ECSDI Environment, Climate Change & Social Development Initiatives
DR. MIHIR KANTI MAJUMDER, BIODIVERSITY AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT EXPERT (CHAIRMAN, ECSDI)
Dr. Mihir kanti Majumder was born on May 14, 1953 at Pirojpur. He obtained his PhD in Health Care Administration and Master of Primary Health Care Management and Science in Applied Chemistry. Besides, he received diverse professional training on Solar and Renewable Energy from Peoples Republic of China (1998); Multi-Regional training on Y2K Initiative, USA (1998); Course for Leader Training from Scout Australia(1999); Leadership Development Programme in Birmingham University (UK) and British Civil Service College, UK (2000); on the Job Training for Trainers and Instructors of Intellectual Property, Democratic Republic of Korea (2000); Commonwealth Top Management Programme on e-commerce and e-Governance, Malaysia (2000); Information Technology Based Integrated Solution at the Enterprise Level, Singapore (2000). He also participated in different conferences as a government delegate including Ramsar Cop, CBD Cop and UNFCCC Cop. He visited a number of countries in his official capacity such as India, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, UK, and USA.
Dr. Majumder joined in government service as a member of BCS (Administration) cadre in 1981. He worked as Assistant Commissioner and Magistrate, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) and Deputy Commissioner (DC). He also worked at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Establishment, Science and Technology, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division and Ministry of Planning. He was the secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) now Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Now he is Chairman of Palli Sanchoy Bank. He is also the Chainman of ECSDI.
DR. FAZLE RABBI SADEQUE AHMED, AGRICULTURE, CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENT EXPERT
Dr. Fazle Rabbi Sadeque Ahmed is among the lead expert in Bangladesh working on agriculture, climate change and environmental issues. He has vast knowledge and expertise on both adaptation and mitigation. He is the contributor for a number of national documents such as NAPA, BCCSAP, NDC of Bangladesh, and the issues of adaptation, mitigation and loss & damage. He worked as a M & E expert under Community Climate Change Project (CCCP) under the supervision of World Bank. He has evaluated different projects on Manusher Jonno Foundation, Palli Daridro Bimochon Foundation (PDBF), Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCT), Islamic Relief, Bangladesh (IR,B) as external evaluator and lead consultant. He has conducted several studies for IUCN, DoE, PKSF, GiZ, WB and UNDP
He obtained his PhD (Environmental Science) from University of Aberdeen, UK and M.Sc. (Ag.) from Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh (BAU).
Mr. Md. Abdul Jabbar, Managing Director, Aviva Finance Ltd (formerly known as the Reliance Finance Limited), Financial Sector Specialist
Mr. Md. Abdul Jabbar have MBA from IBA of Dhaka University and more than 20 years relevant experience on credit risk of an Islamic bank. Have significant experience and knowledge on financial regulatory landscape of Bangladesh particularly on shariah based banking. He was the ‘Manager, Project Management Team (PMT)’ of Anti-Money Laundering Control Review (Sept. 2015 – March, 2017) carried out by’Kroll Advisory Solutions, Singapore’ in IBBL to extensively examine AML and CFT activities of IBBL in terms of local and global standard as well as remediation thereof. He has strong communication and proven writing skills in professional English language. Excellent understanding and experience under shariah based business financing. He has two books published on ‘Islami Economy and Banking’ and ‘Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation through Bank Financing’
He has on his credit a good number of articles published both in bangla and English particularly in the esteemed English daily the Financial Express covering on important aspects of economic interest ie, Export-friendly policies and prudent fiscal management, addressing the core areas to give a stimulus to investments, Unban default culture and rural poor’s lack of access to bank credit dangerously accelerating income disparity, East Asian countries employing a wide variety of tax policies to increase investment, Weak Governance affects Outcome—Monitoring, not allocation in the budget, is the main problem, Plugging policy Holes for Growth, Devaluation is Not Enough—Govt should looks for policies beyond devaluation to shore up the economy, Sustaining in the Future—RMG sector needs more attention for its long term viability, Time is ticking away for Bangladesh to meet the challenges faced by its RMG sector, Only Good Intention Not Enough—Bangladesh needs industrialization to create jobs for the millons of the unemployed. This calls for social stability with proper maintenance of law and order, Kindling a spirit of enterprise—The key to quicker economic growth is the fostering of entrepreneurship, The Engine of Development—Well managed foreign trade can be a propelling force in the development of a country, Lending Rate cuts by Banks and last one being ‘Rise of Covid-19 and the economic threats’ published on 4th September, 2021.
PROF. DR. MD. MONIRUL ISLAM, RESEARCH AND FISHERIES EXPERT
Prof Islam has been working in the field of fisheries and aquaculture for over one and half decades as a researcher, teacher and consultant. He has about 60 research publications in this field. He was born and grew up in a shrimp farming area (Satkhira) and has a vast connections with different shrimp and prawn stakeholders such as hatchery owners, farmers, seed suppliers, processors, traders and related associations. He is well trained not only on aquaculture and fisheries but also on social research method as he conducted his PhD on social vulnerability and adaptation of fishing communities of Bangladesh. He is an expert on mixed method of social research combining both quantitative and qualitative based research design, data collection, data analysis and report writing. He is an advanced users of the software SPSS (for quantitative data analysis) and Nvivo (for qualitative data analysis). He obtained his PhD from Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, UK and masters on fisheries (First class first position) from Department of Fisheries, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Now he is a Professor of Dhaka university.
