Policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders are gathering today in Dhaka, Bangladesh  to discuss the country’s food security in at the workshop “The Feed the Future Zone and the Rest of Bangladesh: A Comparison of Food Security Aspects.” The workshop is organized by IFPRI and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The workshop will focus on the results of the 2011-2012 Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey— a survey of 6,500 households in USAID’s Feed the Future (FTF) Zone of Influence in southern Bangladesh.  The survey was conducted as part of a USAID-funded project, implemented by IFPRI, to fill knowledge gaps on food security and agricultural development issues in the country.  

 “This is the most comprehensive, nationally representative survey ever done in Bangladesh,” said Akhter Ahmed, chief of party of IFPRI’s Policy Research and Strategy Support Program. “It creates a baseline for the FTF zone, allowing us to compare southern Bangladesh with other parts of the country. And it provides needed data for evidence-based policymaking, which will be quite useful for the country’s Ministry of Agriculture.” 

Workshop presentations will feature survey results for agricultural production, food consumption, child feeding practices, and other issues related to food security in the FTF Zone of Influence, and offer comparisons of this zone to the rest of the country. 

Notable speakers include Bangladesh’s Honorable Minister of Agriculture Matia Chowdhury, Honorable Minister of Food Dr. Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Honorable Minister of Women and Children Affairs Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, and His Excellency Dan Mozena, the Ambassador of the United States of America.  

For more information on IFPRI’s work in Bangladesh see Highlights of IFPRI’s research and partnerships in Bangladesh.