In Bangladesh, most organic food producers are not certified, so there is no way to tell the real deal and foods labelled as organic can at best be described as “relatively safe”.
Nazim Ahmed, a teacher at a non-government school in Dhaka, has been consuming “organic” food for the past five years.
He believes that this healthy eating habit has brought great benefits to him and his family.
He used to suffer from allergies but these have lessened in recent years and his father, now in his 70s, used to have gastrointestinal problems but these have also improved significantly.
He also hopes that the diet will lower the risk of obesity for children whose time for exercise is limited by educational pressures.
“In short, organic food is a blessing for me and my entire family,” Najim said in a recent conversation with The Business Standard.
For those unfamiliar with the concept of organic food, organic foods are foods that are grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or genetically modified organisms.
This approach aims to reduce air, soil and water pollution and optimize the health and productivity of interconnected plant, animal and human communities.
“Producing organic food in Bangladesh is not feasible for several reasons, but the main challenge is the limited availability of land compared to the high population density. Even if organic farming is attempted on one piece of land, synthetic fertilisers may be used in neighbouring areas and may be carried into the organic fields by floods or storm water runoff.”
Dr Muhammad Abdul Alim, Professor of Food Technology and Rural Industry, Bangladesh Agricultural University
Demand for such foods is on the rise in urban Bangladesh, and those who prefer them seem to share some common characteristics.
“Organic food consumers in Bangladesh are primarily middle- to upper-class, well-educated and health-conscious individuals who prioritise the safety and health benefits of organic products,” said Dr Mohammad Parvez Sultan, professor, department head and program director at Melbourne Institute of Technology Business School.
To cater to this niche consumer segment, a growing number of channels are claiming to sell organic food, including retail stores, farmers' markets, specific sections of supermarkets, and e-commerce and social commerce platforms.
These products often come with a price tag three to four times higher than non-organic products.
But the question of how much of the food labelled “organic” in Bangladesh is really organic is often left unasked.
As we investigated the issue further, it became clear that most organic food producers in Bangladesh are not certified, so there is no way to tell the real thing from the real thing.
It is also impossible to produce “proper” organic food domestically, and food that is called organic can at best be described as “relatively safe.”
The National Organic Agriculture Policy 2016 outlines the strategic directions and priorities for organic agriculture in Bangladesh.
However, according to Dr Sheikh Tanveer Hossain, director of policy and strategy at IFOAM – Organics Asia, the policy is yet to be properly implemented in the country.
So despite the need for third-party certification to ensure farms and companies comply with national organic standards and use the term “organic” on their labels, the practice is by no means common in Bangladesh.
“Most of the time, people in the country buy organic food without being sure about its authenticity,” Dr Hossain said.
When it comes to organic foods, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic label is considered the most trustworthy, indicating that the food or agricultural product was produced in accordance with USDA organic standards.
So far, only two Bangladeshi companies have organically certified selected products – Organic Nutrition Limited and Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate Ltd.
Arun Kumar Mandal, executive director (scientific affairs and nutrition) at Organic Nutrition Limited, said organic food certification typically involves a rigorous process that takes up to three years to complete.
During the three-year organic certification process, farms and businesses go through a transition period during which they gradually adopt organic farming practices, such as eliminating synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, implementing crop rotations and improving soil health.
During this period, they must demonstrate their commitment to organic standards through inspection, documentation and audits by a certification body.
Once the transition period is over and all requirements have been met, the farm or business can receive official organic certification, ensuring the integrity of their organic food production and providing consumers with confidence in organic products.
We also contacted other online businesses that sell so-called organic food and have large followings on Facebook, such as Khaas Food, Green Organic Food and Halal Organic Shop, to inquire about the authenticity of their food. None of the companies responded to our inquiries.
Dr Mohammed Abdul Alim, professor of food technology and rural industry at Bangladesh Agricultural University, believes that producing organic food in Bangladesh is not feasible for several reasons. The main challenge is the limited availability of land compared to the high population density.
Even if one piece of land attempts organic farming, synthetic fertilizers may be used in neighboring areas and could be carried into the organic fields by floods or storm runoff.
Land previously treated with synthetic materials also requires a transition period of several years before it can be certified organic, which is not possible for most landowners and farmers in our country.
“So I think it's a kind of deception on consumers when companies try to sell food at very high prices claiming it's organic,” Dr Alim said.
Farida Akhter, executive director of UBINIG, which runs Shasha Prabhartana and sells over 100 food items, including locally grown rice, flour, wheat, lentils, edible oil, beans, peas, dairy products, pickles, honey, nuts, sugar, molasses, spices, meat, poultry and fish, said “organic farming” is a broad term. She would rather call it “biodiversity-based agriculture.”
According to her, organic farming in Bangladesh certainly poses many challenges, but some key considerations need to be kept in mind, such as prioritizing farmers' needs, using indigenous seeds, following good seasonal practices, and ensuring food does not contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
She also applauded the recent efforts to promote organic food and believes that even if the food is not 100% organic, it is at least helping to spread awareness and develop healthy eating habits among people.
But she opposes government-led standardisation of organic farming and expresses distrust for the country's bureaucracy, which she fears could pave the way for the corporatisation of organic farming.
Deloir Jahan, a pioneer of Prakritik Krishi, also prefers the term “natural farming” over “organic farming.” For the past two decades, he and his colleagues have been trying to implement ancient farming techniques that rely on centuries-old knowledge and achieve high yields without the use of toxic chemicals.
But apparently there is little difference in the terminology used.
Dr Nazim Uddin, senior scientist at the Horticulture Research Centre under the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), claimed that due to the unfavourable perception surrounding organic farming, both the government and private companies in the country have launched various programmes under different names which ultimately promote organic farming.
According to Nazim, who is also coordinator of the Bangladesh Organic Farming Network, there are currently about 7,500 farmers practicing organic farming in the country.
“In addition, a number of biomaterials manufacturing entrepreneurs have also emerged in the country. For example, the country now has around 5,000 vermicompost producers and 300 producers of nutritious, microbial-rich organic fertilisers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Md Iqbal Hossain, senior nutritionist at Chittagong Diabetes General Hospital, stressed that though many companies are now incorporating the word “organic” in their marketing strategies, it is not mandatory to consume organic foods all the time as it may have a negative impact on the immune system.
“Each human body works on its own mechanism and most people can tolerate a certain level of contaminants. In fact, exposure to minimally impure food may even strengthen the immune system,” he said.
Hossain further explained that people who are fed only 100 percent pure food from an early age may not develop a strong immune system, which may have serious repercussions on their health if they are exposed to any form of dietary deviation later in life.
He finally said that food fraud is a serious problem in Bangladesh and firm action should be taken against all those involved in it.
