Safer vegetables, stronger women farmers: $447,000 of FAO grants land in Dhaka

In Dhaka on 18 October, Bangladesh's Economic Relations Division and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization signed two grants worth $447,000 together. The first, $200,000 over four years, tackles a quiet problem on the nation's plates: more than 30% of vegetables in Bangladesh are reported to carry excessive pesticide residues. It will fund updated rules, digital registration, stronger residue-testing laboratories and farmer awareness. The second, $247,000, launches Green Roots Women's Farm Labs — a 24-month pilot, running in Bangladesh and Uganda in the International Year of the Woman Farmer, that will coach rural women to build environmentally friendly micro-businesses, with technology, finance and market connections through FAO's Farmer Field School approach. 'These projects reflect our shared commitment to safe food, climate-resilient livelihoods and women's economic empowerment,' said ERD secretary Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky at the signing.

SDG 2 · Zero hunger — Mechanism: funding & finance