Bangladesh Integrated Food Policy Research Program

The Bangladesh Integrated Food Policy Research Program is one of the key components of the Modern Storage Facilities Project being implemented by the Ministry of Food with a World Bank investment. The project is designed to undertake three sets of activities: (1) enhance institutional capacity of the FPMU and DG-Food to carry out their mandates, (2) identify analytical gaps and carry out collaborative research with cutting edge methods; (3) help develop an evidence-based policy framework to improve the efficiency and performance of the country’s overall food storage system and management systems.

Through a competitive bidding process, the contract was awarded to an IFPRI-led JV in partnership with the BIDS and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. The assignments stipulated in the signed contract fall under three thematic areas: Theme 1 - Storage and Transport Logistics; Theme 2 - Market and Policy Analysis; and Theme 3 - Capacity Strengthening and Outreach. While the Storage and Transport Logistics theme has six sub-clusters, the Market and Policy Analysis theme and the Capacity Strengthening and Outreach theme each has seven sub-clusters.

Under the collaborative agreement, BIDS will adjust and adapt the work plan depending on the mutually agreeable changes in the project priorities with the following specific deliverables:

a) Collaborative Research: BIDS will lead or co-lead research on assessment of the FPMU and DG-Food, food quality and safety, food price stabilization, and alternative public investments.

b) Training and outreach: BIDS will serve as the key partner in carrying out in-country training and outreach in collaboration with IFPRI-Dhaka. The BIDS involvement will include both conducting training with direct BIDS staff involvement and making its facilities for outreach/training events.

c) In-country facilitation: BIDS will support IFPRI and its partners in carrying out field works, meeting with the policy makers/stakeholders, as well as other challenges or emergencies that researchers from the partner institutions might confront.

Study Team: Mohammad Yunus, K A S Murshid, Mainul Hoque, and Mohammad Riaz Uddin

Duration: January, 2017-December, 2020