ENAM HOQUE, CROCODILE EXPERT
Graduated from Dhaka University in the year 1980 and completing a course in Leather Technology which led him to get scholarships from Poland, Germany & Netherlands on Leather Technology. During these periods Bangladesh had its first generation of the leather industry. Most of the Industries were set up by his knowledge and skills. During his study in Germany he learnt about crocodile behavior, habitat, reproduction and farming under the supervision of Dr. Fuchs (Dean of Zoology Department Mannheim University Germany). He worked for UNIDO in Kenya. In 1987 he received an offer from the Australian government to set up crocodile & ostrich farms in Australia as a consultant.
In 1989 he was employed with the largest Australian crocodile tanning industry, (Serpentine Leather), Queensland. According to industry standard, crocodile conservation, management and husbandry was a major requirement, so he completed a diploma course on it in 1990 at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland. In 1990 he travelled to Italy and worked in many different tanneries to learn about crocodile processing and fashion wear for world market standard such as big brand names Gucci, Prada, Versace Etc.
In November 1991 he then went to inspect Fremantle Crocodile Park. Fremantle, Western Australia. This site had the most advanced crocodile rearing facilities. They had innovated a technique of ageing the crocodile so that it grows faster than any normal crocodile would in any other farms.
At the end of 1991 he visited Florida National University in Gainesville , USA, to find out how they collect eggs, the sorting process, feeding system and overall management system carried out from farm to farm. This is the largest crocodile research centre in the world. He worked with the team to do research for harvesting, food supplement, and controlling diseases and effect of different temperature in various environments.
Mr. Hoque visited Thailand, Bangkok to assess their crocodile farm. He learnt the techniques they use in rearing their crocodiles, assessing tourism and setting up an educational tourism centre.
DR. ABU WALI RAGHIB HASSAN, AGRICULTURE EXPERT
Dr. Abu Wali Raghib Hassan, an Agriculturist and working with the Department of Agricultural Extension as a government official. Out of 35 years about 33 years worked in different positions under the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and lastly worked as Director (Planning, Project Implementation & ICT Wing) of DAE. Also worked as a Additional Director (Project Implementation and Evaluation), Planning, Project Implementation & ICT Wing, Department of Agricultural Extension where the major responsibilities was lead the development of projects and programme of DAE, monitoring and evaluating the project activities and planned for project implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Ensure coordination with the donor organization and other development organization to provide the support on Agricultural Extension Polity and Technical Policy of DAE. Reviewed and finalized Project Completion Report (PCR) and to submit to MoA. Assisted senior management of DAE for need based technical and administrative activities regarding planning wing of DAE.
About 2 years experienced in Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) as a scientist (Soil Microbiologist). Have experience of working as a Consultant in international organizations FAO, DANIDA, etc.
Worked with the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) as Agriculture and Climate Change Expert also Worked as a Climate Change Specialist in FAO, as a Project Director of “Disaster and Climate Risk Management in Agriculture Project (DCRMA)” DAE Part under Comprehensive Disaster Management Program (CDMP) Phase II, Sub-component Manager of “Livelihood Adaptation to Climate Change (LACC-II) Project”, Project Director in the Integrated Farm Management Component (IFMC) project of DANIDA.
Wide experience in agriculture with emphasis to crop production, crop protection, crop preservation, food security, seed production technologies, apiculture, value chain, climate change and agricultural adaptation, disaster risk reduction in agriculture, farmers field school, climate field school, farmers organizations with market linkage, integrated pest management (IPM), integrated crop management (ICM), integrated farm management (IFM) and conservation agriculture.
Have good number of national and international publication mainly on climate change adaptation and agriculture. Contributed in developing National Agriculture Extension Policy 2018 (draft), National Agriculture Policy 2018 (draft), Plan of Action for DAE on DRR and CCA and Natural Conservation Strategy (NCS). Contributor to document of sectoral inputs towards the formulation of Seventh Five Year Plan (2016 – 2021) climate change and disaster management. Developed different training manual, video documentary and different IEC materials.
He got Doctoral Degree in Soil Science from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh . Moreover have an advance Diploma degree on Agriculture Management in Rural Development from Nordic Agriculture College, Denmark.
PROF. DR. ISMAT ARA BEGUM, AGRICULTURE AND GENDER EXPERT
She has been working as professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy at Australian National University, Australia. She was a Post-doc Fellow at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Belgium and Visiting Professor (with EU Erasmus Mundus) at KaHo, University of Leuven, Belgium where she taught Master students from Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. She was also Visiting Professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Belgium where she taught the students of International Master of Rural Development (IMRD) Program. She has the credit to publish more than 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals, conference papers, book chapters, written several research reports. She has research experiences in Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, and Belgium.
