Senior officials from the ministries and government agencies working in the food and agriculture, at a workshop reaffirms their commitments and alliances to transforming food systems, made in the National Pathway Document for the UN Food System Summit 2021.
Speakers in the workshop stressed on the growing importance of collaborative partnerships and collective actions will be the true test of success.
They further stressed to encourage and support successful agri-food entrepreneurs, with innovative business ideas and food production plans - as essential for sustainable initiative to transform agri-food system in Bangladesh.
The workshop on ‘UN Food System Summit 2021’ was organised by the Ministry of Food under its Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPMU) at the BIAM Foundation Auditorium in Dhaka, in collaboration with the UN agencies in Bangladesh including Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Global Alliances for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
Around 100 participants representing ministries and government agencies and development partners attended the workshop.
Dr. Ahmed Kaikaus, Principal Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office graced the workshop as the Chief Guest while Mr. Md. Ruhul Amin Talukder, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Dr. Mohammad Yamin Chowdhury, Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock attended the program as special guests and spoke on the occasion. Honorable Secretary, Ministry of Food, Dr.MosammatNazmanara Khanum, Secretary, Ministry of Food chaired the program.
The Chief Guest, Principal Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office in his speech said, “The goal of pathwayis to improve nutritional impact across the country. In this relation, rice-centric agriculture and food system could be a sustainable source of livelihood and nutrition of us.
Also, in recent years, rice production has been the focus of our national food and agriculture policies. However, despite the pressure of overpopulation, from the production point of view, we are almost there to meet the demand. Bangladesh has done wonder in increasing its rice production.”
Terming food loss and waste, especially in urban areas as a serious concern, Dr. Kaikaus further stressed on the importance of taking necessary strategies to reduce the food waste.
Following the Secretary of Food, Ministry of Food, Dr.MosammatNazmanara Khanum in her speech said, “In Bangladesh, an estimated 65kg of food is wasted per capita. However, people in Bangladesh are wasting about 5.5% of the total procured food. Of the total wastage, 3% is being made during procurement and preparation stages, 1.4% during serving, and another 1.1% from the plates (BIDS, 2016)”
FAO Bangladesh is proud to have convened several affiliated events, partnerships, and assistances featuring three national and six sub-national dialogues including 23 independent dialogues, for UN Food System Summit with our partners to join global efforts with rethinking how we all value food.
