WAVE Foundation was represented by Ms. Nasefa Ali, Deputy Executive Director at two major regional forums convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2026, providing an important opportunity to elevate the perspectives of Bangladesh and contribute to regional policy dialogue on sustainable, resilient and inclusive agrifood systems.
Civil Society Consultation and Youth Leaders Dialogue, Bangkok (9–12 March 2026)
Ms. Nasefa first participated in the FAO-facilitated CSO Consultation and Youth Leaders Dialogue in Bangkok, convening delegates from 49 organizations across 17 Asia-Pacific countries. The consultation served as a critical platform for shaping collective advocacy priorities on sustainable and equitable food systems.
Speaking at the intergenerational dialogue between youth leaders and experiences practitioners, Ms. Nasefa highlighted the systemic barriers facing rural youth and women in Bangladesh, including limited access to resources, land, market, technology and decision-making spaces. She emphasized the growing trend of rural youth migration and the urgent need to transform agriculture into a viable, dignified, and sustainable livelihood option for the next generation. A key focus of the consultation was the growing concentration of power in agrifood systems, with concerns raised over corporate control of seeds, inputs, processing, and markets, and its implications for food sovereignty and smallholder livelihoods.
Agroecology emerged as a central pillar of the consultation’s collective vision, culminating in a joint Civil Society Declaration that called for protection of land and resource rights, meaningful participation of youth and women in governance and greater accountability in food system policies and investments.
38th FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC38), Brunei Darussalam (20–24 April 2026)
The Bangkok consultation’s outcomes were carried forward into the 38th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC38), held in Brunei Darussalam. Ms. Nasefa represented civil society as an official CSO delegate during the Ministerial Session, joining ministers, policymakers, development partners, and researchers from across the region. Additionally, the Government of Bangladesh’s official delegation was led by Dr. Rafiqul I Mohamed, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, accompanied by Joint Secretary Kamrul Hasan and FAO Representative in Bangladesh Jiaoqun Shi.
The joint Civil Society Statement was presented at APRC38, outlined a transformative agenda calling for mainstreaming agroecology in FAO’s 2026–27 program, reforming the Hand-in-Hand Initiative with safeguards, advancing gender-transformative policies, addressing youth migration drivers, preventing digital biopiracy, and ensuring meaningful civil society participation in FAO processes.
Drawing on WAVE’s on-the-ground experiences in Bangladesh, Ms. Nasefa amplified producer-centered development approaches and community-led agroecological innovations that are already delivering results for smallholder farmers, rural women and local food economies. The conference also addressed the global food security implications of the 2026 Middle East conflict and climate change underscoring the urgency of resilient, locally-rooted food systems.
Building on these engagements, WAVE will continue to amplify grassroots innovations, confront systemic barriers and work towards a future where agrifood systems are sustainable, resilient, climate-adaptive and leave no one behind.
