Strategic alliance with BRAC
Sunday, 2017/04/09 | 07:59:23
|
Lanie Reyes | IRRI Apr 5, 2017 BRAC will play a key role in attaining food security through improved agricultural productivity in coastal Bangladesh
Figure: SIRAJUL ISLAM and his team visit a sunflower demonstration field supported by BRAC. (Photos: BRAC)
“BRAC has a long history of development work and commitment to food security and reduction of hunger and malnutrition through improved agricultural productivity,” said Sudhir Yadav, co-leader of the SIIL-Polder project that focuses on the coastal area of the country. “This makes the organization a good ally in improving the lives in polder communities in coastal Bangladesh.” From ruins to hopeWhen the Bangladesh War of Independence broke out in 1971, many people fled to neighboring India. When they came back after the war, they found that their houses were decimated. With no livelihood, the people were helpless.
But, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, a man from a wealthy family, had a vision of reaching out to his countrymen. He sold his house in London and he and his like-minded friends raised funds to buy building materials for their homeless countrymen. His work, which he started with his colleagues in a remote region of northeastern Bangladesh, led to the nongovernment organization known today as BRAC.
Although the building materials were intended for the poor, they eventually ended up in the hands of the rich as these were sold for food and other needs. Thus, BRAC (formerly known as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee and then as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) saw the need for providing the poor with economic empowerment through livelihood activities. In terms of the scale and diversity of its interventions, BRAC is now the largest development organization in the world.
BRAC counts 45 years of fruitful existence. Dr. Abed never imagined that BRAC would be this big. The impact of the organization is so huge that Dr. Abed received the World Food Prize in 2015.
See more http://ricetoday.irri.org/strategic-alliance-with-brac/ |
Back Print View: 416 |
[ Other News ]___________________________________________________
|