In Bangladesh, the agriculture
sector contributes 13.32% to our GDP (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2019) and
it absorbs the biggest portion (41%) of the labor force (Ministry of Agriculture,
2018). About 64.96% of the total population live in rural areas (World Bank,
2016) and the majority of them are directly or indirectly engaged in a wide range
of agricultural activities. Apparently, the rural development is directly
linked to agro-industry development. Again another estimation of World Bank
says, “Growth in agriculture is two to four times more powerful at reducing
poverty than growth in other sectors”. Intergovernmental Committee of Experts
on Sustainable Development Financing (ICESDF) also emphasizes that Bangladesh
needs huge investment for sectors like agriculture and rural development. Hence,
in a broad sense, it is clear that agro-industry comprised of agribusinesses can
play a vital role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in an
agriculture-based developing economy like Bangladesh.
Recognizing the fact, the government formulated “The National Agriculture Policy 2018” that aims at ensuring profitable agriculture, nutrition and food security in Bangladesh with a focus on enhanced investment on agricultural research and extension, technology transfer, mechanization, specialized agriculture, ICT, marketing of agricultural products, women empowerment and nano-technology. With continuous support from the government, the traditional subsistence agriculture has started transforming into commercial agriculture (agribusiness), and it is gradually being treated as a money-making elite profession by many rural educated youths and women entrepreneurs. However, there are still some improvement areas in smallholder prioritization, farmers’ profitability, agriculture marketing, export marketing, marketing information system, value addition, sustainable agricultural value chains, ICT application in agribusiness, inclusive agribusiness model, agribusiness researches, and agribusiness management expertise. All these are positively related to agro-industry development and thus the attainment of SDG.
Overwhelmingly, 75% of the people living in poverty depend on agriculture for their livelihoods worldwide. The significant portion of the world’s farmers (1.5 billion people) are women and smallholder farmers whose farms are being operated with less than two hectares of land. However, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), they are the biggest group of people in the world living in paucity (CSR ASIA, 2017). Interestingly, those smallholders contribute almost 80% to the food supply in Asia. An average of 43% of the agricultural labour force of developing countries and around 50% in East and Southeast Asia are obtained from women. Verily Bangladesh is no exception to such statistics meaning a well-performing and smartly regulated agribusiness sector will tremendously contribute to income generation and poverty alleviation, women empowerment, rural development and will also cater to rising food demands, and thus can help fast-track national efforts to achieve SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 2 (zero hunger). Most importantly, a well-performing agribusiness sector should be inclusive in nature where the system will leave no farmer behind. This will facilitate the smallholders to become more productive, be able to invest in new business opportunities, increase their purchasing power, build resilience, and save for the future and thereby sustainable livelihood will be ensured. In this approach, the agribusiness sector can take a vital leading position to produce a significant industry contribution to achieve SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 9 (inclusive & sustainable industrialization) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities).
In this connection, Bangladesh needs more agribusiness experts, initiatives and researches to capitalize on the opportunities and accelerate the initiatives taken by government to promote sustainable agriculture to meet the special commitment of the government for ensuring sustainable and inclusive development of a prosperous Bangladesh where there will be no disparity in living standards between urban and rural areas (SDG 1, 2, 8, 9 & 10).
The article was published on The Daily Sun on September 5, 2020
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