Stakeholders from Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL), Departments of Livestock Services (DLS), and Fisheries (DoF) as well as the Directorate General of Health Services participated in the 3rd and final Project Steering Committee (PSC) of USAID-funded FAO project ‘Integrated Agriculture Interventions for Improved Food and Nutrition Security in Selected District of Southern Bangladesh’, in the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL) on Monday, 28 September, 2015.

Mike Robson, FAO Representative in Bangladesh, Shelina Afroza, Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Lalita Bhattacharjee, Senior Nutritionist, FAO, Md Quamrul Islam, Director, Institute of Public Health and Nutrition (IPHN), Md Siddiqur Rahman, DG, IMED, and Ajay Kumar Roy, DG, DLS were also present at the meeting.

In opening her remarks, Dr Shelina Afroza, Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, and chair of the session praised FAO’s continuing financial and technical support – and commended the smooth collaboration with the partnering agencies and continuing efforts to securing food and nutrition security in the Southern region of Bangladesh. She said that the respective project has been a unique example in the food and nutrition area as all the essential components were integrated together, addressing the malnutrition problem of the most vulnerable individuals, particularly in coastal belt.

Keynote presentations on the project were given by Ms Begum Dilruba Yasmin, Project Director, and Joint Chief, MoFL; and Mirza Altaf Hossain, National Project Coordinator.  The project has covered a number of homestead-based food production activities (vegetables, fruit, poultry, fish, etc), as well as some groundbreaking training on nutritional practices, with cooking demonstrations.  Production and income has increased, as has the diversity of food consumed by the beneficiaries.  The project operated through Women’s Groups, and used a cascaded approach to training which was found to be very effective.

In closing, Mike Robson, FAOR thanked the Ministry for their sincere efforts in implementing the project.  He also commented that although objectives were originally defined in terms of improved nutrition from consumption of nutrient-dense foods, the resulting increased production has also led to increased income, and recent project reviews have collected very positive feedback from the beneficiaries.

Closing the meeting Secretary, MoFL thanked FAOR and commended the enthusiasm and lively participation from those attending throughout the session.

With a budget of US$ 3,600,000 over around 36 months, this project has been implemented in 10 unions of 5 Upazilas across Khulna and Barisal district.