The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Secretariat on Sunday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Dhaka to enhance collaboration and partnerships to work towards a sustainable and inclusive transformation of food systems in this region.
The IFPRI, with the support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the BIMSTEC Secretariat, is conducting research and facilitating capacity sharing in this region to help realize BIMSTEC's full potential in the agri-food domain.
According to the organizers, the MoU will facilitate further collaboration and partnerships to work towards a sustainable and inclusive transformation of food systems in the region. The initial engagements under the MoU will focus on three major areas- food security and poverty, trade and investment, and climate change and environment.
The regional integration is advancing at a fast pace; over 240 regional and preferential trading arrangements exist in the world. BIMSTEC, which fosters cooperation between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is home to around 1.8 billion people representing nearly a fifth of the world's population with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$3.6 trillion, serves as a bridge between South and Southeast Asia.
"IFPRI is delighted to engage in this partnership and work with the BIMSTEC Secretariat as well as member countries' research institutions on capacity sharing initiatives along with outreach and policy communications through cross-country learning and idea exchange," said Dr. Johan Swinnen, Director General, IFPRI and Managing Director, Systems Transformation, CGIAR, in the programme organized at a city hotel in Dhaka.
He said that agriculture remains the largest source of employment across the BIMSTEC countries, but poverty rates among farmers and farm laborers remain high. Moreover, the region is highly susceptible to adverse impacts of climate change due to this reliance on agriculture, but also its large coastal areas and densely populated coastlines.
