PPP policy dialogue on agricultural extension held

A Policy dialogue on Public-Private Partnership and its Role in agricultural extension was held at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) Conference Room dated 25, September 2021 organized by Bangladesh Agricultural Extension Network (BAEN).  Mr. Mesbahul Islam, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture was present as the chief guest. Mr. Md. Hamidur Rahman, Former Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and President of BAEN presided over the program. Dr. FH Ansari, Managing Director and CEO of ACI Agribusiness presented the keynote paper.

Apart from the representatives of government and non-government organizations involved in agricultural extension activities, the representatives of the private sector also participated in the dialogue. In the dialogue, the speakers shared their views and opinions on the possibility of overall development through the involvement of government and non-government development partners in agricultural expansion.

During the discussion, the participants expressed their views to make the agricultural extension activities more dynamic by setting up a PPP cell under the Ministry of Agriculture.

Dr. S M Bakhtiar, Executive  Chairman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Hasanuzzaman Kallol , Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Md. Asadullah,  Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) was present as special guest. The dialogue was held under the auspices of Last Mile Program (LMP) with the financial support of IFAD.