The unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine has aggravated the food price situation worldwide, US Embassy Agricultural Attaché in Dhaka Megan M Francic said on Wednesday.
Briefing newsmen at American Center in the city, Francic said the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) stands ready to help Bangladesh, in every possible way, developing its farm sector, increase agricultural productivity and climate-smart farming.
She shared the concern that, like many other places in today's world, Bangladesh is also experiencing high commodity prices and emphasized US-Bangladesh cooperation in the development of the agriculture sector of the country.
Francic, however, evaded a question on whether the West's sanctions on Russia would adversely impact the global food price situation.
FAS has a global network of 100 offices covering over 170 countries, including an office in Dhaka. These offices are staffed by agricultural attachés and locally hired agricultural experts who help facilitate farm sector cooperation and trade promotion between the US and the host country.
Recalling the global economic meltdown in 2008, Megan M Francic said there were incidents of artificially hiking up of food prices then too. She emphasized keeping a constant tab on global markets and commodity trade so that no one could take advantage of any crisis situation.
Referring to last month's meeting between Bangladesh Agriculture Minister Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque and US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in Dubai, the agricultural attaché said the two leaders attached utmost importance to developing climate-smart agriculture.
Francic gave a brief review of US assistance to the Bangladesh farm sector and its contribution to the school feeding program. She also appreciated Bangladesh's pursuit of agricultural biotechnology and said the USDA FAS stood ready to provide policy support so that biotech regulators in Bangladesh could better appreciate the importance of farm products derived from biotech applications.
Furthermore, she mentioned the development of the vitamin-A enriched Golden Rice variety in Bangladesh.
US Embassy Information Officer Karla R Thomas and other officials and agricultural expert of USDA FSA Dhaka office were also present at the press briefing.