The MoU signing ceremony was held at the conference room of BAU vice-chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Muhammed Mosharraf Hossain Mia on Thursday.

The aim of the partnership is to enhance and improve interaction between the two parties on various activities including dissemination of knowledge and technology and support in cultivation of vegetables, crops, poultry and fisheries. It outlines terms and conditions of future collaboration between BAU and CWB and assignment of roles and responsibilities.

On the occasion, BAU VC said we need food to feed a huge population and BAU is working for decades together towards the goal by developing technologies for modern agricultural activities. It is a gigantic task to feed tens of millions of people, but we are working to overcome the great challenge, he said.

Terming the activities of CWB very positive, the VC said the organisation is concerned to improve the lifestyle of poor people. Research works are also going on in BAU to change the fate of poor and marginal people, he added.

In his address, Concern Worldwide Country Director Kieron Crawley said poor people living in vast areas of haors face untold sufferings due to abject poverty. CWB is working under the Haor Initiatives for Sustainable Alternative Livelihood (HISAL) Project to alleviate poverty in the haor areas. The project will continue till 2011, he said.

CWB is working to mitigate sufferings of 21,688 landless people in 29 unions of Nikli, Mithamoin and Astagram upazilas of Kishoreganj, Salla upazila of Sunamganj and Ajmiriganj upazila of Habiganj, he said.

We need good relationship with BAU to make the project very fruitful, he added.

Among others, Concern officials Idris Ali Khan, Farque Ahmed, Ganesh Chandra Bhowmik, Mostafa Kamal, Nikar Chandra Halder, Hasibur Rahman, BAU Registrar Md Nazibur Rahman and teachers Prof Dr Altaf Hossain, Dr Sultan Uddin Bhuiyan addressed.