USAID team visits southern region

The visiting USAID delegation continued their tour of US government-funded food security projects in the southern region of the country yesterday.
The delegation included the US Assistant to the Administrator in the Bureau for Food Security Paul Weisenfeld and Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Asia Bureau of USAID Denise Rollins, said a release.
The delegation visited a nutrition project in addition to rice, horticulture and aquaculture projects, funded under President Obama's global "Feed the Future" initiative.
They visited the Strengthening Partnerships, Results and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING) programme in Shreerampur, Khulna, and met with beneficiaries and observed a counselling session on appropriate feeding of children aged six months to two years.
The next stop was a rice seed production and delivery systems programme in Rupdiah, Jessore. The project works with farmers to promote high yielding and stress tolerant rice varieties in 20 southern districts.
The goal is to intensify rice production while adapting to the potential adverse effects of climate change, including flooding, drought and increased salinity levels.
The delegation met with farmers and seed growers, visiting pilot plots of improved rice varieties.
Visiting USAID's aquaculture project in Pakdia, Jessore, the delegation met with fishermen using modern fish farming techniques to raise Tilapia.
The delegation then visited a horticulture project in Churamon Khati, Jessore touring commercial vegetable gardens that produce bottle gourd, sweet potato and eggplant among other crops.
The US aims to help improve the income and nutritional status of 500,000 people in southern Bangladesh through this project.
With projected funding of up to US$250 million over five years (pending future US Congressional appropriations), the United States aims to help reduce both overall poverty and child stunting by approximately 20 percent each in the 20 southern districts targeted under the Feed the Future programme.