Bangladesh looks afresh to contract farming in African countries after long-lost halfhearted bid in the last decade, as the nation now largely depends on imports for unmet grains needs and also faces job shortages.
Though the process started way back in 2016, the progress was very insignificant compared to its huge potential, said a senior official of the foreign ministry.
In a latest development, Uganda has agreed to provide 20,000 hectares of land to Bangladeshi entrepreneurs for contract farming, he said.
According to officials, over 4.0 million Bangladeshis can be employed in agriculture in African countries, including Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and Gambia, by 2027.
Countries like Pakistan, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have already started investing in the agricultural sector of African countries like Sudan, the officials said, pointing out that Bangladesh lags behind in the outsourcing race.
Bangladesh initiated the move in 2010 when a fact-finding mission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led by the then foreign secretary, visited Ivory Coast, Senegal and Ghana to explore possibilities of contract farming in countries on the sprawling continent.
According to the mission, farming of rice, wheat, cotton, coffee etc will be profitable in those countries.
Then again, in 2016, Bangladesh initiated contract farming in the African countries with the appointment of 11 Bangladeshi farmers in Zambia by a Bangladeshi company, Bhati Bangla Agritech.
Nitol-Niloy Group also got the permission but refrained from starting up farming there "due to complications in transferring capital for the venture".
Kenya also showed interest to offer 1,000 acres of land to Bangladeshi companies on lease for cotton cultivation.
In 2021, Sudan placed contract-farming proposal with Bangladesh. In a meeting with the then agriculture minister, Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, the Sudanese deputy foreign minister sought Bangladesh's cooperation in agricultural production, processing and marketing in the central African country.
South Sudan has a vast tract of more than six-lakh-square- kilometre land, mostly of which is cultivable.
Experts say in the wake of decline in manpower recruitment in the Middle-Eastern countries, contract farming can provide huge opportunity for overseas employment for Bangladeshis.
According to unofficial estimates, around 300,000 Bangladeshis are working in different African countries.
The advantage of contract farming for a country --- no matter if it is direct government or private investment --- is that it can choose the kinds of crops to be produced under such an arrangement depending on the demands at home and also in the host country, officials of the agriculture ministry have said.
"African soil in general is useful for producing paddy, maize, onions and wheat," they all have said, adding that for a land-scarce country with an outsize population like Bangladesh, contract farming on the African continent can be a "golden opportunity".
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