Dhaka, Tuesday, Nov 18, 2025
Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan has called on the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to assist Bangladesh in mapping its agricultural zones and strengthening land-use governance, warning that the country is losing nearly one percent of its cultivable land each year due to unplanned and unsustainable conversion.She made the remarks on Tuesday during a meeting with a high-level ADB delegation at the Bangladesh Secretariat. The delegation was led by Tariq H. Niazi, Senior Director of ADB’s Public Sector Management and Governance Department, and Hoe Yun Jeong, Country Director of ADB Bangladesh.Rizwana Hasan sought ADB’s technical and financial support to enhance food security by 2050 and promote sustainable land management.She also stressed the importance of rainwater harvesting as an effective climate adaptation measure—particularly in coastal areas—and urged ADB to help scale up community-based water initiatives into national programmes.Reaffirming the government’s commitment to climate-resilient development, the adviser said several bankable projects under the ...
