Utilising arable land vital to ensure food security in Bangladesh: Foreign minister

There is no alternative to the maximum use of arable land to maintain self-sufficiency in food grain and food security in Bangladesh, which has the highest population density and lowest per capita land in the world, Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said today (21 March).

During a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the minister called on the World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director Domenico Scalpelli to take innovative measures to prevent the loss of cultivable land due to the demarcation of land ownership.

Foreign Minister Hasan also urged the WFP official to organise seminars and awareness programmes to encourage people to consume locally produced food and increase public awareness.

The WFP country representative assured that he would give utmost importance to the issues and also presented the future plans of his organisation's food programme at the school level and for the Rohingyas.

Foreign Minister Hasan praised the school feeding programme since 2011 and WFP's food aid programme for the Rohingyas.

In another meeting with the UN Women's Representative in Bangladesh Gitanjali Singh, the foreign minister highlighted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's strong commitment and her government's achievements in gender equality and women's empowerment.

He also highlighted the remarkable progress that Bangladesh has made in empowering women in the political and administrative spheres.

The minister praised UN Women for being a trusted partner in this development journey.

The UN Women Representative assured to increase UN Women's cooperation with Bangladesh and congratulated the government for implementing its firm commitment.

She also informed the foreign minister about preparations for celebrating the 30th anniversary of the "Beijing Declaration" and the silver jubilee of the historic Resolution 1325 in 2025.