Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Agriculture Matia Chowdhury said on Saturday that climate shocks have the potential to affect the food system, increase inequality and jeopardise people's access to food.
Matia said this while speaking as chief guest at a regional dialogue held by The South Asian Policy Leadership for Improved Nutrition and Growth (SAPLING) at Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon in the capital recently.
Speaking as chief guest at the event, Matia added that the Bangladesh government has ensured substantial progress in ensuring food security for the population.
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“Bangladesh is prone to frequent climate shocks that can potentially harm food secuirty. That’s why I believe this dialogue by SAPLING is a great opportunity for cross-learning, knowledge-sharing and for the development of common standards among the member countries for a productive future in food security,” said Matia.
The dialogue highlighted the need for technological collaboration and transfers, strengthening knowledge dissemination and exchanges, building capacities, demonstrating solutions, creating financing opportunities and mainstreaming gender across South Asian food systems.
The dialogue saw participation from government delegations, multilateral organisations, private sector entities, research institutions and civil society organisations from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
The dialogue focused on three thematic areas--climate-smart food systems, post-harvest losses, and food safety standards.
Read: Climate Change: UN, Bangladesh to strengthen cooperation
The event was jointly organised by BRAC, the current SAPLING Secretariat, in collaboration with IPE Global Limited, an India based international development consulting firm and SAPLING’s knowledge partner.
Shamsul Alam, State Minister for the Ministry of Planning, Siddharth Chaturvedi, Senior Programme Officer of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Amadou Ba, Senior Agriculture Economist at The World Bank’s (WB) Dhaka office, among others, spoke at the event.