Envisioned at the 15th SAARC Summit held in Sri Lanka, the SAARC food bank has been established in each member nations.
With the collective contributions, a total of 243,000 tons of produce has been brought in operation with each member nation of the eight-country block, contributing the food (rice or wheat) as per their capacity.
“The existing volume of food storage in the SAARC food bank is insufficient given the huge population and possibilities of different kinds of natural calamities in the region. So a joint secretary-level meeting of member countries in Colombo last week has decided to recommend to governments to double the food stock,” Ganesh Dhakal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies told myrepublica.com.
The SAARC region, making up almost one third of the world, has been affected by natural disasters such as floods, storms, landslides, earthquakes and drought.
India, the food bank’s largest contributor has set aside 153,200 tons. Likewise, Pakistan and Bangladesh have each contributed 40,000 tons to the stock. Nepal and Sri Lanka have set aside 4,000 tons each, and Afghanistan, the Maldives and Bhutan have contributed 1,420, 200, and 180 tons, respectively.
Dhakal said any member nation can contact nodal officers of supplier countries for food supplies at times of emergency. “Concerned nodal officers must respond to the request within 24 hours, and arrangement of foods should be made at the earliest,” added Dhakal, who also attended the joint secretary level meeting in Colombo.
Nepal has set up food storages in Birtamod, Biratnagar, Birgunj, Dhangadhi and Kathmandu.
“We have procured rice worth Rs 100 million this year for the storage,” said Dhakal.
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