Staff Reporter :
Farming Future Bangladesh in collaboration with the U.S. Department of, Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development, and U.S. Department of State, organised a regional media roundtable on sustainable food security on Monday.
The roundtable titled, “The Role of Innovative Technologies in Addressing Agricultural Challenges,” stressed the importance of evidence-based knowledge sharing and informed policy decisions to ensure sustainable food security, including a better understanding of agricultural biotechnology and relevant policy issues.
Experts and agricultural journalists from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh participated in the roundtable.
This roundtable follows previous country-specific “virtual tours” organized in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines to encourage collaboration between journalists, farmers, and scientists on educating the public about the benefits and importance of agricultural technology.
The media plays an important role in reaching and engaging a wide range of audiences and stakeholders with science and fact-based reporting and debunking myths about agricultural biotechnology and agricultural innovations,” Helen LaFave, Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy in Dhaka said.
She also stated that “Biotechnology offers proven and effective tools to sustainably expand production, address global hunger and nutritional deficiencies, and respond to adverse growing conditions.”
Media experts on agriculture interacted with speakers and expressed their views on consumer acceptance and effective marketing of genetically engineered crops. The group emphasised publishing more research-based work to allow consumers to differentiate between the myths and facts about gene edited crops.
To conclude the program, there was a question and answer session in which participants exchanged their views and proposed ways forward on agricultural innovation and sustainable agricultural practice. Md. Arif Hossain, CEO and Executive Director of Farming Future Bangladesh, moderated the virtual round table discussion.
Scientists and experts from Indonesia, Philippines, and Bangladesh also gave technical presentations on effective applications of agricultural biotechnology in their respective countries.
