What are your expectations of the activity that you are taking part of?
– I think a potential collaborative link has been established between me and ICRAF researchers. This collaboration is a step to develop future research on multifunctional landscape management for food security in both Bangladesh and Indonesia.
– Moreover, a policy brief about the multifunctional uses of char lands of Bangladesh will be available soon for policy-makers and this can help to alleviate food insecurity in a largely deprived area of Bangladesh. Furthermore, the peer-reviewed scientific article will be published in an impact factor journal which I hope can be beneficial from a professional career perspective for all researchers involved. Finally, for the ones who want more in-depth information; we will also publish an AgriFoSe2030 report on multifunctional char landscapes and what they mean for food security and livelihoods of char land dwellers.
What do you think makes the AgriFoSe2030 programme important, and why and to whom does it matter?
– The developing and low-income countries, like Bangladesh, are facing the lack of agricultural land. The agricultural land of Bangladesh is shrinking at an alarming rate. At the same time, the population is increasing rapidly. Therefore, it is a big challenge to sustainably feed and fulfil other requirements of this increasing population. Indeed, agricultural land use is also key for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in an increasingly threatened global environment.
– We should follow a sound agro-ecological system which can sustain human beings with food crops, raw materials for fibers, fuels, and medicines as well as protect soil fertility, conserve water and soils, sequester more carbon and mitigate climate change. I think the AgriFoSe2030 programme is in the right place to deal with this issue. Actually, AgriFoSe2030 contributes to sustainable intensification of agriculture for increased food production on existing agricultural land.
– What I also like with the programme is that it equips young agricultural scientists of low-income countries with the right tools to tackle these food security challenges.
Tell us one thing that you are passionate about related to food security and agriculture.
– I am passionate about eco-friendly agroforestry systems in both homestead and crop land. Agroforestry focuses at creation of a natural environment and works to increase diversity of agricultural products through maximum utilization of land. Well planned land use systems combining woody perennials and other production enterprises in accordance with farmers’ needs, goals and resources is the only way forward to a sustainable agriculture in the coming future.
– In Bangladesh, the scope of agroforestry is vast. The main places for where you can find agroforestry practices in Bangladesh are on homesteads, in crop lands, roadsides, railway sides, embankment sides, pond sides, char lands, coastal areas, deforested areas, institutional premises, riversides, canal sides etc. It is endless! Among these, char lands are the most important areas for practicing agroforestry systems in Bangladesh. I believe that through agroforestry practices, char land dwellers of Bangladesh can get more food, enough timber, as well as a better environment.
Interview by Anneli Sundin, AgriFoSe2030 Communication and Engagement.
