Recent Activities
Programs and Activities
In the first few ~ months after the establishment
of the Bangladesh Rice Foundation (BRF) in February 2002, the Board
of Trustees devoted time in formulating the working strategy and identifying
the programmatic thrusts of the Foundation
for the first few years.. In April 2002, the Program Committee was constituted
for advising the Board on all matters related
to programs and activities of the Foundation (details on the Committee are
reported elsewhere in this volume).
Programmatic thrust
Consistent with the mission and objectives
of BRF indicated earlier, activities of the Foundation will fall within the
following three broad program categories:
1 . Research. The emphases in research are
on policy issues of the rice sector. BRF's concern in research is selective
and priority is given to such important broad issues as production sustainability,
rice export potential, food security, and welfare of all people in the rice
production to consumption chain.
2. Communication and advocacy. Activities in
this area cover major rice related issues and their possible solutions that
require special communication and media support for eliciting them to the
attention of the public as well as the policy makers. The aim here is to bring
about improvements in relevant policies.
Awareness and promotion of culture and tradition.
The objective of this program area is to create in the society at large a
greater awareness of the richness of the heritage and culture centering on
rice as a crop and as food, and to promote actions for their better
appreciation and preservation. At the core
of this programmatic thrust is the concern that much of these precious rice
centered culture, art, and tradition are ~ disappearing from the life of especially
that of the urban dwellers.
A, summary of the major activities that were
conducted by BRF during, the past nearly two years of its existence are described
below.,
Activities for the medium term
A large number of possible themes under the
three program areas indicated above were considered for BRF's research and
development for the medium term, i.e. for the first five years of the Foundation.
These themes came as suggestions from various sources, including recommendations
made at the workshop on Next Step in Rice held in January 2003. These were
first deliberated on by the Program Committee. On the basis of national priority,
BRF's research capacity, and resource considerations, the Program Committee
made a shorter list and placed them before the Board of Trustees for discussion
(see below). After considerable deliberations, the Board selected a few of
them (ones with asterisk) for addressing or initiating in 2003 2004:
a) Rice databank development and maintenance
at BRF
b) National rice policy
c) Potential of exporting fine and
aromatic rice
d) Publication of rice bulletin
e) Impact of trade liberalization on the
rice sector
f) Rice value addition through improved
processing and use of new technologic
g) Observance of the International
Year of Rice 2004
h) Protecting farmers' rights to preservation
of traditional rice resources, Rice seed replacement, Reducing rice production
and
harvest losses
k) Diversification of food habits
to reduce dependence on rice and to improve nutrition
l) National land use planning to reduce unproductive
use of rice land for sustained food security
m) Organic rice cultivation
n) Rice fish system
