D-8 ministerial meeting on food security tomorrow
The seventh D-8 ministerial meeting on agriculture and food security will begin tomorrow.
Bangladesh is going to host the two-day meeting as the incumbent president of D-8 Forum. The meeting will be held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The main topic of discussion at this year's meeting is "Agriculture and Food Security: Development of Climate Smart Agriculture", Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said while addressing a press briefing today on the preparation of the meeting.
Besides, cooperation on various issues including agricultural production and increasing productivity, joint agricultural research, mechanisation, agro-processing, blue economy, fertiliser production, seeds, animal feed, value chain development, training and capacity building will be discussed in the meeting.
The high-level meeting will be attended by agriculture and food ministers and secretaries and other senior officials from the alliance's member states-- Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.
In addition, representatives of various international organisations including Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) will also participate.
Addressing the briefing at his ministry office in the secretariat, Razzaque said food security is essential for a country's political and economic stability.
He said at present, the biggest threat to agricultural production and food security is climate change and recently the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic has added with this. So, the whole world has been going through an extreme transition for the last two years, Razzaque said.
The minister said this pandemic has threatened the livelihood of the people as well as disrupted the global food production and supply system.
The food security systems have already collapsed in many countries, he said adding that amid such a situation, the 7th D-8 Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Food Security is going to be held on January 12-13 in Dhaka.
The Alliance of Developing Countries or D-7 was formed on June 15, 1997, to enhance economic cooperation among the member countries.
The agriculture sector of the D-8 countries provides an employment opportunity of 26 per of their population and contributes about 13.50 per cent to their respective GDP.
In addition, 60 per cents of the people in the alliance live in rural areas and are largely dependent on agriculture.
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