A “Bangabandhu Chair” will be set up at the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) of the University of Saskatchewan (USask) in Canada aiming to help promote multidisciplinary research and ensure sustainable food security.

To this end, the GIFS of Canada and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) under the Bangladesh Agriculture Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at a city hotel  on Monday in presence of Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque and Canadian Agriculture Minister David Marit (Saskatchewan Government).

Under the agreement, the GIFS and the BARC will work on a multidisciplinary research, training and development partnership to help promote sustainable food security in the country, a BARC press release said on Tuesday.
The MoU work-plan includes establishing a “Bangabandhu Chair” at GIFS, linked to a similar position at BARC, in recognition of the invaluable contribution of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to striving for food security for a newborn Bangladesh.

An agricultural technology centre named “Bangabandhu – Pierre Elliot Trudeau Agricultural Technology Centre” will also be established in Bangladesh in a joint collaboration to reflect Canada’s support during the Bangladesh War of Independence and the strong and longstanding bilateral relationship.

Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony as the chief guest, Dr Razzaque briefed the country’s recent achievements in agriculture alongside the daunting challenges like declining and degrading land resources, decreasing water resources, increasing natural hazards and climate change vulnerability.

He hoped that this partnership with GIFS would support the government’s plans to achieve this vision, and go a long way to strengthen Bangladesh’s relationship with Saskatchewan and Canada.