Plans to transform urban food security and nutrition over the next two decades was the focus of discussion on Monday at the first of four city-level seminars.
The seminar, which was organized jointly by Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), was held at Nagar Bhaban, said a press release issued on Monday.
Mr Md Selim Reza, CEO of DNCC, chaired the seminar. Brigadier General Zobaidur Rahman, Chief Health Officer of DNCC, also attended the event.
Dhaka, which comprises four cities clustered together – Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Narayanganj, and Gazipur – is on course to become the third-largest megacity in the world.
Rapid growth has left a mismatch between food needs and what is accessible to certain populations. One-fifth of Dhaka's population lives below the poverty line, they often struggle to find and afford healthy and safe food.
FAO’s Dhaka Food System (DFS) project, which is funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is working to increase access to affordable, high-quality food for all of the city’s inhabitants.
The project, with technical assistance from Wageningen University of Research (WUR) in the Netherlands, is supporting the Government of Bangladesh to develop the Dhaka Food Agenda 2041 which will guide the country’s policymakers to incorporate urban food system planning into national policies. It will complement planned actions resulting from last year’s United Nations Food Systems Summit.
John Taylor, chief technical adviser of FAO’s Dhaka Food System project said a range of pressures and trends including rapid population growth, urbanization, growing wealth and consequent changes in consumption patterns, are challenging our food systems’ ability to provide nutritious food and to contribute to enhanced livelihood opportunities in an environmentally sustainable way. A systems-based approach best addresses the range and complexities of these challenges.
“Our goal is to make the food system of the metropolitan area of Dhaka more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable by supporting the Government of Bangladesh to develop the Dhaka Food Agenda 2041. It will guide the Government and other organizations, as well as the private sector, who can all contribute to, and benefit from, a more equitable, accessible, and resilient food system. We also believe that not only can Dhaka be served in this way, but many cities across the country can and should be developing similar strategies,” he added.
A national seminar – National Food System Priorities and Preparation of the Dhaka Food Agenda 2041 – was held in April as the first step to formulate the Dhaka Food Agenda 2041.
During that seminar, it was agreed that four city-level seminars were needed in order to fully engage a diverse and representative set of stakeholders. The next three seminars will take place this month in Dhaka South, Gazipur, and Narayanganj.