Underlining that ensuring nutrition of apparel workers can increase productivity by around 20 per cent, findings from three studies related to assessment of market systems around RMG factories, mapping exercise for coordinated and collective actions on workforce nutrition and the value proposition for establishing fair price shop, has revealed that improving the nutrition of the garment workers can be one of the key competitive factors for sustainability of the apparel sector.
The findings were made public at a virtual workshop titled ‘Coordinated Strategy and Collaborative Action Plan for Workforce Nutrition’, held in capital Dhaka recently.
One of the key findings, which was revealed in the workshop, is that a formal meal plan including wages which provide means of buying nutritious and safe food, clean dining room and storing home-made food safely can significantly increase workers’ productivity, reduce absenteeism and improve morale.
Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network (SBN) Bangladesh organised the webinar, which was chaired by Goutom Kumar (Director General, Department of Labour) and attended by Md. Humayun Kabir (Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment), Rudaba Khondker, (Country Director, GAIN Bangladesh), Dr. SM Mustafizur Rahman (Line Director, NNS, Institute of Public Health and Nutrition) and Dr. Al Amin Sarker (Joint Secretary, Ministry of Industries), amongst others.
Additional Secretary, Health Services Division, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Kazi Zebunnessa Begum, attended the event as the chief guest.