She worked as a gender expert with KGF, ACIAR Australia project, FAO-IOM project, Oxfam GB, Bangladesh dairy enhancement program. She also worked with enhanced access to social protection, safety nets and increased resilience (2016-17); safety net and social protection expert of the meeting the undernutrition challenge, FAO and Ministry of Food, GoB as a social protection expert.
DR. MD. HABIBULLAH-AL-MAMUN, ENVIRONMENT AND FISHERIES EXPERT
Dr. Mamun has been working in the field of fisheries and aquaculture for over one and half decades as a researcher, teacher and consultant. He has about 55 research publications in this field. He has vast fields of expertise/ research areas in Environmental issues in fisheries and aquaculture, Improvement of aquaculture practices and management, Fisheries biodiversity and conservation, Cyto-genotoxicity of toxic metal (oid)s, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), Veterinary drugs and Antibiotics, Soil/Sediment, Water, and Air pollution, Ecological and human health risk assessment, Socio-economic analysis regarding environmental pollution
He obtained his PhD (Environmental Science) from Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Japan. His PhD thesis title: Monitoring and Assessment of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Water, Sediment, and Seafood from the Coastal Areas of Bangladesh. (In this study, surface water, sediment, and commonly consumed seafood (5 finfish and 2 shellfish species) collected from the coastal areas of Bangladesh were analyzed for three groups of POPs i.e., PCBs, PFAAs, and PAHs. Finally, ecological and health risk of POPs were assessed based on their concentrations in the environmental media) and masters on fisheries (First class first position) from Department of Fisheries, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Now he is a Professor of Dhaka university.
He has keen interest in developing research career in the field of environmental pollution particularly aquaculture pollution, environmental toxicology, emerging pollutants in the environment and their remediation for the sustainable management. Chemical speciation and bioavailability of trace metals, organic pollutants and various toxic chemicals in the environment, human health and ecological risk assessment giving emphasize on fisheries and aquaculture resources. His plan to develop some pollution control strategies to maintain sustainable environment for the wildlife as well as human being. Improvement of aquaculture practices and management in Bangladesh is another aspect of his research interest.
He is an expert on mixed method of social research combining both quantitative and qualitative based research design, data collection, data analysis and report writing. He is an advanced users of the software SPSS (for quantitative data analysis) and Nvivo (for qualitative data analysis).
MD. KAMRUZZAMAN, RESEARCH AND EVALUATION EXPERT
Md. Kamruzzaman is among the pioneers in Bangladesh working on farmers’ right and sustainable agricultural practices. He is a trained advocate of Farmers’ led approaches and worked with globally renowned expert Mr. Emmanuel Yap. Mr. Kamruzzaman has formal training on Participatory Variety Selection (PVS) and scaling up and has implemented several successful participator variety selection schemes across the country. He worked on endogenous livestock development and fisheries. Mr. Zaman has contributed in development of various training manuals and reports on sustainable agriculture, biodiversity conservation, livestock from BARCIK. He completed his Master of Science in Geography from Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh.
Mr. Zaman has evaluated different projects on Caritas Bangladesh, Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), Family Planning Association of Bangladesh, Swallows India-Bangladesh, PKSF, IRRI as external evaluator and lead consultant. He has conducted studies for SEHD, BARCIK, CCDB, UNIDO, DAE, IUCN and Plan International Bangladesh.
MD. RAFIUL ALAM SIDDIQUI, DATA COLLECTION AND DOCUMENTATION EXPERT
Mr. Siddiqui has been working as an Environment, Climate Change and Social Development professional for around ten years. Worked closely with MoEFCC and its agencies for institutional development, administration and finance. Participated in several environmental impact assessment, market survey, project evaluation and assessment of quality standards for agricultural commodities. Developed expertise on climate change adaptation through research and documentation. Skilled in developing concept notes and ToRs, engagement with consultants, organizing trainings, workshops and data collection. He obtained MBA, Mcom and LLB Degree from reputed universities.
APARNA BARMAN, RESEARCH AND FISHERIES EXPERT
As a potential young researcher and consultant, Ms. Aparna has been working in the field of climate change in fisheries and agricultural sectors for about 3 years. She obtained her BS and MS in Fisheries from University of Dhaka and completed her thesis on climate change and fisheries sector vulnerability in Bangladesh. She has the experience of working in both quantitative and qualitative research methodology, data collection, data analysis and report writing. She is an advanced user of SPSS and GIS software. One research article and two conference papers are already in her credit. Currently she is working as a Consultant of ECSDI.
MD. HASAN, STATISTICIAN
As a Lecturer of statistics, BSMMU, Mr. Hasan has vast experience in Statistics. He has done his M.S. in Statistics, Biostatistics & Informatics from University of Dhaka in the year 2010. He started his career as Biostatistician at Child Health research Foundation (CHRF) Department of Microbiology, Dhaka Shishu (Children’s) Hospital. He worked as a Statistician at Health Systems and Population Studies Division (HSPSD), International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B).