Food Sufficiency vs. Food Price in the Local Market

The primary objectives of the 11^th five year plan is to achieve food self-sufficiency especially cereal and dairy products. This is a great move the government is taking and placing forth the people of the young democratic Bhutan. Attainment of such noble goal will not only reduce our imports of producible from the neighboring countries but also is a signaling of the attainment of self-reliance.

Food self-sufficiency has its own drawbacks in our country. Local produces are sold at huge price. Take an example of local rice at vegetable market. A kilo of rice is costing not less than Nu. 100. A ball of cheese is priced at Nu. 25 to 30. Everything local has high price tag. Local produces are seemingly meant for the elite and able ones. The local produce is not meant for layman and those employed with minimal income. Are they not Bhutanese people?

The government is trying every possible ways and means to achieve food self-sufficiency in the country. From mechanization of the farming to setting up of the market, farmers are placed at the top. So much has done to improve the agricultural productivity in the local communities but less is being done to regulate the price in the market. The concerned authorities have a great concern of the rural prosperity but seemingly seemed to have less concern about the urban poor.

If such is the condition in the near future, the consumers of the locally produce can determine one’s class. The elites and the well-to-do middle class people will be able to enjoy so called organically produced and the less privileged has to live with the same imported so called inorganic produce from the neighboring states.

Will people with lesser income be able to pay Nu.25 for a bunch of sag? The bunch of so big that it is not able to feed the whole family a meal. Remember that we need to have three meals a day. Excluding the ingredients in the curry, for a day we need to spend Nu.75 a day and Nu.2250 a month (if a person consumes sag only).

We are fond of talking and advocating GNH. How can there be happiness at the national level if people are at the mercy of skipping their meals because of the soaring market price? Are local produces not meant for local people?

Economic Development Policy of 2010 point outs the need to have Brand Bhutan. Is Brand Bhutan merely about price? I think that is not true. Our politicians, beauracrates and policy-makers are paving road to World Trade Organization. The goods and services produced by the other countries are entering the market at reasonable price. Will our products which are sealed at high cost gain market momentum in the global market? Today we have vegetable markets mostly filled with imported vegetables from the neighboring states. Take an example of Thimphu Centennial Farmers’ Market. Buyers mostly folk to ground floor where the imported vegetables are sold at fairly reasonable price.

I am not an Agricultural Economist. I am not expert at the cost involved with the local produce. Cost of production may be high but the price tagged with the produce is much higher in the eye of the buyers. Even higher when people brand it as an organic.

Let us not play the game of electricity export with locally produced food items. Lets’ stop exporting the produce to the neighboring states and later import the same. This will not indicate we are sufficient in food production but fools. We export food items from our country at somewhat low price and then import the same at a higher price.

At present, Bhutan is too much dependent on energy. We boast of being exporter of the hydropower. A huge investment is being made on the development of the hydro projects. A huge number of Bhutanese people are driving and willing to drive autos. And a huge expenditure is being made to keep these autos on the road running by importing fuels and spare parts. Energy exported is thus made energy imported. Petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG are all routed from India. What is meaning with Bhutanese trade?