Civil society leaders call for urgent food, climate policy reforms

Civil society representatives have stressed the urgent need to reform Bangladesh's policy and legal frameworks to ensure food sovereignty and address the risks posed by climate change.

They made the call at a "Meet the Press" programme on Wednesday at the AKM Mushtaque Ali Auditorium in the capital, organised by the South Asian Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE) and INCIDIN Bangladesh.

Speakers said agriculture must be prioritised as an integral part of the right to food, with reforms in the national agricultural policy. They argued that food rights, rather than commercial rights, should take precedence in order to establish a sustainable farming system.

INCIDIN's Executive Director, A.K.M. Masud Ali, presented the keynote paper. Bangladesh Krishak Federation leaders S.M. Badrul Alam and Zayed Iqbal Khan, Khetmajur Union Vice-President Khan Md Rustam Ali, INCIDIN officials Mushfiqur Rahman and Md Rafiqul Alam, indigenous leader Kalyani Chakma, and coastal activist Nikhil Chandra Bhadra also addressed the event.

The keynote paper highlighted the need to ensure food security at local and regional levels, guarantee land, water, seed, and credit rights for small and marginal farmers, prevent the introduction of genetically modified crops, and safeguard water resources as public assets.