WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 6

Standard Project Report 2016
Country Context and WFP Objectives
Country Context
Bangladesh ranks 142 out of 188 countries on the 2015 Human Development Index and 90 among 118 developing
or transitioning countries on the 2016 Global Hunger Index. It has made tremendous progress in recent decades –
evidenced by its rise to lower middle-income country in 2015.
While the population has more than doubled from 75 million people in the early 1970s, to 160 million people this
year, rice production has risen to meet the challenge, so much so that at the aggregate level rice deficits do not
exist any longer. The improvement in food security has come about through progress in both availability of and
access to food. In addition, from 1997 to 2007, Bangladesh achieved one of the fastest sustained reductions in child
stunting in recorded history.
Though the prevalence of undernourishment has fallen by half in the past 25 years, there are still 26 million
undernourished people in Bangladesh. Both stunting and wasting rates amongst children 0-59 months remain
worryingly close to critical thresholds as defined by the World Health Organization. More than one-third of children
below five years in Bangladesh, 5.5 million children, suffer from stunted growth, which is known to affect physical
and cognitive development with widespread negative impacts on school completion, productivity as an adult and
lifetime earning potential. About 14 percent of children, totalling 2.2 million, are affected by wasting.
The 2014 Household Food Insecurity Access Scale reports that 40 million people – about a quarter of the
population – are food insecure. Of that group, 11 million suffer from acute hunger and many are at risk for food
insecurity caused by periodic shocks (particularly natural disasters). In general, there is concern over the diversity,
nutritious quality and food safety found in local diets.
Bangladesh, People's Republic of (BD)
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Country Programme - 200243