvested.

The UN's Rapid Initial Assessment Report, focusing on the nine worst 
affected districts, noted that a quarter of ready-to-harvest crops had 
been destroyed; with many households also losing their food stocks as a 
result of severe damage to housing.

Large numbers of cattle, buffalo, goats and poultry had been killed, the 
22 November report said, and the government estimated that nearly 
400,000 livestock animals had been killed - mostly cattle.

"Food prices were already high prior to the storm due to high 
international food prices and earlier flood-related losses," Douglas 
Broderick, country representative for the World Food Programme (WFP) in 
Dhaka told IRIN, referring to two rounds of heavy monsoon flooding 
earlier this year.

"Prices are expected to stay high for the near to medium term," he 
predicted, describing food markets in the affected areas as "generally 
functional".

WFP food aid

To date WFP has delivered more than 350 metric tonnes (mt) of high 
energy biscuits and over 750 mt of rice to more than 1.2 million people 
in the worst-hit areas, overland and by boat, as well as by air.

It plans to provide over 71,000 mt of food to 2.2 million people at a 
cost of $52 million over the next six months. To help cyclone victims 
regain their livelihoods, WFP will support the rebuilding of roads, 
schools and other infrastructure through food-for-work and cash-for-work 
schemes.

Speaking to IRIN on 13 December, Usha Misra, an advocacy adviser for 
WFP, said a market assessment on Sidr's impact on food prices in the 
cyclone-affected areas was now under way, with preliminary results 
expected in the coming days.


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