Speakers at a workshop held at Sech Bhaban in the capital on Tuesday emphasised the importance of integrating nutrition into the agricultural value chain to enhance food security and improve livelihoods.
The National Inception Workshop, organised by the Smallholder Agricultural Competitiveness Project-Diversified Resilient Agriculture for Improved Food and Nutrition Securities, focused on promoting climate resilience and diversifying agriculture, said a press release issued on Wednesday.
The workshop said that by incorporating nutritional considerations at each stage of the value chain鈥攆rom production and processing to distribution and consumption鈥攁gricultural policies and practices can play a crucial role in addressing malnutrition.
Presiding over the workshop, acting director general and director of the Field Wing of the Department of Agricultural Extension Md Tajul Islam Patwari said that within 50 years of independence, Bangladesh quadrupled its rice production and significantly increased vegetable and fruit yields.
The four-year project works in 20 districts and targets climate-vulnerable hotspot areas, including coastal regions, river erosion zones, and drought-prone districts, aiming to enhance the income and living standards of 6,70,000 smallholder farmers.聽
The Department of Agricultural Extension, the leading implementing agency of the project, has coordinated efforts with the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, and the Department of Agricultural Marketing to improve life and livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
Dia Sanou, deputy country representative, FAO Bangladesh, and Rudaba Khondker, country director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition were also present at the event.
Currently, International Fund for Agricultural Development has invested $519 million in six ongoing projects in Bangladesh being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Local Government Engineering Department, Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation, and the Bangladesh Water Development Board.
