Refocusing on agriculture
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
THE importance of agriculture in any economy is again being felt across the world in these days of high food prices. Actually, the agriculture sector would continue to be as important as it was in the past. For the people across the globe have no other way but to depend on agriculture, at least, for their food and clothes. The Bangladeshis, battered by two consecutive floods and a devastating cyclone last year, are realising the importance of agriculture sector, too. To a large extent, this sector has not been receiving the attention that it deserves from the policy-planners and decision-makers. However, following a sizeable shortfall in Aman rice production this year, the government has focussed its all attention to agriculture trying to get a bumper Boro rice yield. Had the prices of food grains in the global market been at a reasonable level, the government would not have the compelling reason to show that urgency.
There is no denying that despite its declining share in the country's gross domestic product (GDP), the agriculture sector would continue to be its economic backbone. A drop by a couple of percentage points in its growth rate still unsettles all growth projections and compels the policy-makers to redesign or amend the same. Unfortunately, public investment in the agriculture sector that employs the bulk of the country's workforce has declined over the years. This investment in agriculture now remains at a level as low as 4.0 per cent of the GDP in Bangladesh, which is still an agrarian economy, compared to 11 per cent in case of other developing countries which are shifting towards manufacturing.
The issues of inadequate public investment and the best possible ways of spending public fund in agriculture came up for discussion at a seminar organised by the World Bank in Dhaka last Sunday. While taking part in the discussion, a teacher of the University of California who co-authored this year's World Development Report suggested greater investment in Bangladesh agriculture to boost food production and promote new technology. Instead of providing cash subsidy to the farmers, the US expert suggested making available, what he called smart subsidies, with particular focus on development of market for agricultural commodities and introduction of cutting edge technology. A local agricultural expert who was a member of the planning commission echoed the same view while stressing the need for identifying the areas of increased investment in the local context.
It is a universally accepted fact that higher investment in the agriculture sector in developing countries helps augment the income of the poor several times more than that of those in other sectors. Here in Bangladesh, the authorities have remained preoccupied with the issues of providing subsidy, inputs and power supply for irrigation purposes. These issues, no doubt, are important ones. But marketing, introduction of higher farm technology and intensive extension work at the ground level are no less important. The Bangladeshi farmers whose resilience and hard work have been acclaimed time and again, picked up whatever farm technology available in the country on their own, within their limited capacity. Had the government provided the right kind of marketing, technology and extension supports along with effective arrangements for efficient use and proper targeting of agricultural subsidies, the output of this sector would have been much higher. Since the sector has been playing a pivotal role in the country's economy in terms of food production and employment outlets, it deserves the right kind of support and intensive supervision. The government should start thinking seriously without any further delay about the ways of attaining those objectives.
There is no denying that despite its declining share in the country's gross domestic product (GDP), the agriculture sector would continue to be its economic backbone. A drop by a couple of percentage points in its growth rate still unsettles all growth projections and compels the policy-makers to redesign or amend the same. Unfortunately, public investment in the agriculture sector that employs the bulk of the country's workforce has declined over the years. This investment in agriculture now remains at a level as low as 4.0 per cent of the GDP in Bangladesh, which is still an agrarian economy, compared to 11 per cent in case of other developing countries which are shifting towards manufacturing.
The issues of inadequate public investment and the best possible ways of spending public fund in agriculture came up for discussion at a seminar organised by the World Bank in Dhaka last Sunday. While taking part in the discussion, a teacher of the University of California who co-authored this year's World Development Report suggested greater investment in Bangladesh agriculture to boost food production and promote new technology. Instead of providing cash subsidy to the farmers, the US expert suggested making available, what he called smart subsidies, with particular focus on development of market for agricultural commodities and introduction of cutting edge technology. A local agricultural expert who was a member of the planning commission echoed the same view while stressing the need for identifying the areas of increased investment in the local context.
It is a universally accepted fact that higher investment in the agriculture sector in developing countries helps augment the income of the poor several times more than that of those in other sectors. Here in Bangladesh, the authorities have remained preoccupied with the issues of providing subsidy, inputs and power supply for irrigation purposes. These issues, no doubt, are important ones. But marketing, introduction of higher farm technology and intensive extension work at the ground level are no less important. The Bangladeshi farmers whose resilience and hard work have been acclaimed time and again, picked up whatever farm technology available in the country on their own, within their limited capacity. Had the government provided the right kind of marketing, technology and extension supports along with effective arrangements for efficient use and proper targeting of agricultural subsidies, the output of this sector would have been much higher. Since the sector has been playing a pivotal role in the country's economy in terms of food production and employment outlets, it deserves the right kind of support and intensive supervision. The government should start thinking seriously without any further delay about the ways of attaining those objectives.