ADMI hosts second Bangladesh Ministry of Food cohort for food policy short course

The ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss hosted a four-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 second year for the short course.

From August 19 – September 13, a cohort of eight 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 in a range of fields, including commodity marketing, food fortification, grain storage and processing, and food policy analysis. They focused on guided research and writing related to a professional project identified in advance. In addition, the group also went on field trips to local farms and grain elevators, historical sites in Springfield, and urban farm locations in Chicago.

On the last day of the short course, each individual presented his final project, a policy brief on some aspect of food policy in Bangladesh, to University of Illinois faculty members.

Presentation brief topics included mechanization in Bangladesh, cash transfers vs food in government assistance programs, increasing paddy procurement by the government, rice fortification, and the feasibility of public-private partnerships for grain storage.

Illinois faculty members who participated in the short course seminars included: Dr. Alex Winter-Nelson, ADMI director and professor in Agricultural & Consumer Economics; Dr. Juan Andrade and Dr. Matthew Stasiewicz, Food Science & Human Nutrition; Dr. Mary Arends-Kuenning and Dr. David Bullock, Agricultural & Consumer Economics; and Dr. Prasanta Kalita, Agricultural & Biological Engineering.

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