Meeting the Food Security Challenge through GO-NGO Partnership: Is it Realistic?

Bangladesh, being a disaster-prone economy facing food availability problem frequently. There exists a wide gap in between the production potential and farmers’ productivity level in almost all the production environments. Due to unfavourable land-man ratio, the possibility of horizontal expansion has already been exhausted. Therefore, enhancement in productivity should come through vertical augmentation of the productivity through minimizing yield gap. Reaching proven technologies to the end-users are often delayed causing delay in harnessing the potentials of the technologies developed by the research institutions. This can be accelerated through GO-NGO partnership in an effective manner. Such partnership could ensure food security even under climate changed phenomenon. The research institutions may provide the NGO’s with the latest technologies for enhancing food production along with proper training to disseminate those to the end-users. Recent experience of BRAC in rehabilitation of the cyclone Sidr victims suggest that NGO’s can demonstrate those technologies in the farmers’ field along with proper credit support for technology adoption and for enhancing productivity. The technology users would be able to use appropriate input in time through the much needed financial support, which is lacking in the present technology dissemination and delivery system. The GO-NGO partnership approach is expected to augment productivity per unit of time, per unit of land and water resources that will eventually lead to ensure food security for the expanding population of the country.