ADMI hosts trainees from Bangladesh Ministry of Food
The ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss recently hosted a two-week short course for persons engaged in food policy issues with the Government of Bangladesh as a component of the Bangladesh Integrated Food Policy Research Program. This is the third year for the short course.
From November 7 – 18, a cohort of 16 officials from the Bangladesh Ministry of Food visited the University of Illinois for a series of seminars, workshops, and field trips to give them new perspectives on food systems, food policy, and postharvest management.
Participants learned from experts across the food value chain, including commodity marketing, food fortification, grain storage and processing, and food policy analysis. The group went on field trips to grain elevators, cooperatives, and working farms around central Illinois, the Illinois Department of Agriculture offices and historical sites in Springfield, and sightseeing in Chicago.
On the last day of the short course, the trainees gave presentations comparing specific aspects of the grain value chain in the U.S. and Bangladesh, and discussing changes they would like to make based on what they learned during the short course. Presentation topics included mechanization in Bangladesh, risk management for smallholder farmers, improving postharvest practices, and reducing grain storage losses.
Illinois faculty members who participated in the short course seminars included: Alex Winter-Nelson, ADMI director and professor in Agricultural & Consumer Economics; Matthew Stasiewicz, Food Science & Human Nutrition; Shibu Kar, Pratik Banerjee, and Zach Grant, Illinois Extension; Jonathan Coppess, Joe Janzen, Sarah Janzen, Mike Mazzocco, and Anna Snider, Agricultural & Consumer Economics; and Prasanta Kalita, Agricultural & Biological Engineering.
The program is a joint activity of ADMI, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies; and is part of the Government of Bangladesh’s Modern Food Storage Facilities Program, funded through the World Bank.
