Bangladesh looks beyond the food crisis

Almost half of the population lives below the poverty line and spends almost half of its income on food. Rising food prices are a crucial issue for finance minister Mirza Azizul Islam, who is also seeking ways to bring the country into the club of Asian growth economies. Chris Wright reports.

ARMY CHIEFS ARE rarely to be found touting the virtues of potato recipes. But these are remarkable times. So it was that Bangladesh’s general Moeen U Ahmed – who under the military-backed interim government commands much of the real power in this country of 158 million people – addressed a press conference at the Dhaka Radisson hotel in May urging people to eat more spuds.