Given just how climate-vulnerable we are as a nation, among the numerous challenges this poses, the issue of food security is arguably the most serious. We have continued to see high costs for essentials, and with climate change exacerbating challenges for growing food, this is among the more serious challenges we face, today and in our future.
To that end, the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) recent approval of $51.4 million in co-financing for the Growth for Climate Resilient and Environmental Entrepreneurship and Nutrition (GREEN) project is an encouraging and welcome step in the right direction.
The project, which targets 1.1 million people across the haor wetlands, coastal belt, and char regions, looks to be identifying and strengthening resilience where it is most urgently needed.
Such a project’s design, to support smallholder farmers, rural microenterprises, and young entrepreneurs, is also the sort of broad understanding and recognition we need. Food security is not merely about production but about diversified livelihoods, adaptive capacity, and sustainable rural enterprises.
Climate shocks will continue to disrupt harvests and incomes – this is our reality. However, it is by empowering communities to innovate and adapt that is essential to minimize the damage such shocks can cause.
Yet one project, however ambitious, will never be sufficient to secure our future. As our population continues to grow, and as arable land shrinks under pressure from unchecked urbanization as well as climate change, there is the need for more such initiatives that combine international financing with local execution.
At the same time, it is equally important to ensure that governance and oversight remain aligned with our national priorities – after all, the point of such projects is to create long-term impact. When appropriate projects are scaled up, we will begin to build a more resilient food system.
