USAID Administrator, Dr. Rajiv Shah, visits Bangladesh to Participate in Food Security Investment Forum 2010

This was Dr. Shah's first official visit to Bangladesh since he was appointed by President Obama as the 16th Administrator of USAID.

USAID Administrator, Dr. Rajiv Shah, visited Bangladesh May 25-26th to participate in the opening of the Bangladesh Food Security Investment Forum, hosted by the Government of Bangladesh and launched by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He was one of the keynote speakers at the two day Forum that opened on May 26th.  Other participants included ministers of Fisheries and Livestock, Agriculture, and Food and Disaster Management. The Forum is the first step in supporting the Government of Bangladesh to develop a Country Investment Plan which will prioritize food security goals and activities in the country.  More than 500 people from civil society, private sector, NGOs, think tanks and academia participated in the Forum sessions that highlighted the Government’s priorities of:  investing in crop agricultural production, development of fisheries and livestock, increasing agricultural marketing and value chain, improved safety nets programs, nutrition and cross cutting issues such as gender and governance.  The Forum is set to help Bangladesh finalize a roadmap for future investments in food and agriculture.

Last year the G-8 countries promised to mobilize $20 billion and the U.S. has already committed $3.5 billion to.  Dr. Shah announced at the Forum three key components of the U.S. food security plan:  (1) a new $220 million P.L. 480 Title II Food Aid program over the next five years starting from June; (2) $20 million in bilateral assistance for agriculture and nutrition programs for 2010, and (3) U.S. funding for the Global Agriculture and Food Security Trust Fund that will be administered by the World Bank. 

During his visit to Bangladesh, Dr. Shah also met with bilateral and multilateral development partners from the United Nations system — Dr. David Nabarro, UN Specials Representative for Food Security and Nutrition, Food and Agriculture Organization — Mr. Hiroyuki Konuma, Assistant Director General, FAO and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, and Dr. Michael Anderson from the U.K. Department for International Development, among many others. 

Later in the day, Dr. Shah addressed a press conference where he mentioned "This initiative is a new way of working that will allow the international community to  follow the country's leadership and plans and help reduce hunger and poverty," highlighting US President Barack Obama's new initiative — Feed the Future — that seeks equitable economic growth led by the agriculture sector.

Dr. Shah also met with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to discuss development issues and mutual cooperation.   He also met with the mission directors from Vietnam, Nepal, Cambodia, India and RDMA Bangkok.  Dr. Shah attended a town hall meeting where he addressed 500 employees of the US mission in Bangladesh. In two separate meetings, Dr. Shah met with the FSN and American communities at USAID Bangladesh.