Bangladesh's per capita investment, value addition in agriculture low

Bangladesh's per capita investment and value addition in agriculture are much lower than those of some south and southeast Asian countries, thus resulting in a low productivity, a study of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) revealed.

It said the country's per capita investment in agriculture is only US$ 16, which is $ 43.5 in Thailand, $ 34.4 in India, and $ 26.6 in Myanmar.

Per capita value addition in agriculture is only $ 1,037 in Bangladesh, whereas average investment is $ 1,820 in South Asia, $ 1,840 in Myanmar, $ 1,992 in India, and $ 2,408 in the lower middle-income countries, it added.

These were revealed at a webinar - "The Consultation with Civil Society Organisations for 36th Session of FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific" - organised by FAO in the city on Tuesday.

Dr Monirul Hasan, market and trade system advisor of a FAO project, presented the keynote study, which also showed that Bangladesh's grain productivity is also much lower than the countries like China and Japan.

Bangladesh's average paddy production is 4.73 tonnes per hectare, which is 7.05 tonnes in China and 6.68 tonnes in Japan.

Speakers at the webinar emphasised raising investments and allocations for agriculture and agricultural research to attain desired food production for the country's growing population.

Apart from raising productivity, nutrition sensitive policies should also be implemented to remove malnutrition among a vast population here, they said.

Rudaba Khodaker from GAIN, Aklima Parvin of IFRI, Afsari Begum of CONCERN, Amanur Rahman of CARE, Philip Biswas of RRF, Kishore Kumar of GUK, Tania Sharmin of SCI, Zahid Hossain of FIVDB, Golam Sarwar of BAFLF, and Shahnuare Shahid Shahin of Bangladesh Agricultural Journalist Forum also spoke on the occasion, among others.

The 36th Session of FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific is scheduled to be held on March 8-11 this year. Bangladesh is going to host the event for the first time since it joined the organisation in 1973.

The webinar was organised to sort out specific issues, which could be discussed in the March session, said FAO officials.

The FAO regional conference is a formal gathering of member countries' agriculture ministers and other senior officials to discuss country and regional priorities and pressing issues in the region, such as - impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, state of agriculture, natural resource management, food security, and nutrition.

It is also a chance to highlight partnerships, innovation, and digital technologies that are helping to improve food security and nutrition in the region, as well as regional and global policy and regulatory issues.

Given the pandemic situation, the conference is expected to be held on a hybrid basis, with some participants joining via video-conferencing.

Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque is expected to chair its ministerial sessions.

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