IFAD names new country director for Bangladesh

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has appointed Arnoldus Hameleers, as the country director for Bangladesh, said a news release on 27 April.

Dutch national Hameleers holds a Ph.D. in agricultural systems from the University of Glasgow, M.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh and B.Sc. from the Tropical Agricultural College in the Netherlands.

“IFAD will continue to support rural poor by identifying the emerging food security needs and livelihood opportunities during the pandemic and complementing national endeavours to revitalize the rural economy,” says Hameleers while taking his new charge.

Prior to this appointment, Hameleers served as IFAD’s country director for Bolivia and Honduras. He has also worked as a senior technical advisor for DANIDA’s agriculture and economic developments programmes in Bolivia.

His earlier positions include senior dairy scientist for the agriculture ministry in Northern Ireland, and dairy research program manager for the Scottish Agricultural Colleges in Scotland.

IFAD has been working in Bangladesh for over 40 years and has financed 34 projects to date, with a cumulative budget of USD 2.319 billion, with an IFAD financing of USD 913.42 million. The projects have directly benefited 52.78 million people, the release said.