World Food Day 2025

Hand in Hand for a Better Food and a Better Future

Prof. Dr. Md. Kamrul Hasan

Webinar on Youth Collaboration for a Better Food Future in Bangladesh organizede by World Food Forum (WFF) Bangladesh Chapter Team

2025-10-16

Introduction

  • Do you know how many people are dying of hunger right now?
  • Between 7,700 and over 20,000 people die every day from hunger-related causes.
  • That is roughly 10 every minute (Oxfam, 2024).
  • Hunger-related death toll is higher than the combined figure of AIDS, malaria and typhoid.

Plenty-Share Paradox

  • The world produces enough food to feed everyone, yet millions still starve.
  • Global food output meets 2.5 times the caloric needs, but unfair distribution, conflict, and waste lead to ongoing hunger.

Bangladesh Reality

  • Bangladesh produces enough rice for its needs, but it struggles with malnutrition and food insecurity.
  • Approximately 17% of the population is food-insecure, particularly in coastal regions.
  • Among them around 10% are severely food insecure.
  • Climate stress and market inequalities make the situation worse.

Major Causes of Hunger

  • Inequitable distribution of food, unequal access to markets and resources (Benassai‑Dalmau et al., 2025).
  • Food loss and waste: 21 million tonnes lost annually in Bangladesh (CPD, 2024).
  • Global loss 1.3 billion tons than could feed 3 billion people. Globally food insecure people about 2.3 billion.
  • Climate and conflict impacts, extreme weather, price volatility, and displacement (Oxfam, 2024).

Rethinking Solutions

Food security = Production × Access × Equity × Sustainability.

Solutions:

  • Social safety nets and nutrition-sensitive agriculture.
  • Local food systems and short value chains.
  • Investment in post-harvest management and youth involvement.

Collaboration for Equity

  • National: fair markets, subsidies, inclusive land policies.
  • Local: link cooperatives, women’s groups, and markets.
  • Multi-sector: coordination of universities, NGOs, and government agencies for resilient systems.

Youth as Change Agents

  • Youth networks connects innovation and local needs.
  • Promote agri-digital tools, climate-smart practices, entrepreneurship.
  • Showcase local startups and youth-led agrifood initiatives.

Vision for a Resilient Future

“Food security will not come from producing more, but from sharing better.”

Action Steps:

  • National database of food insecure households.
  • Integrate equity in food policy.
  • Build partnerships among people, NGOs and GOs.
  • Empower youth and communities.
  • Strengthen living labs and science-policy interface

Conclusion

“If you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” — Mother Teresa

  • Collective humanity defines our food future.
  • Awareness and action for collective humanity.

Further Reading

Benassai‑Dalmau, R., Voukelatou, V., Schifanella, R., Fiandrino, S., Paolotti, D., & Kalimeri, K. (2025). Unequal journeys to food markets: Continental‑scale evidence from open data in Africa. arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.07913.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.07913

Centre for Policy Dialogue. (2024, February 12). Post-harvest losses eat up 21m tonnes of food a year: CPD. The Daily Star.
https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/post-harvest-losses-eat-21m-tonnes-food-year-cpd-3998016

Costlow, L., Herforth, A., Sulser, T. B., Cenacchi, N., & Masters, W. A. (2024). Global analysis reveals persistent shortfalls and regional differences in availability of foods needed for health. arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.01080.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.01080

Oxfam. (2024). Food wars: Conflict, hunger, and globalization 2023–2024.
https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/21000-people-are-dying-each-day-conflict-fuelled-hunger-around-world

Usman, M. A., & Callo‑Concha, D. (2021). Does market access improve dietary diversity and food security? Evidence from Southwestern Ethiopian smallholder coffee producers. Agricultural and Food Economics, 9(1), 1–19.
https://agrifoodecon.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40100-021-00190-8

World Bank. (2024, July). Bangladesh wastes 34% of food annually: World Bank study. The Business Standard.
https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/bangladesh-wastes-34-food-annually-experts-1249056

Resources