President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Alvaro Lario has highly praised Bangladesh’s remarkable achievements in food production, climate-smart agriculture, and including women and youth in rural enterprises.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Bangladesh Agriculture Minister Mohammad Abdur Razzaque at the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ meeting in Hyderabad, India, on June 17.
They discussed about the successes of the 45-year-long partnership between IFAD and the Government of Bangladesh includes crop diversification, business-oriented agriculture, youth capacity building, and private sector engagement, said the IFAD in Dhaka on Monday (June 19).
“Despite the fact that the multiple crises are staling global progress on eradicating poverty and hunger, we can still achieve our goals,” said Lario.
“We know what works: climate-smart technologies, improved resilience, and commercially viable nature-based solutions are proven ways to build equitable, sustainable and inclusive food systems. But to realize this potential, we must invest in small-scale producers and boost the role of rural women and youth in value chains,” he added.
Agriculture Minister Mohammad Abdur Razzaque said: “Continuous collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and development partners such as IFAD is vital to creating an inclusive and empowering ecosystem for our farmers to fortify resilience against climate change, foster sustainable food systems, and drive rural development with the ultimate goal of promoting rural prosperity.”
The delegation also discussed the three ongoing IFAD-financed projects implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
First, the National Agricultural Technology Programmes – Phase 2 (NATP-II) co-financed with the World Bank, strengthened the research abilities of the MoA and established extension offices at the union parishad level – both critical interventions in the transformation of the extension system in Bangladesh.
Second, The Smallholder Agricultural Competitiveness Project (SACP) enabled 250,000 coastal farmers to diversify crops, improve livelihoods, and build climate resilience.
The success of this model has opened up opportunities to extend the project’s reach to an additional 420,000 farmers through a USD 31 million project, including a 20 million grant from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.
Finally, the Programme on Agricultural and Rural Transformation for Nutrition, Entrepreneurship, and Resilience (PARTNER), co-financed with the World Bank is a USD 543 million sectoral transformation project promoting crop diversification, entrepreneurship, and climate resilience across Bangladesh.
