Bangladesh has taken a landmark step towards ensuring safe, nutritious and sustainable food for its people. Work on formulating a National Food Environment Strategy (NFES) has been taken a step forward.

The initiative came at a national consultation organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 20 August, as part of implementing commitments made under Nutrition for Growth and the UN Food Systems Summit. WHO shared the information on its Facebook page on Monday, 24 August.

It said the high-level meeting in the capital brought together various government ministries, academia, UN and development partner agencies, civil society representatives and food systems experts.

Participants expressed deep concern about the country's rapidly changing food situation. Speakers said that while undernutrition persists, overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases are rising fast. Food safety concerns and the growing consumption of ultra-processed foods are also putting public health at risk.

The meeting discussed the availability and affordability of nutritious, healthy food; ensuring a safe food environment for pupils in schools; food safety and tackling the effects of climate change; and transforming the food system as a whole.

Experts from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Food, WHO (headquarters and the South-East Asia Regional Office), UNICEF, GAIN and SUN Academia shared global and national experience and put forward policy proposals for building healthy, affordable diets.

The day-long meeting reached unanimous agreement on the strategy's priorities, its governance structure and an effective implementation roadmap. Those involved hope this will smooth the way to better nutrition in Bangladesh, protection of children, stronger food safety and fewer diet-related diseases.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.