FE Report
The country needs a Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF)-type foundation to effectively coordinate all activities carried out by various bodies in the under-privileged char areas.
Experts said this on Saturday at a discussion, titled "agriculture production in Bangladesh char areas; investment and opportunities".
They said different ministries, non-government organisations (NGO) and private companies have been working separately to improve socioeconomic condition of 7.0 million people living there.
But the targeted group did not get the expected outcomes of the initiatives due to lack of coordination among the working groups, they noted.
Terming storage facility of the produces and poor marketing system major challenges, they suggested for introduction of 'one char; one cooperative' policy alongside crop insurance facility.
Unnayan Shamannay and Oxfam in Bangladesh jointly organised the event, held at BIAM auditorium in the capital.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Narayan Chandra Chanda attended the programme as the chief guest.
State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan, former Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor Dr. Atiur Rahman, National Char Alliance (NCA) Chairman Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled and ACI Group Chairman M Anis Ud Dowla were also present.
Giving an example, Ibrahim Khaled said that they were frequently requesting the finance minister for allocating a fund for NCA and the minister provided Tk 500 million.
"Not a single taka was spent for not having any institutional structure," the NCA chairman mentioned.
"There is nothing about who will spend the money," he stated.
He said the government should form 'Char Development Foundation' like the PKSF model that was initiated by the planning ministry but no government intervention.
Another key feature of such model is global lender like World Bank, Asian Developent Bank (ADB) and local and foreign NGOs can contribute, and work independently, he added.
ACI Group Chairman Anis Ud Dowla said crop insurance coverage could be introduced like India to protect the farmers from being affected by the regular flooding.
Mentioning access to credit a constraint in the char areas, he said the growers can get around 20 per cent return if they receive credit in right time.
"Private sector invests there to do business. We can give credit to our distributors but not the farmers," he said.
He viewed that the concept of cooperative can resolve the problem.
Minister Narayan Chandra said different ministries have been implementing various projects in these areas but a separate institution is needed for coordination.
He called upon the business groups investing in the char areas to monitor activities of their agents, who often deprive farmers with providing much lower rates.
He suggested for rearing buffalos and sheep, and farming duck at a large scale there.
State Minister MA Mannan said irrigation facility from the privately-arranged system is expensive.
The government should invest on that to lessen their pain, he opined.
He laid importance on crop-specific loan facility alongside storage system to allow hoarding of crops.
Former BB governor Atiur Rahman mentioned that the government allocated Tk 2.0 billion for Char areas in fiscal year 2018-2019.
"But the fund will not be used as it happened in the previous times," he cautioned.
"We need institutional framework to this effect," he said.
Citing a latest report, he said US$ 500 is needed for each of the families to lift them out of the extreme poverty in three years.
He called upon the banks to finance cultivation of spices, which has good prospects in the areas.
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