US invests $35m for BD agri project
Friday, 23 June 2023
Representatives from the US Embassy, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) on Thursday launched the five-year, $35 million 'Feed the Future Bangladesh Climate Smart Agriculture Activity' to help farmers mitigate climate impacts and increase their production, reports UNB.
With US government funding via the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the IFDC will collaborate with the Ministry of Agriculture to teach smallholder farmers in southern districts of the country to adopt climate-smart cultivation techniques like using improved seeds and maximizing fertiliser usage.
The project will also bring together private sector firms, agri-input service providers, and public sector actors to build resilience throughout the sector using climate-smart technologies and practices.
Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Wahida Akter joined Dr. Muha-mmad Khan, USAID/ Bangladesh's Director of Economic Growth Programs, Henk van Duijn, President and CEO of IFDC, and Dr. Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), and unveiled the new project at the BARC auditorium.