The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, QU Dongyu, has thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for hosting a successful #APRC36.
During a one-hour discussion at the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday, the Director-General complimented Sheikh Hasina on her leadership and the country’s great strides in achieving food security.
He also congratulated the government and people of Bangladesh on efforts towards digital agrifood systems transformation.
The 36th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific closed on Friday. It was hosted by the Government of Bangladesh for the first time.
During his five-day stay in Bangladesh, the Director-General went on a field trip to Gazipur where he visited a thriving commercial fish pond, a bio-secure model poultry farm, and two of the country’s leading centres for agricultural research and innovation. Minister for Agriculture Mohammad Abdur Razzaque MP and other senior government officials accompanied the Director-General. FAO’s Assistant Director-General for Asia and the Pacific, Jong-Jin Kim, Chief Economist Maximo Torero, and FAO Representative in Bangladesh Robert D. Simpson, joined the delegation.
The first stop was a fish farm. FAO has been supporting the Department of Fisheries, Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, and the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, for many years by providing technical assistance for the development of modern aquaculture, fisheries management, and climate resilient technologies.
The Director-General recommended to Muhammad Faisal Sikder, 38, the owner of the fish farm, to open a restaurant so that local people could taste fresh carp. Muhammad was previously a poultry farmer, but moved into fish farming because it was more lucrative. He now earns around USD 47 000 in profit each year and he encourages more young entrepreneurs to become fish farmers.
“I feel that I have come home,” the Director-General said. “I was so delighted to see a traditional village.” He then said that he wanted to include the village as part of FAO’s 1000 Digital Villages Initiative. FAO has worked with Bangladesh to identify more than 50 digital villages.
The next stop was a ‘model’ poultry farm, one of many in the country that are helping to reduce the spread of avian influenza, which continues to be a constant threat to all poultry farms in Asia. Avian influenza can devastate the livelihoods of smallholders as an outbreak requires the culling of their entire flock.
The Director-General also visited a community-based initiative that trains farmers and veterinarians to reduce the use of antimicrobials. Overuse is contributing to a reduction in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Both the bio-security and antimicrobial projects are supported by FAO’s Emergency Centre for Trans-boundary Animal Disease (ECTAD).
