War aggravates global food price situation

Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has aggravated the high food price situation across the globe, according to Megan Francic, the agricultural attaché of the US embassy in Dhaka.

While briefing reporters at the American Center in Dhaka yesterday, Francic said the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) stands ready to help Bangladesh in every way possible, including developing its farm sector, increasing agricultural productivity and climate-smart farming.

She shared the concern that like many other places in today's world, Bangladesh is also experiencing high commodity prices and emphasised on US-Bangladesh cooperation in developing the country's agriculture sector.

The USDA is currently implementing $50 million worth of capacity development programmes in Bangladesh, Francic said, adding that the US is always interested in investing in climate smart agriculture, research and innovation.

FAS has a global network of 100 offices, including one in Dhaka, covering more than 170 countries. These offices are staffed by agricultural attachés and locally hired agricultural experts who help facilitate farm sector cooperation and promote trade between the US and the host country.

Recalling the high food price incidences during the global economic meltdown in 2008, Francic said there were incidents where food prices were artificially jacked up.

With this backdrop, she emphasised on keeping a constant tab on the market situation, commodity trade, and global market analysis so that no one could take advantage of any crisis situation.

Referring to last month's meeting between Bangladesh's Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque and the US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in Dubai, the agricultural attaché said the two leaders attached utmost importance on developing climate-smart agriculture.

Francic gave a brief review of US assistance for Bangladesh's farm sector and its contribution to the school feeding programme.

She also appreciated Bangladesh's pursuit of agricultural biotechnology, saying that the FAS stands ready to provide policy support so that biotech regulators in Bangladesh can better appreciate the importance of farm products derived from such applications.

Karla R Thomas, information officer of the US embassy, and other officials and agricultural experts of the FAS Dhaka office were present at the press briefing.